Cycling in Waterloo Region

[Canard]

That's the free, valet service, right?

I'm not so keen on how how they've just sort of been all mashed together there. Maybe I'm just too picky, but that looks like a great way to get some unwanted scratches and so on...

[danbrotherston]

I can honestly say that as a cyclist, I've had far more negative interactions with other cyclists (and pedestrians) than I have with cars. Just the other day, I was riding along Queen, near Centre in the Square. A cyclist was going the same direction as me, ahead of me, but on the sidewalk. I had to speed up quite a bit in order to properly make a (signalized) right turn. Part of me wanted to really do this at just the right speed so that I'd have forced him to either slow down or stop, to make him aware of what he was doing wrong...

I've also had problems with people failing to pay attention when I ring my bell on the Spur Line and Iron Horse trails.  They either just don't know what a bell is and keep wandering all over aimlessly, texting or whatever, or just don't care. I get that they have the right of way and what not, but it's still very annoying and doesn't help to pacify the relationship between the two modes.

Lol, I never complain about cyclists on the sidewalk of a busy road unless there's a segregated bike lane, which don't yet exist in our city.  Quite frankly, I simply can't blame someone for being afraid of riding on the road.  On a quiet residential street though, I do shake my head sometime.

And yes, pedestrians on the trails are annoying, I'm always cautious when I ring my bell, because some pedestrians literally jump off the trail when I do, when all I really want is for them to be aware of me, and walk in a straight line.  Other's immediately move left and I have actually been run off the trail by someone who did that.

In the Netherlands, most of their infra separates pedestrians and cyclists, and that is probably the right decision.  It's as easy as using a little paint or colours, but you need more than 2.5 (or even 3.5) meters of ROW.


But I would still point out, none of these interactions are a serious threat to my safety.  Drivers who aren't paying attention, who drive aggressively, are a serious threat to my safety and well being.  So I treat the two types of things differently, one is an annoyance to me, the other is more.

[chutten]

ding...ding <- my first courtesy ring. Twice so the pedestrian knows that I'm getting closer, and that the solitary ding wasn't a figment of their imagination

DINGADINGADING <- my second ring. Standard bell ring. It startles _me_, so I try my best to not have to use it.

Then I'm just on my own because the pedestrian is either hard-of-hearing (like one-half of that couple walking their dog in the morning. She always looks so ashamed that her husband doesn't move out of the way, but it's not his fault), or has their earphones in (especially common on the Spur Line)

Thank goodness bike bells are tunable so we can get what we want out of them based on what we give them.

[Canard]

ding...ding <- my first courtesy ring. Twice so the pedestrian knows that I'm getting closer, and that the solitary ding wasn't a figment of their imagination

I love this - that's actually really brilliant.  Two dings because then it gives a vector.  I was always just doing a single ding - but that's only defining a point in space, with no heading, so it's far less helpful!

You're an engineer too, aren't you, Chutten?

I'm going to have to start doing this.

DINGADINGADING <- my second ring. Standard bell ring. It startles _me_, so I try my best to not have to use it.

I have one of those "single hammer" bells that I can choose the intensity of the tone by how hard I pull back the hammer.  I always feel a bit... smug... when I pull the hammer back alllllll the way, and make a nice, loud, DING!  But yeah, I only reserve "angry DING" for second (or third, or fourth) warnings/alerts.  Usually by that point I'm already riding on the grass (or have had to jump off my bike), anyway.

...I really want to get a little speaker box that quacks (Mallard, of course).

[chutten]

An Engineer without designation and of software, but yes :)

I was also inspired by the blues-and-twos of UK police cars: blue lights like ours, but a two tone siren because it is easier for human ears to rangefind and it cuts through the "drivers' fog" that can make drivers rather less aware than they ought to be.

[highlander]

Ontario's one-metre passing rule for cyclists not being enforced, numbers show

Only 19 charges for <1 m passing in Ontario in ~11 months. I've been waiting to see these numbers and I'm not surprised at all. You can't blame this on police, the law is just almost impossible to enforce. And anecdotally, I would guess I experience a <1 m pass once a week, so I don't believe that its because drivers are in almost 100% compliance.

[jamincan]

Anecdotally, I think there has been an improvement, though. The angry, impatient drivers are still going to buzz by at close distance, but it has at least raised the awareness of the issue with the general public who may have just passed with little space out of ignorance.

[Canard]

+1 on that, jamincan!

[MidTowner]

Only 19 charges for <1 m passing in Ontario in ~11 months. I've been waiting to see these numbers and I'm not surprised at all. You can't blame this on police, the law is just almost impossible to enforce. And anecdotally, I would guess I experience a <1 m pass once a week, so I don't believe that its because drivers are in almost 100% compliance.

