Cycling and transportation experts are reminding Calgarians about the importance of sharing the road after video was posted to social media showing a cyclist narrowly missing being struck on a busy city roadway.
In a video posted to Reddit on Tuesday by a motorcyclist wearing what appears to be a GoPro camera, a cyclist is seen in the middle of Anderson Road. When the cyclist attempts to change lanes, they’re nearly hit by a vehicle travelling in the same direction. It’s not obvious whether the cyclist gave a proper signal before trying to change lanes.
As traffic comes to a brief stop, the motorcyclist is heard telling the person on the bicycle to get off the road. The cyclist then makes their way across traffic to the right and appears to take an exit.
While the speed limit on Anderson Road is as high as 80 km/h in some places, and there are several lanes of traffic heading in each direction, the cyclist was doing the right thing in riding along the street.
“It is legal to be biking on all streets in Calgary, with the exception of Deerfoot Trail between 64 Avenue N. and Marquis de Lorne in the south,” said Kim Fisher, active transportation and education planner with the City of Calgary.
“You are to ride as far to the right as reasonable, but knowing that you are going to make a left-hand turn, it is permitted to cross lanes to get to the left-hand lane to make a left-hand turn.”
According to Bike Calgary president Gary Millard, it’s illegal to ride a bicycle on a sidewalk if you’re over the age of 14.
He said cyclists need to know the rules of the road and the guidelines they have to comply with. Millard also said that motorists need to understand that cyclists are sometimes going to be in traffic with them and they won’t necessarily be going at the same speed.
He said the video points to the city needing more connected bike lane infrastructure so cyclists aren’t left with no option but to travel on busy thoroughfares. The city’s bike path network doesn’t reach to the Anderson Road area where the video was captured.
“The biggest thing is the safe infrastructure,” Millard said.
“When it’s physically separated, bikes have a place to ride and motorists don’t have to worry about dealing with bikes in the lane of motor vehicle traffic, and so everybody is happier when you’ve got the properly designed infrastructure.
“If we don’t have that infrastructure, then we need to figure out how to travel together.”
Comments