b88

Cyclist didn’t make it, passed away a couple hrs later after getting struck.

The same street I used to cycle several times a week. It has a wide bike lane cordoned off by guard rails. However I always see roadies take to the street instead. This is the same street going south to River St. where I got berated by a driver for taking the road to avoid kids in the bike lane. The bike lane would have saved him in this instance, however don’t know all the details. Condolences to his family.

Eric F 

Sad to hear this.

There are many times I have stayed in traffic lanes because of the collection of debris in the bike lane, making it unsafe to ride in. I've seen quite a few that are built too narrow to accommodate a standard street-sweeper, so they never get cleaned.

tds101 

Rest in peace... 🙏

Wildwood 

TO - Tongans should make their country safer for cyclists.

Yan 

No offense to the dead guy but this is one of the safest, most luxurious bike lanes I've ever seen in my life. I don't know why anyone would refuse to take it and choose to ride in the road instead. I guess for certain "roadies", nothing but the road will do. RIP.

Google Streetview link below.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/Ef2VyTZavtfEz4wk9

MikeDeason

I was on Martin Goodman near Island Ferry on the weekend and a bunch of guys in Lycra blew by on the road even though there is a secure separated bike lane a few feet away. Busy bike lane but definitely safer than the road.

cb400bill

Thread moved from General to A&S.

Troul 

where can the rider enter in from the street side into the guarded bike lane area?

work4bike

I never ride in a separated bike lane, next to a roadway, because I can't stand all the road crossings, which require the cyclists to yield and I understand wanting to be away from all the kids and dog walkers. I suppose that in one respect it is more dangerous, but that's what I signed up for when I became a cyclist. Too many people want to blame the dead and live the safest life possible.



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MikeDeason

What is the legality of driving a bike in a lane on the road when there are segregated bike lanes (bikes only, no pedestrians) available ?

Iride01 

It doesn't matter whether the person should have been in the bike lane or not. Even if something or someone is illegally in the road, drivers of vehicles still have the obligation to maintain awareness and avoid a crash.

MikeDeason

I agree. Just wondering about the law if there’s segregated bike only lanes and you ride in a lane of traffic.

mcours2006

I've ridden on the segregated bike lanes there often. I don't know the exact circumstances under which the cyclist was hit. It heard that the driver was coming off of an off-ramp from the DVP and broadsided or rear-ended the cyclist on the road. The bike lanes there are quite safe with concrete barriers protecting it. However, north of Pottery Road there are none, and it is there, I believe, where the collision occurred.

Highway on- and off-ramps are always areas where I need to be hyper-alert. I try to avoid these whenever I can, even going quite a few km longer to do so.

work4bike

I can only speak for my area and it's not required to ride on separated "bike paths". However, what we normally call "bike paths" are truly not bike paths, they're Multiple Use Paths (MUPs). I don't know of any so-called bike path in North America that restricts other users.

I'm not advocating for dedicated bike paths, nor am I faulting non-cyclists for using MUPs (so-called bike paths). I just don't want to be constantly dodging dogs on very long leashes, kids who's steering is all over the place and all the road crossings that I must yield for motorists. And I do stop for all stop signs/lights, but I also make a lot of lights, so there's a difference between making some red lights, but also getting some green lights vs. stopping/slowing down every time for an intersection.




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Rick

I haven't ridden on an MUP in years. The worst for me was the clown with the pot bellied pig on a retractable leash. As I came around a turn in the path the PBP dashed across the whole path in front of me. That was near 40 years ago and I make it a habit not to use any so called bike path whenever possible.

mcours2006

Deceased cyclist was a member of a well-known Toronto cycling club with chapters all over the surrounding region. He was a father of three. Condolences to his family and friends. Many of the cyclists I've ridden with over the years knew the man, and we are all devastated by this tragedy.

From what I have read in the news reports, it appears that the man was struck in the approximate area of the highlighted circle. He was riding north bound approaching the off ramp of the city highway where traffic from Bayview and the DVP merge. The vehicle was likely moving quite fast when it struck the cyclist. He was not riding on "one of the safest, most luxurious bike lanes [one of the previous ignorant posters has ever seen in his life]" There were no protected bike lanes here. Just a wide shoulder, which was of no use as it merged with fast moving traffic.

MikeDeason

Condolences to this man's family. This is devastating for his wife and children. We too often attempt to find fault with the victim, perhaps as a shield to protect us from the thought that but for the grace of God.....

Too many excellent bike lanes in our City vanish or turn treacherous with little to no warning and this must be fixed.

