Dear Editor,
I was nearly killed by a car the other day while biking on Shell Road.
Yet another driver decided that, because he was in a car and I was on a bike, he had the right of way and I was not a legitimate vehicle.
We have a lot of work to do. The city of Copenhagen has made it a goal to have more than 50 per cent of their commuters using bicycles. They are currently at 48 per cent.
Here in Richmond, we are at less than one per cent.
Richmond is flat. It is ideal for biking, but we are so very far behind most cities.
As B.C.’s population grows, we are going to see more and more traffic congestion. If everyone continues to drive, we can expect longer commutes and higher taxes to pay for roads and bridges.
This is assuming that we can find more land to build these extra roads and bridges.
I am not even going to mention global warming and environmental issues, which, given our low altitude, should seriously concern all Richmond residents.
Even if you do not like biking yourself, be thankful to every biker you see, because that means one less car to get stuck behind.
We have work to do in three areas:
1. Driver education: Most Richmond drivers are amazingly respectful of bikers. I want to thank these wonderful drivers for the many times they have made me safer on the roads. The one per cent of poorly trained and uninformed drivers have given Richmond a reputation in the Lower Mainland of being unsafe for bikers.
2. Bike routes: Thank you to city council for the excellent start to biking infrastructure. Still, there are many disconnects and bottlenecks that throw bikers into close and dangerous proximity to cars. If we want to get people out of their cars, we need to provide safe biking routes and infrastructure. It is much much cheaper to build bike routes than roads for cars and trucks.
3. Enforcement: We need to take note of drivers and cyclists who make things unsafe. It is time for a step program by the Richmond RCMP to enforce bike safety and awareness.
Richmond is an amazing place, where a diverse group of people live together with remarkably little conflict. Let’s make this work in the way that the people of Richmond always do, with respect for each other.
I would like to leave a message to the guy who nearly killed me yesterday: Try riding a bike to work and seeing it from my point of view and maybe you will understand what was so very problematic with your driving yesterday. Do this before you kill someone.
Brian Roodnick
Richmond
