Bicycle safety laws

On Nov. 6, a cyclist was traveling northbound on Dougall and when he came to the intersection of Erie he saw a vehicle. Unable to move in time he slid under the vehicle and was run over by the back wheel. The driver asked if the cyclist was okay and then sped off.

A 32-year-old cyclist who was the victim of a hit and run told to Windsor Police. Sgt. Matthew D’Asti of the Windsor Police Service said that when it comes to bicycle safety both cyclists and motorists should always be vigilant of their surroundings.

Cycling is becoming an increasingly popular alternative means of transportation and with that Ontario Ministration of Transportation added new biking legislation in September earlier this year. By law bikes must now have red lights fitted on the back and white lights on the front or cyclists will receive a warning and eventually fine. These lights are to allow motorist greater awareness of cyclist when driving at night. In addition, there is a requirement of one metre while attempting overtake a cyclist. D’Asti said these laws will hopefully make people more cognizant of each other while sharing the road.

At local bike shop, City Cyclery during sales of bikes the employees remind customers the details of the legislation and suggest the lights needed now to cycle at night.

“Using lights I cannot recommend enough over reflectors,” said Oliver Swainson, shop manager at City Cyclery and board member of Bike Friendly Windsor Essex, a group which lobbies and petition for various bike legislation. “Reflectors being sort of the old method of staying visible at night. They work but they aren’t nearly as effectively. Essentially since they require a light source to shine on them to shine back, if their is no light source and or if the car is shining directly on you than it’s not going to work.”

Locally the city has made an effort to become more bike friendly. In 2014 Windsor city council endorsed $1.8 million to construct a 17.8 cycling facility in addition to the Windsor Loop. This was  an attempt to separate motor vehicles and cyclist

“The city has installed additional bike lanes throughout the city and I know they are some proposed plans for additional bike lanes,” Sgt. D’Asti said. “I know that they {the city} are making some steps in trying to be bicycle friendly.”

But according to local cyclist Tecumseh MacGuigan, these steps are not enough. MacGuigan said he follows the laws and rides on the right side of the road, but thinks it is frustrating how some bike paths suddenly end on busy roads.

“Cycling and this city are not synonymous with each other,” said MacGuigan. “You look at cities like Vancouver or Amsterdam where they were either made or retrofitted to service bicycles. It’s hard to say let’s work bicycles in here (Windsor) now.”

Sgt. D’Asti said the first step to bike safety is education, the first step to stop motor vehicle and bicycle collisions.