Regarding MUP, I believe the segregated bike lanes on Bloor in the west end, where I am, are bike-only as they are separated from the road by concrete barriers and the sidewalk, by parked cars.

GamblerGORD53

Sorry the guy died. But I certainly see a decent bike path starting miles south from where he had to come from, thru the trees and UNDER the road where the crash car came from. The path is right beside your circle. At the very least he could have got on Bayview after that dangerous part. And if there's a steady stream of cars merging, then it is a POOR place to be going slower uphill. Hell there's even streetview of the MUP. So Yan is 100% correct that I can see.

But neither am I chicken about crossing merges beside 70 mph traffic coming north on QE2 from Leduc, with maybe a 7 second opening. It's seldom in rush hour tho. In the scenario shown there on Bayview, I look all the way up the ramp and look for a gap. Then I adjust my speed and count the cars I need to let by. THEN I cut across sharply if needed. Maybe the next car slows, or not. There are other places in the city where a merge lane free flow just leaves a bike stuck in the middle. Calgary is really horrible for these. And you know all my 3 bikes are IGH heavyweight.

Eyes Roll

Just sad. Rest in Peace. 😢💐

In my state in the US, bicyclists can use the full lane, even if there is a designated bike lane. It is bicyclists' choice. This is a state-wide rule.

In my city, bicyclists can even ride on the sidewalks. This varies from city to city though, and bicyclists need to check the local ordinances of their city/town/village, in this regard.

FBinNY 

FWIW I saw a possible reason why a serious roadie might avoid that, otherwise nice bike lane.

Two way traffic. As a road rider who cruises along at 20ish mph, oncoming cyclists make me much more uncomfortable than riding with mixed traffic.

On that lane, I'd constantly be slowing to negotiate passing salmon, and eventually thinking $%#&% this!! and take the road.

mcours2006

It's easy enough to criticize and second-guess what the cyclist did or did not do, and how he might have been able to save himself by taking this route or that after the fact. You cannot account for 100% of the variables in any given situation.

Monday morning there are lots of commuters who use that bike path you alluded to. I might have made the same decision he did to take the road to avoid the commuter crowd, especially if I am going hard. From your post, your looking-for-gap, speed-adjusting, and cutting-across-sharply skills sound amazing! And I know all three of your bikes are IGH heavyweights! Even more amazing!

Frank Hayes

it’s an MUP. With a speed limit of 20kms/hr. With joggers, Moms with strollers, walkers. And a cyclist gets to choose whether to ride on the MUP or the road. Once on the road, a cyclist has full vehicle status and responsibilities. All drivers of course know this, right? NOT!

Iride01 

To say the cyclist should have been riding in the bike lane is much like saying any one that has a crash anywhere should have been somewhere else.

The cause of the crash here is not where the cyclist was. The cause was inattention. And likely on the part of the person driving the motor vehicle.

When I ride on the Natchez Trace Parkway, there is a straight stretch of road that has a acceleration lane for traffic getting on much like that pictured. It is one place I'm very concerned and alert for cars trying to merge on to the road. It's in one of the most congested areas for traffic on the entire Natchez Trace.

There are what I think proper and improper procedures that I've seen other cyclist do in this section. But to discuss them here will be for naught since a lot of you think I should be on the MUP that is nearby.

GamblerGORD53

You're mocking our SKILL?? LOL. Your hero rode right into the path of a fast merging car. I see there's bushes in the ditch blocking some of the driver's view.
I had no such problem riding my CCM 3 speed 3 days there.
Damn right we have skill in Edmonton. And so do our drivers, BTW. 0 or 1 cyclist fatals a year...... I just looked at your stats, not as bad as I thought, oh wait he's the 3rd this year.
You have a 13 mph speed limit on that MUP?? LOL. NO such nonsense here, not even on the High Level bridge commuter route with plenty of 2 way mixed speed use and cast iron poles on both sides. I never see anybody else on my century highway rides.
For REAL skill, I rode my 120 lb Rohloff14 bike from Chilliwack to the Port Mann bridge on the Trans Canada FREEWAY, sneering at the NO bikes allowed sign. LOL. Plus smack thru the middle of every BIG city in the NW with NO hellmet.
=======
The news story said he was NOT going to work. And the poor guy missed the total eclipse, darn.
>> I just found a pick of his CF bike, looks undamaged.

work4bike

I have to deal with a similar off ramp when I'm riding my 3rd street (A1A) route. I have to deal with it going both north and south, but the off ramp on my northern route is much trickery, because the merge lane is so much shorter.



https://www.google.com/maps/place/Ja...naDM?entry=ttu






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