Metro Vancouver Bike/Pedestrian Discussion

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by tybuilding

It seems UBER is hoping to get their Jump E bike share in Metro Vancouver

https://globalnews.ca/news/4444710/u...er-two-wheels/

I'd love to see something with a pricing model other than Mobi's stupid system.

Electric bikes for hills sound good too.

[tybuilding]

The 140 Street to 144 Street stretch of the controversial 105 Avenue project in Surrey opened up. The new separated bike lanes are really nice and make a great addition to Surrey's cycling network.

[SpongeG]

• Video Link

[Firebrand]

Are there any Vancouver mayoral candidates that are anti-bike lane? (other than Wai Young.)

[Aroundtheworld]

Originally Posted by tybuilding

The 140 Street to 144 Street stretch of the controversial 105 Avenue project in Surrey opened up. The new separated bike lanes are really nice and make a great addition to Surrey's cycling network.

Images aren't working for me.

[tybuilding]

Originally Posted by Firebrand

Are there any Vancouver mayoral candidates that are anti-bike lane? (other than Wai Young.)

HUB Cycling put out a survey to all potential candidates asking for responses on a number of different cycling issues. You can find candidate responses from all communities in Metro Vancouver:

https://bikehub.ca/votetobike-vote-for-better-biking

[Rico]

Has there ever been an update about how the greenway is doing? Is it more or less sucessful than more standard designs?

[whatnext]

This is really too good not to share:

It's generally accepted that half the cyclists in Vancouver are truly horrible people, running stop signs and red lights, blowing through occupied pedestrian crosswalks on the False Creek Seawall, and generally acting like the road belongs to them even though they can't seem to get above 17 kmh on stretches of road where the speed limit is 50.

(And before you get all sanctimoniously outraged, I cycle to work except when it's raining buckets; one's dedication to saving the planet only goes so far...

... As detestable as most Vancouver cyclsts are, we've got nothing on the free-wheeling asswipes of Victoria.

Making the rounds on Reddit this afternoon is one particularly enraged One Less Car cretin who by all accounts was angered by an encounter with a driver who cut him off. Or opened a car door without checking. Or was given priority access at a Burger King drive-thru because she had four wheels instead of two.

Speaking of number two, evidently of the opinion that revenge is a dish served piping hot with a DQ swirl, the cyclist gets even by pulling down his pants, shitting into his hand, and then whipping it the car. And no, he doesn't wipe, but instead--after seemingly breaking the turning light of said car--promptly gets on his bike and merrily peddles away...

https://www.straight.com/news/116635...ng-seniors-car

[Aroundtheworld]

Look I get it, there are asshole cyclists. There are also asshole drivers and asshole pedestrians. And it would be great if nobody behaved like an asshole.

However, it is not a level playing field and it simply has to do with physics. A cyclist can go up to 50km/h and weighs about 175 lbs lets say. A car can go 200 km/h and weighs 3000 lbs. That's almost 300x more kinetic energy.

An asshole cyclist may ruin your day; an asshole driver may ruin your life.

[VancouverOfTheFuture]

Originally Posted by Aroundtheworld

Look I get it, there are asshole cyclists. There are also asshole drivers and asshole pedestrians. And it would be great if nobody behaved like an asshole.

However, it is not a level playing field and it simply has to do with physics. A cyclist can go up to 50km/h and weighs about 175 lbs lets say. A car can go 200 km/h and weighs 3000 lbs. That's almost 300x more kinetic energy.

An asshole cyclist may ruin your day; an asshole driver may ruin your life.

true true, its not like pedestrians cant get seriously hurt by cyclists

[retro_orange]

Originally Posted by VancouverOfTheFuture

true true, its not like pedestrians cant get seriously hurt by cyclists

It can be deadly too... and not by some young ruthless idiot bicyclist either.

Vancouver pedestrian killed in collision with cyclist in Stanley Park

by Charlie Smith on October 4th, 2014 at 5:10 PM

The Vancouver Police Department has announced that 71-year-old pedestrian has not survived after being struck by a cyclist.

The 57-year-old rider remained at the scene of the accident on October 3 near the totem poles in Stanley Park.

The pedestrian was crossing the roadway when the collision occurred.
Police say he fell to the ground and it's believed he suffered a head injury.