It’s possible to enforce. Danbrotherston posted an article from CBC Ottawa explaining that bicycle police there had been outfitted with devices which detected when a car passed within one meter. I wonder how many charges they are laying with those.

[timc]

I would like to see some enforcement around these parts. Drivers still pass me uncomfortably closely on a regular basis.

[danbrotherston]

It’s possible to enforce. Danbrotherston posted an article from CBC Ottawa explaining that bicycle police there had been outfitted with devices which detected when a car passed within one meter. I wonder how many charges they are laying with those.

I would be willing to bet Ottawa accounts for a high percentage of the charges laid.  Worth noting as well, Ottawa was giving out warnings first, so they may have pulled over far more drivers than there were charges laid.

I would like to see some enforcement around these parts. Drivers still pass me uncomfortably closely on a regular basis.

Ditto.

[highlander]

Anecdotally, I think there has been an improvement, though. The angry, impatient drivers are still going to buzz by at close distance, but it has at least raised the awareness of the issue with the general public who may have just passed with little space out of ignorance.

I'm glad to hear you've noticed an improvement. I'd say it's pretty hard to tell, since 95%+ of drivers already did give more than 1 m when passing. So gauging whether the frequency at which I get passed too closely has changed is probably more about confirmation bias than anything.

It’s possible to enforce. Danbrotherston posted an article from CBC Ottawa explaining that bicycle police there had been outfitted with devices which detected when a car passed within one meter. I wonder how many charges they are laying with those.

I did leave myself some wiggle room by saying "almost impossible". I think it is fair to say that it is a difficult law to enforce. The fact that (1) the Ottawa police using this equipment made the news and actually caused a bit of an online stir (maybe only noticed by those who follow cycling news...) and more importantly (2) there were 19 total charges laid in the province in almost a year, would seem to support that.

I wonder how many cyclists received the increased fine ($110 up from $20) for improper lighting and reflectors that was passed at the same time. Now that's an easy law to enforce.

I would be willing to bet Ottawa accounts for a high percentage of the charges laid.  Worth noting as well, Ottawa was giving out warnings first, so they may have pulled over far more drivers than there were charges laid.

The article mentioned that 8 of the 19 charges were in Toronto. I couldn't find the raw data anywhere.

[MidTowner]

I did leave myself some wiggle room by saying "almost impossible". I think it is fair to say that it is a difficult law to enforce. The fact that (1) the Ottawa police using this equipment made the news and actually caused a bit of an online stir (maybe only noticed by those who follow cycling news...) and more importantly (2) there were 19 total charges laid in the province in almost a year, would seem to support that.

I wonder how many cyclists received the increased fine ($110 up from $20) for improper lighting and reflectors that was passed at the same time. Now that's an easy law to enforce.

When you say it’s difficult, what makes you say that? Speed limits are practically impossible to enforce objectively without special equipment, so police forces equip themselves with that equipment. But they can and do enforce speed limits even without the use of that equipment when it’s abundantly clear that the rule is being broken. Police could do that with this rule, too: it can be pretty obvious when a motorist is passing someone on a bicycle too closely, and at least some of those times there must be a police officer around. The fact that they only laid 19 charges in nearly a year means that practically none of them were trying.

[chutten]

Here's a thinker: Ride Like a Girl

[highlander]

When you say it’s difficult, what makes you say that? Speed limits are practically impossible to enforce objectively without special equipment, so police forces equip themselves with that equipment.

If every police force in Ontario equips police officers with the Ottawa style range measurement device, that seems like a pretty good equivalent to speed traps - special initiatives to catch people breaking the law in places that it is problematic. So enforcement of both laws is probably equivalent for these cases.

But they can and do enforce speed limits even without the use of that equipment when it’s abundantly clear that the rule is being broken. Police could do that with this rule, too: it can be pretty obvious when a motorist is passing someone on a bicycle too closely, and at least some of those times there must be a police officer around. The fact that they only laid 19 charges in nearly a year means that practically none of them were trying.

Can you clarify how they enforce speed limits without special equipment? As far as I know, all the penalties for speeding require a measurement of the speed the vehicle is travelling. There is no way for a police officer driving a car to measure the passing distance of another car to a cyclist. This would be the equivalent of radar/lidar in police vehicles. Perhaps video would verify after the fact, but I would imagine the police officer would still have to make the judgment call at the time. So how close does the police officer have to be for their estimation of the passing distance to be reliable?

The chances of a police officer being around for the less than one second duration of the offence are also significantly lower than for someone who is speeding.