Jim Kenzie, the Toronto Star's chief automotive correspondent, has a curious attitude to the recent Ontario Legislature private member's bill on a safe distance for passing bicycles.
http://thestar.blogs.com/kenzie/2010/05/cyclists-get-a-grip-on-something-other-than-your-handlebars.html
Jim it's a pity that someone with your public platform has such little understanding of the moral responsibility that comes with operating tons of machinery, at speed, in a public space. The attitude you describe should be kept to the race track, or at least to controlled access highways where you won't encounter legitimate, vulnerable road users such as pedestrians and cyclists.
I both drive and cycle, and I can tell you that if you look down the road the way a skilled driver does, instead of at your hood ornament or blackberry, there's never a need to 'swerve' into another lane to pass a cyclist at a safe distance. There's also a level of driver courtesy that rises above the 'intimidation with a deadly weapon' approach to interacting with other legitimate road users.
If driver training taught, and courts enforced, a level of responsibility that would actually reduce the mayhem, deaths and maimings on our roadways, motorists who behave the way you imply would soon find themselves in the back of the cab, taking the bus, or dare I say, riding a bicycle.
The wind from passing vehicles blowing bicycles over is, I believe, largely a myth except in extreme situations. The danger is much more from drivers who create a situation where a slight error in judgement from either operator can lead to death. The other aspect of this are the threats, both deliberate and unintended, from drivers who think passing within a few inches at speed is the way to go.
Oh, and for any driver who doesn't have an accurate sense of the distance between their vehicle and other people's children whom they're passing, there are remedial driving programs available.
Archived
1 year ago