None of the names have been disclosed.

It came a few days less than a month after a woman was declared brain dead after being hit by a cyclist in New York's Central Park.

https://www.straight.com/news/743336...t-stanley-park

[CanSpice]

Originally Posted by retro_orange

It can be deadly too... and not by some young ruthless idiot bicyclist either.


https://www.straight.com/news/743336...t-stanley-park

Great! And how many cyclists and pedestrians have been killed by drivers since 2014?

Vehicles are much much much more dangerous to pedestrians and cyclists than cyclists are to pedestrians. Trotting out one instance of a pedestrian-cyclist death is deflecting from this massive imbalance and serves absolutely no purpose other than to ignore that imbalance.

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by Aroundtheworld

Look I get it, there are asshole cyclists. There are also asshole drivers and asshole pedestrians. And it would be great if nobody behaved like an asshole.

However, it is not a level playing field and it simply has to do with physics. A cyclist can go up to 50km/h and weighs about 175 lbs lets say. A car can go 200 km/h and weighs 3000 lbs. That's almost 300x more kinetic energy.

An asshole cyclist may ruin your day; an asshole driver may ruin your life.

The point of the article wasn't cyclists per se, rather the novel strategy of poo-flinging.

[Migrant_Coconut]

Originally Posted by CanSpice

Great! And how many cyclists and pedestrians have been killed by drivers since 2014?

Vehicles are much much much more dangerous to pedestrians and cyclists than cyclists are to pedestrians. Trotting out one instance of a pedestrian-cyclist death is deflecting from this massive imbalance and serves absolutely no purpose other than to ignore that imbalance.

If somebody gets hurt and it's the driver's fault, they can be fined, sued, penalized via insurance, suspended, banned, even imprisoned - just as it should be. Cyclists don't have licenses or even liability.

Vehicle mass is only part of the problem. Don't be a douche, follow the goddamn rules, goddamn well look out for other users, don't force your way onto a packed SkyTrain; if someone can't do that, they shouldn't have a vehicle.

[Porfiry]

Originally Posted by Migrant_Coconut

If somebody gets hurt and it's the driver's fault, they can be fined, sued, penalized via insurance, suspended, banned, even imprisoned - just as it should be. Cyclists don't have licenses or even liability.

Of course there's liability. The difference is any damages would be paid out of your pocket, not via an insurance policy.

[aberdeen5698]

Originally Posted by Migrant_Coconut

If somebody gets hurt and it's the driver's fault, they can be fined, sued, penalized via insurance, suspended, banned, even imprisoned - just as it should be. Cyclists don't have licenses or even liability.

Originally Posted by Porfiry

Of course there's liability. The difference is any damages would be paid out of your pocket, not via an insurance policy.

Exactly - you're liable for injury or damage you cause no matter where or how you cause it. And yes, cyclists can be imprisoned too, if the circumstances warrant such a conviction. And bicycle licenses have been tried in the past and found to be not worth the cost of administering them. Neither cyclists nor pedestrians nor anyone else are above the law.

There's no such thing as "pedestrian" or "cyclist" insurance - ICBC doesn't even offer such a product. The closest they come is underinsured motorist protection - but that covers damage caused TO you by an underinsured motorist, not BY you to someone else.

However, most pedestrians and cyclists ARE covered for liability by their homeowner's or renter's insurance. If you don't have that kind of insurance then you're risking having to pay potentially big damages out of your pocket - best to think carefully about whether you want to be exposed to that.

[WarrenC12]

Just a friendly reminder, if you want to murder somebody, do it with your car. You're likely to face little to no prison time.

[Migrant_Coconut]

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

Just a friendly reminder, if you want to murder somebody, do it with your car. You're likely to face little to no prison time.

I dunno, a quick "vancouver driver prison" search gives me a lot of articles about 9+ month sentences.

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by Migrant_Coconut

I dunno, a quick "vancouver driver prison" search gives me a lot of articles about 9+ month sentences.

Sure, and the average knife/gun murderer gets 27 times as long.

[aberdeen5698]

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

Sure, and the average knife/gun murderer gets 27 times as long.

I'd wager that the average sentenced driver committed an accident as opposed to an assault, which would explain the difference.