This is one file on which the police should do their job. How hard is it to see a bike rider that is not wearing his or her helmet? How many times does one see a family riding their bikes with the kids wearing helmets and the parents not!?!

And how many times have you seen mom and dad showing their little ones how to ride a bike on the side walk! Put the fines up to 100.00+ for no helmet and double the sidewalk fine.

Maybe a $100.00 fine as well for providing unlawful riding practises instruction, like parents teaching their kids to ride on sidewalks and across pedestrian crossings.

There are many roads in this city where the sidewalk is the safest option. Bikers must use respect but expecting them to squeeze between parked cars and trafic in many cases is just stupid. Try biking down Victoria st and getting brushed by 60k car mirrors. Fine me, but I’m not putting my life in the hands of dozey drivers.

How about just enforcing the law that has been in place for years . Bicycle laws are the same pretty much under motor vehicle laws . No seatbelt , get a fine . No helmet on a motorcycle , get a fine . So no helmet on a bicycle should be getting fines . See it every day , most cyclists not wearing a helmet .

It’s a Sidewalk only not a Bicycle Path, no excuse , I rode my Bike in large European Cities on the Road and never on the Sidewalk, if you are so scared riding on our Roads here don’t ride at all and about Fines how about the Idiots on Trail bikes and 4 Wheeler riding on our Roads?

It’s a Sidewalk only not a Bicycle Path, no excuse , I rode my Bike in large European Cities on the Road and never on the Sidewalk, if you are so scared riding on our Roads here don’t ride at all and about Fines how about the Idiots on Trail bikes and 4 Wheeler riding on our Roads?

It’s a Sidewalk only not a Bicycle Path, no excuse , I rode my Bike in large European Cities on the Road and never on the Sidewalk, if you are so scared riding on our Roads here don’t ride at all and about Fines how about the Idiots on Trail bikes and 4 Wheeler riding on our Roads?

I always wear a helmet. It’s like a seatbelt, it’s just stupid not to. In a perfect world, bikes could share the road with cars. But there are too many inconsiderate drivers in this city who don’t want to share the road with other motor vehicles, let alone someone on a bike.

If the street doesn’t feel safe to me, then the side walk is where I go. That said, I yield to pedestrians since it is a side walk, not a bike path. I also don’t cruise through cross walks and expect traffic to yield to me. I either proceed through the intersection with traffic, or I hop off and walk across.

If I’m driving I give bikes enough space and respect them particularly if they are riding respectfully to the rest of traffic.

What about the Bikes that are on the road at night with no lights or reflectors.And they are dressed in dark clothing. I think their bikes should be impounded immediately. Its like haveing an unsafe vehicle on the road.

“If the street doesn’t feel safe to me, then the side walk is where I go.”

ATVs and snowmobiles are using sidewalks already – in the Hart – so pedestrians will have to walk in the road!

Congratulations!

I’m not scared to ride on the roads Outwest, just don’t have a deathwish. Prince George ain’t Europe. Whats the issue with bikers using a crosswalk?

Seatbelts, airbags, helmets, etc. protect us to a certain extent in the case of a crash.

Following the rules of the road, being mindful, being watchful driving and riding defensively prevent crashes in the first place. THAT is the part which we should be observing. Interestingly that is the part which not only involves the drivers and riders, but it also involves the designers and maintainers of those paths which are used by the drivers, bike riders, runners, and walkers.

I think in the case of bike riders being on sidewalks, the most obvious first cause it that the rider believes that the sidewalk is safer than the road.

There is much more to this than meets the eye. The existing conditions of roads in PG and other low density urban communities are not exactly helpful to bicyclists.

“Whats the issue with bikers using a crosswalk”

Easy. If they get off their bicycles and use a crosswalk the same way as a pedestrian is supposed to:

1. stop at the crosswalk
2. look both ways to see if there is any vehicular traffic
3. when you can determine that there is a reasonable stopping distance left for vehicular traffic take a step into the crosswalk and keep your eye one the traffic coming your way to make sure that they have seen you and are coming to a stop. Do the same for the other direction if it is a two way road.
4. When you are on the other side, get back on the bicycle and ride on.

You also have the option of following the rules of the road for vehicular traffic.
1. stop at the interesection.
2. look both ways
3. when there is enough space in the traffic flow so that you can start up the bicycle and cross the full road without causing traffic to have to brake and slow down in order to give you the time to get across the road, then take your turn to cross and keep on riding.

One overriding point of view when riding a bicycle: act as a cyclist, not as a pedestrian, when riding a bike, unless you dismount and walk you bike.

No I’m not going to wear a gay helmet. I’ll take the risk of a fine since its only $29.

“Constable Craig Douglass says the youth had been riding on the sidewalk and was attempting to pass the vehicle as it turned into the lot.”

I am not 100% certain how this happened. However, I am assuming that the bicyclist was riding on the sidewalk in the same direction as the car but was behind the car and likely caught up to it as the car slowed to turn right into the lot.

If it was a pedestrian on the sidewalk, who had the right of way as they get close? I do not think there is a written rule about that. I think it is simply a matter of both parties looking out in a defensive way at what is essentially an intersection without a traffic sign such as a two way or four way stop sign.

In that case, follow the rules of the road for a four way intersection without any stop signs.

1. Technically it is traffic from the right has the right of way. That makes it the pedestrian in this case.
2. all that should be preceded by approaching the crossing slow enough to come to a halt if there is oncoming traffic from the right and looking all ways for traffic.

In that case, if it happened in the way I think it might have, the car driver should have received a ticket as well for failure to yield the right of way, in spite of the fact that the bicyclist was on the sidewalk.

The more interesting case would be if the cyclist was on the road to the right of the car. In fact, in both cases the car driver likely passed the bicyclist earlier and would have seen him/her and should have been aware of a traffic conflict about to happen since he/she was the only one who knew that he/she was about to turn.

