They that hazard their lives on the high roadways of Toronto

[flemmings]

Saw these pavement markings as I was biking down St George last week. So now I know what they are. But if I didn't know, how can I expect a car to? Nah, no way you'll find me sitting out in the middle of the street with a Toronto driver behind me. It's bad enough in the parking/ right turn lane where one lurks by law. The go-getter drivers like to slide up behind you and vroom ahead of all the cars in the centre lane, and oh are they pissed if there's a bike waiting at the red light.

Comments

[i-am-zan.livejournal.com]

but people are civilised in your part of the world ... here on LRD the cyclists are as crazy as the drivers! Or rather the Canadians I have met give me that impression. ^_^ ... and I worry now about girl who's taken to zipping about her business and errands on her bicycle. Yeah more white hairs just appeared on my head when that started about three weeks ago.

The number of times I've nearly been run over by bikes and one even stopped to scold me for not watching my son for being in his way on a footpath. There was a bike path alongside the footpath at the time - gah!

[flemmings.livejournal.com]

I sympathize with your worries. But then again, the reason I never learned to ride a bike till I was 29 was because my mother was certain we'd all be slaughtered if we rde bikes and wouldn't let us learn.

Oh, there are more than our share of idiot cyclists here as well. The young are the same everywhere: 'This road is mine!'

[doire]

We have lots of them, but the tarmac inside the box, and an the cycle lane, is dirty pink so it's pretty clear what they are. I liked the green ones in Berlin better.

Our local cyclists tend not to use them except for turning right, cross traffic here, or if the traffic has annoyed them enough already. In fact it's possible that I once discovered a slipping chain when I tried set off in front of a truck that had tried to ease some cyclists off the road a little earlier.

[flemmings.livejournal.com]

Your right turn is our left, and I would never ever make a left on a bicycle, bike box or no bike box, unless there was zero traffc coming in the opposite direction. Drivers don't expect bicycles here, unlike in civilized Europe, and react with outrage that a bicycle dares take up space on the street. In fact one of the current mayoral candidates has said that if a bicyclist gets hit by a car it's the bicyclist's fault for being where they shouldn't be ie on the street. 'Streets are for cars' quote-unquote.

But yes, the temptation to be ohhh so slow off the mark from one's bike box could be overwhelming. Except the driverly fury at having a bicyclist right in front of him might be overwhelming too.