Regina city council considering fines for drivers passing cyclists at high speeds

Regina city council is set to consider a list of new rules for how drivers can pass cyclists on city roadways.

On Wednesday the city’s Operations and Community Services Committee recommended council approve the recommendations to alter traffic bylaws laid out in a new report on cycling safety in Regina.

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The report proposes fines for passing cyclists at too high of a speed. That maximum would be determined by the speed limit on the roadway. Fines would be $180.

The report also proposes fines for infractions like following more closely than is “prudent and reasonable” and passing a cyclist while occupying part of their laneway.

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“Fines and enforcement convince people that we are really serious about safety. These are serious bylaws. They will be enforced by the Regina Police Service,” said committee Chair Bob Hawkins.

“Enforcement takes place in two ways. Officers will observe violations and enforce the bylaw in that case. They also receive complaints from the public, sometimes from drivers and sometimes from cyclists, and they will follow up with enforcement on those.”

The report also recommends taking $30,000 from the city’s automated speed enforcement fund to pay for an educational campaign.

“Education is the key. It’s important that the public know that these rules of safe cycling and safe driving are there and that they’re there to protect all of us,” Hawkins said, adding that he expects the city to continue doing work on promoting multi-modal transportation in the coming years.

“Each year we add incrementally to our system. With respect to bike helmets, I brought a motion to council last year. Council preferred education over enforcement. But that hasn’t gone away. I’m still looking at a motion for bicycle helmets.”

City council will review the recommendations on March 31.

Bike Regina was consulted as the city drew up the proposal. Bike Regina Board Member Angèle Poirier says she’s generally pleased with the recommendations presented.

“They are saying to motorists ‘thou shall not x-y-z,'” Poirier said.

But she said she thinks one recommendation, which would ban cyclists from a stretch of the Ring Road between Pasqua Street and Victoria Avenue, is unnecessary.

“We think cyclists are savvy. We are good enough to avoid bike-unfriendly places on our own,” she said.

“This type of legislation can be a slippery slope. Even if the first one makes sense to not allow bikes, it sets a precedent and then the next restriction is just that much easier.”

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There were also two safety options included in the report that were not recommended to council.

One of them would require cyclists to “ride as near to the right side of the right through lane as is safe.”

Poirier thinks approving that idea now, or in the future, could create dangerous situations for cyclists.

“The big issue with this is the language. We don’t have a problem with occupying the right-hand lane because it is known as the slow lane. The problem is the requirement to ride in the right side of that lane. Our position is that the spot that is the safest is the left-hand wheel track. The reason for that is that if we ride in the right-hand wheel track then vehicles behind us just blow past us.”

The report does not recommend establishing a minimum passing distance.

“Why couldn’t we have the amendments and a safe passing bylaw? I will soften that statement by acknowledging that if we were to just go with the amendments, the amendments prohibiting passing in the same lane and passing a cyclist too fast would be parts of a safe passing bylaw.”

Poirier said she’s pleased to see more attention on cycling, both in city hall and our and about as the pandemic prompted more people to embrace the activity.

“That set a precedent for more attention to cycling. I’m optimistic that we’ll see growth in the critical mass of cyclists. We’re seen as a nuisance on the sidewalk and the road. I can understand why. But if we have more and more cyclists people will have to change their attitudes and be a little more friendly to us.”