Earlier this month, a 85-year-old cyclist was killed in a hit-and-run accident near Dundas and Hale streets, bringing more conversation around winter cycling and its safety issue.
Shelly Carr is a member of London Cycle link, a volunteer organization dedicated to making the city a place where citizens can easily choose cycling as their preferred mode of daily transportation. She says, “We are all deeply saddened that another cyclist or pedestrian is hit, it is entirely preventable.”
She adds, “This is not just about cyclists using bike lanes, it’s (also) people in scooters, many seniors use the bike lances now because the sidewalks are not pass-able. If you look overall what the city of London does, only one percent of their budget goes to our bike infrastructure.”
The most helpful solution to increase cycling safety no matter what kind of season is to have protected cycling lane.
“We want people to feel safe to ride because we know already statistically that as soon as they put protected bike lanes, bike ridership goes up 21 percent to 171 percent and that is phenomenal,” says Carr.
Shelly Carr, holding a Vision Zero campaign poster, she is a member of London Cycle Link.
City councilor Phil Squire, a London native admits the city’s current infrastructure is not friendly enough for cyclist.
He says, “We have to do better, it is going to get better and we are add our time to our cycling infrastructure. Probably 30 years ago you came to London there would be no cycling infrastructure. It is part of our infrastructure that we have to do and it’s slow to come.”