I even wonder whether the driver had the turn signal on. In PG that is highly unlikely.

“No I’m not going to wear a gay helmet”

Hey, that just reminded me that we are on a Prince George web site ….. thanks for that reminder. :-(

why is dismounting necessary? look both ways and ride accross.

If the designated crosswalk is on the right side of the road you are travelling on, then yes. That is simply following the wheeled vehicle rules of the road, and you are acting the sqame as a car would.

If it is on the left side of the road, then no, since you are riding on the wrong side of the road, unless it is a one way street on which you are riding and you are riding in the same direction as the one way street is.

BTW, forgot the most important thing. PG drivers and cyclists are absolutely notorious for not stopping at an inteh waysrsection if there is a stop sign.

The step you forgot is to STOP … then look boith ways whether you are driving, cycling, or walking or on a motorized scooter.

from the ICBC site linked below:

“The most common error among cyclists was to ride without due care. Among motorists the most frequent fault was failure to yield right-of-way.”

http://www.bikesense.bc.ca/foreword.htm

crazylegs says…
“But there are too many inconsiderate drivers in this city who don’t want to share the road with other motor vehicles, let alone someone on a bike”

The same can be said for those on bicycles crazylegs.

dow asks…
“Whats the issue with bikers using a crosswalk?”

Crosswalks are for pedestrians not cyclists or automobiles.

Then he says…
why is dismounting necessary? look both ways and ride accross.

Thats fine, just don’t expect drivers to stop for you to ride your bike across the crossWALK.

I would gladly use the roads all the time if they were ridable. However as our roads are a disgrace like the person who is not going to ride wearing a “gay” helmet, I will occasionally hit the sidewalk or I should say ride on the sidewalk. I some areas the roads are to narrown and besides have you ever seen anyone walk in PG? What the heck does not going to wear a “gay” helmet mean?

“I some areas the roads are to narrown” ….

If you read the link I provided above to the ICBC site, the proper thing to do isw not go to the sidewalk. That is illegal.

What you need to do is get fully into the car lane until the road is wide enough.

For instance, that would likely more often be the case if cars are parked on the side of the road, such as downtown. You should allow some space so that if people open a door without looking you will not hit the door. The thing to do in that case is to get into the ful vehicle lane. Cart drivers may be pissed off, but that is the legal way to do it.

Obviously we all need more awarenes how to deal with bicycles … riders and drivers alike.

I should say that when I ride my bike ,and I do that often, I find the vehicular drivers in PG to be great. The only fault I ever come across is when they see me on the bike and decide to stop for me. I want the vehicles, most of the time, to keep going. Its easier for me to stop and start than them. I am not going to stop at stop signs if there are no vehicles around. Lets not be silly or should I say gay.

Its not just the cyclists who have no brain, its the 5 motorcycle riders who blew the stopsign at 5th and foothils today. Sorta like a herd of cows following the lead cow back to the barn. Oh well, glad they don’t all drive like dunces. There are a lot of good riders out there, but we sure see our fair share of duh!

What about all those old folks on their motorized wheelchairs on the sidewalks AND on the roads? Why doesn’t the law make them wear “gay” helmets? Double standard?

Police State comingin

Seems to me if a vehicle hits a person in a cross walk and knocks him flying, he will in all probability get a head injury. Does this mean that pedistrians should wear helmets???

How far do we go with these laws, that supposedly keep people from being injured. Will we eventually progress to diving with a helmet to avoid a head injury??

How about professional boxing. Should we put them in helmets.

Educating people on the right way to do things will get you better results over time than passing all these bloody laws.

I have watched people in this town for years and years ride without helmets. The police for all intents and purposes ignore them.

It would be interesting to see the actual stats that show how many people actually obtained head injuries from biking, the nature and seriousness of the injury.

One interesting piece of information is that Cyclist injuries, which are head injuries, are the same as pedestrian injuries to the head. ie; 30.0% vs 30.1%

“Seems to me if a vehicle hits a person in a cross walk and knocks him flying, he will in all probability get a head injury. Does this mean that pedistrians should wear helmets???”

I think the risk of getting a head injury riding a bicycle is considerably higher than getting a head injury in a collision of a car and a pedestrian.

In fact, the risk if a pedestrian getting a head injury simply by walking and tripping or slipping in the winter is probably higher.

This appears to be a credible site and appears at firt glance to back up Palopu’s point about pedestrain head injuries versus cyclists.

http://www.cyclehelmets.org/1100.html

The problem is it is total number rather than a frequency.

I would think that every single one of us is a pedestrian for some time during the year. The number of cyclists among us is considerably less, especially in PG.

In order to determine relative risk one really needs to take something like the number of person hours cycling versus the number of person hours walking/jogging that generate the injuries.

It would be interesting ot get loacl hospital stats and comapre it to communities of similar sized cities as well as larger cities.

People on bikes are to obey the rules of the road, how hard is that? You break the rules and you get a fine. This isn’t new. That includes lights on at dusk and using proper signaling.

Riding a bike on a sidewalk or in a crosswalk is as ridiculous as someone doing the same on a motorcycle or a in a car. If you must go on the sidewalk or cross at a crosswalk get of an push. So if you plan to break the rules expect to get a fine.

Hey sheep, “it’s the law”. I instruct my 10 year old to stay on the sidewalk and out of traffic. Would you send your child out to play in traffic?

I think you bring up an excellent point for those under the legal driving age.

I think the reason we have a driving age limit is not because a younger person cannot drive a car or other motorized vehicle, it is because we assume that the older they get the more they will take the responsibility more seriously.

“People on bikes are to obey the rules of the road, how hard is that?”

About as hard as it is for people driving cars.