The Sidewalk Bicycle Plague in Fredericton

     It seems to be a plague this year with the amount of bicycles on sidewalks. I have been hearing reports left, right and centre about it! Obviously this is an issue that needs to be addressed. You may have noticed that I haven’t blogged for almost two weeks. The first week, I was visiting family and friends. The second week? I was hit by a cyclist on a sidewalk. This resulted in multiple injuries of twisting my knee cap and dislocating my elbow and shoulder. You should see the other guy... As much as I love seeing so many cyclists out and about in Fredericton, I do not want to see them on the sidewalks! City Police are “cracking down” on sidewalk cyclists, handing out warnings and $50 tickets. I think they need to up their game and advertise a little more. Maybe one solution would be to add turn stiles on the sidewalk?

     The other day (before my injury) I was cycling on the Douglas Avenue bike lane and saw a man cycling on the sidewalk instead of the perfectly useable bike lane. The city spends thousands of dollars building bike lanes for us, the least we could do is use them and prove that we need them.

     An exception to bicycles on the sidewalk are children. Under the age of 12, they should be allowed to use the sidewalk for safety reasons. For one, they are still probably learning to use their bike properly and second, they are no match for keeping up with traffic and being seen on the road. There is absolutely no excuse for an adult cyclist to be using the sidewalk.

     It doesn’t help when motorists don’t respect cyclists. In the past few months, respect has grown by a massive percentage. 85% of motorists take care of cyclists on the road! The 15% that could give a s--t what happens to you are the ones with massive trucks with tires that raise the body two metres off the ground and accelerate so hard they leave a cloud of fumes that choke you to death. They’re probably just trying to make up for something they lack in the pants? I am grateful for the motorists that respect me and my fellow cyclists and pedestrians. Please consider that it is a several tonne vehicle against a few hundred pound cyclist.

     Also, there has not been any news (at least that I’ve heard) about the white lines popping up on the streets. I’m still guessing they’re going to be bike lanes, just not officially announced yet. If you have any information, feel free to comment!

     Don't forget to check out my new facebook page. On the go photos will be posted there!