Letter to the Editor: Some streets are unsafe for cyclists

If the list exists - Top Ten Cities with the Worst Drivers - and dear old London, Ontario is in top spot, I’d like to see it.

For the second week in a row a local citizen makes the claim there are no worse drivers anywhere on planet earth.

Edward H. wrote the following in the Aug. 7 issue of The London Free Press:

I do not ride a bike and have not for 10 years. I have lived in three different cities in Ontario and have travelled extensively. Drivers in London are by far the worst I have seen anywhere.


["Man's best friend?": photo GAH]

Personally, I think I need more proof before I will believe we’re the worst anywhere.

I’ve heard drivers in Quebec are pretty bad.

“Yellow lights? They mean 'go faster' in Montreal,” said a friend.

“Short people in Japan are the worst - especially women,” said another.

With those kinds of sentiments (or is it sediment?) out there, Edward’s experience sounds limited.

Three cities in Ontario? That’s it?

What if one was Perth? That’s a touristy area. How could we know for sure a car full of tourists didn’t throw off the results of his survey? The streets of Perth might be pretty mean in the winter time.

Though my experience is slimmer still - I’ve lived in London and Norwich, that’s it - I agree with Edward partly when he adds, I don’t blame cyclists for being on the sidewalk. The streets are simply too dangerous.

I think ‘some’ streets are too dangerous. Gutters and tarmac are in sad shape in some parts of town and riding a bike on the sidewalk at times seems like a reasonable way to prolong one’s life.

Some drivers are dangerous as well. Not all drivers check their speed when sharing a lane with cyclists or know how to manage an SUV the size of small nation or a pickup with wide side mirrors on some of our narrow streets.

Some drivers, equipped with more horsepower than common sense, accelerate when they should brake when faced with a cyclist in their lane and an approaching car in the other.

Edward mocks the idea that cyclists should be kicked off the sidewalks. “Is it illegal to try to save your own life?” he concludes.

No. Use the sidewalks at times, but bike paths and roadways more often.

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