... love riding his bicycle, loves riding his bike.

When I was a lad, about once a year in the Spring we as students at Holy Rosary Elementary School and Minto Elementary and Junior High School were led down to the media room (an empty room with plastic chairs and a movie projector) to watch a film on bike safety. It was pretty much the same every year. It talked about how we should bike carefully, know our hand signals, not drive on sidewalks, all that fun stuff. The message boiled down to "even though you're a bike, you're a vehicle on the road. Share the road and obey all the rules".

Now I'm so much older and living in the big city, Bippity Town to be exact. The bike is no longer a small measure of freedom but in some cases a vital necessity as a replacement for the car. The rules have changed a little also: wear a helmet, for example. Generally the rules are the same now as they were then: you share the road and are a vehicle, and thus you obey those rules.

Sooooooo...So let's say I'm walking down the sidewalk to the subway station (Islington Station...RESPECT!) and some dude comes by me on the sidewalk on his Schwinn, nearly knocking me into the bus shelter. If I were to put my arm out and stiff arm him (not that that I'd do that....think it yes, but do it, no) I'D be the one in trouble, not the guy on the bike driving on the sidewalk, where he is not supposed to be.

Now, The Greatest Pastry Cook in Toronto is driving home from work, and she comes to an intersection. She's slowing down and there's a bike next to the curb. At that time the rider remembers that he has to be in the lane to turn left, so he cuts in front of her. She has time to hit her breaks and avoid a mess, luckily. But if she were to plow into him, there would be stories about how drivers hate bicyclists.

I'm not saying that drivers are blameless in this respect, but cyclists are not innocent either. There have been campaigns about making sure that drivers are aware that they share the road with cyclists and this is, as Prince would say, crucial. Cyclists have a smaller profile and less between their bones and the pavement than the average driver does. However, I have not seen a comparable campaign for cyclists. In fact, if you call a cyclist out on this ("Hey, don't zip between cars like that!") you tend to get the barest of replies from them ("Be fruitful and multiply!").

I often wonder if they saw the same films when they were kids as I did. I know I have a better than average memory (quick, name some songs and I can rattle of their chart positions) but a lot of these rules were common sense.

So what can we do about this?

1. Campaign bicyclists to be more careful. In the same way that there are PSAs and billboards telling drivers to be on the look out for bicyclists, there should be a similar campaign for cyclists reminding them that they are part of the road also and are subject to the same rules, and that those rules are going to be enforced.
   
2. Create insurance for bicyclists. What? Well, see, if you need to be insured to ride your bicycle, chances are you're going to be more careful about what you do on it. It's also going to provide some protection cyclists who are legitimately injured by driver's negligence. It's a long shot, but I'm trying to avoid point 3.
3. License cyclists. If I want to drive a car, I have to sit a test, possibly go to driving school, practice driving with another licensed driver, do a practical exam, and then accumulate hours to be able to "level up" to driving on a highway and after dark when the zombies come. If I want to ride a bike on the same streets I need the following: (1) two feet (2) a heartbeat. I don't like the idea of licenses because we should be doing everything we can to move people away from cars and onto bicycles and this would be another impediment. As it stands right now anyone regardless of mental acuity or awareness of the rules of the road can go right into rush hour traffic at King and Bay St. Then again, people can have kids with even less acuity and awareness, so I dunno
   

Before I start getting hate mail, I'm not anti-bike. I'm also not anti-car. I'm pro-people-having-all-their-limbs. Drivers have a lot to learn about sharing the road with cyclists. Cyclists (myself included when I take the Pimp-Mo-Bike out) have a lot to learn about being responsible on the road. Neither party is above the law, both of the land and of society.

By the way, here is the Pimp-Mo-Bike.
(Hey, they all can't be posts about Iran!)