A new Angus Reid Institute survey suggests that Canadians more often blame the cyclist when a bike and a vehicle are involved in a collision.
Two-thirds of respondents to the public opinion poll said too many cyclists in their community don’t follow the rules of the road.
However, almost as many people said too many drivers don’t pay enough attention to bicycles on the roadway.
The study said that a person’s age appears to be correlated with one’s views on whether drivers or cyclists are more responsible for conflict on the roads.
Canadians 55-years and older who see a high level of disagreement between cyclists and drivers are more likely to take the drivers’ side.
Those under 35-years-old tend to be split, and people age 18-34 tend to show more sympathy for cyclists.
Executive director Shachi Kurl said sharing the road is a problem all across Canada.
“It doesn’t matter what city you’re in whether it’s Winnipeg, Montreal, Toronto, or Vancouver, people aren’t exactly sure how to share the road with drivers and cyclists.”
The majority of both cyclists and drivers said they think separated bike lanes are a good thing, but are less than enthusiastic about building more lanes in their communities.
Kurl says Canadians don’t like change, and that’s exactly what bike lanes bring.
“We have been, for 100 years, a very car-oriented culture,” she said.
“Changing that culture is not going to come overnight and it’s not going to come easily.”
The Angus Reid Institute analyzed the results of an online survey conducted in March 2018 among a representative, randomized sample of 5,423 Canadian adults who are members of the Angus Reid Forum.
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