Citizen Bytes

I cycle to work often so I understand the challenges that cyclists face when riding throughout the city. When competing for space on the roads cyclists also need to watch out for potholes and other hazards that cars see only as an inconvenience.

Every major route in this city should have bike lanes. I for one feel that much safer when using an established bike lane.

Let me put on my auto driver's hat for a moment. I do find that a large number of cyclists do not adhere to the rules of the road. 4 way stops, traffic lights and signals mean nothing to many cyclists.

This also creates some stress to drivers who try to assess what type of cyclist (responsible or otherwise) they are dealing with.

Should I assume that a cyclist will stop at a 4 way or should I assume that all cyclists will ride right through? As a group cyclists need to earn some of that respect as well.

First off I agree, everyone- car drivers, cyclists, all governments need to work to get more lanes and safer road sharing for bikes.

However, in this specific case from video City TV showed from a security camera, the bikers came up the left side of the car and attempted to turn right infront of the car- and guess what, got hit. Not smart, not good.

But, I am all for getting better bike lanes, better saftey programs in place because I believe we need more bikes (and motorbikes) on the road to make some environmental impact on our poor planet.

Bambrick's statement that a failure by government "to take bicycles seriously" is at the heart of the tragedy is simply incorrect. This had nothing to do with the ordinary type of conflict between bikers and motorists. Rather, it is becoming increasingly apparent that what was at the heart of the incident was a drunk, angry bike courier who was looking for trouble.

Bikers do need to be considered in transportation policy. But for the biking community to latch on to this incident does their cause a disservice.

Like it or not, there is a culture of bikers - many of them couriers - who give a bad name to bicyclists generally. Weaving in and out of traffic, blowing through lights, and an incredibly annoying "holier than thou" attitude are all real problems.

So are bikers who key cars, or slam U-locks against them. All indications are that Sheppard was part of this group. Combine that with booze and an angry temperament, and you have a recipe for violent confrontation.

It is a shame that Sheppard was killed. But let's not turn this into something it wasn't. This is not a 'Bonfire of the Vanities' type of incident, notwithstanding the whining of the leftard lobby.

Based on the available information, Bryant was attacked by an angry drunk bike courier, and did what almost anyone else would have done: he tried to get away.

Apparently Sheppard was grabbing his throat and the steering wheel, which is why the car was swerving on the street. Did Sheppard deserve to die? No. But did he create the situation that killed him? I would say yes.

The fact is, we live in a country in which biking is not a viable option for most people for at least a third of the year. Bikes may supplement cars, but they will never replace them. Bikes will never be the primary transportation policy focus. Get over it.

I am saddened by the way the press seems to be disparaging the late biker's reputation.

As a 41 year old busines owner and biker, if a car strikes you on your bike, there is very little a bicyclist can do to stop the car from speeding away and leaving the biker responsible for repairs and damage.

If the said convertible struck the biker and bicycle, it seems clear the cyclist would try to stop the car from speeding away in order to 1 - report the collision 2 - to get names and contact of the driver. Seems to me the first collision caused the entire tragedy.

Not to clear about the driver zooming from the scene to a nearby hotel - Is this legal? Seems like the ex-attorney general has some scared police, legal types, and press rolling out the red carpet to presume the driver is innocent.

I do not see it this way - simply review the interviews of the witnesses at the scene. I look forward to seeing the video also but I bet they are sequestered somewhere and never make the light of day. My two cents. Dan

Fight to be able to use the sidewalks. A cyclist hitting a pedestrian is no where near as devastating as a car hitting a cyclist.

Don't like having to slow down to avoid pedestrians? Now you know how cars feel with having to avoid cyclists.

I drive and bike, and I would have to say the least amount of respect on the roads comes from drivers. I hear the most complaints from drivers, especially if the cyclist is the middle of the road on left turns, or on the side of the road of narrow streets.

I have been hit by mirrors on the sides of cars as they pass, and avoided several accidents were I just knew the driver ahead was not going to see me. You have to be a very defensive cyclist. Yes, there are some bad cyclists on the roads, but the amount of bad drivers is a hundred fold.

I cycle on roads in ottawa because I bike faster than the speed limits that are on the pathways here in the city (15 to 20km/hr), and also the bike paths tend to take you kilometers out of your way most of the times.

When the horrible accident involving several cyclists happened here in Ottawa this summer, the police did a crack down for a week or so, which I thought was going to be a good thing, until I found out that mostly cyclist were being fined (mostly cyclists who were biking on the sidewalks, which is dumb, but when you have a 2 ton car almost hitting you daily I can see why they would)

I wish I had the answers for this issue, but just common sense and respect would go a long way.

I am an avid cyclist and have clocked large numbers of hours in Toronto streets. I am displeased with the media handling of this, exasperated by well-intentioned spokespersons such as Bambrick.

There is nothing more obvious from the descriptions and the charges than that this recent news is not about cycling. It is about a tragic innterraction between a pedestrian and a car.

The fact that there may have been an earlier bicycle incident is a mere sidelight to the important events the other evening. Bryant had a tragic interraction with a pedestrian hanging to his car door.

I see no benefit in claiming this is a cycling event.