More Carnage on the Highway- When Will We Learn?
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 07. 2.08
There are not a lot of choices when one decides to bicycle across Canada; there is really just the two-lane Trans-Canada Highway that is shared by every transport truck, sober or drunk driver or cyclist trying to cross the country, like Daniel Hurtubise and his two kids were, along with Robert Carrier, who left his six kids at home. Hurtubise had juvenile Diabetes, but was riding "to show that the disease does not stop people from living an active lifestyle." But cars do, very effectively; They were all struck from behind by a Honda Civic, and Hurtubise and Carrier were killed, while the kids were sent to hospital. The Ride of A Lifetime ended early.
It is the main route across the country, but is maintained by the provinces it passes through. In Manitoba the road was built in the sixties so it is unchanged from when I rode across it- narrow and very scary- dead straight and flat so everyone speeds, and when the trucks pass by you are either almost blown off the road or sucked into its draft.
Cyclist Mike Caslor, who commutes on a bike on the highway notes “It’s a bit amazing to me that the Trans-Canada Highway does not have paved shoulders consistently,” he said. “There are sections of the highway even between Winnipeg and Portage that don’t have a paved shoulder; it’s very dangerous for cyclists, and a quite an inconvenience for motorists as well.” ::Herald-leader
According to the CBC,: "The particular section of the Trans-Canada Highway where the cyclists were killed was constructed in the 1960s,[assistant executive director for Manitoba Infrastructure] McMahon said. It is not scheduled to be upgraded in the near future, he said.
McMahon did not know exactly how much it cost to pave a highway's shoulders, but described it as very expensive."
But we live in a world where more and more people are going to be looking at cycling as an important mode of transportation, and we hope more and more of them will be taking bike vacations. Its time to find the money to put in those shoulders and make it safe for cyclists.
When I did the same trip many years ago I was hugging the edge of the road near Headingly, Manitoba, when a transport truck went by at high speed. Ahead was a deep pothole which I could not avoid, so I went into it and was thrown over my handlebars and only good luck threw me to the right onto the shoulder instead of the left under the wheels of the truck. It is unimaginable to me that all these years and all these thousands of cyclists later, nothing has changed and it is still a deathtrap.
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Very sad story
Some people probably never will learn to be careful and pay attention behind the wheel. Hopefully, higher gas prices will result in smaller vehicles, lower speeds, and most importantly lower fatality rates going forward. There is no reason that the US should lead the world in traffic fatalities per capita.
Rest In Peace Daniel, and a speedy recovery to his children. Such a terrible thing - I hope the drunk never gets behind a the wheel ever again, and has to live with this hanging over him for life (with a good portion behind bars).
I have a friend is currently mid-way through her Trans-Canada adventure...
@JonT: Where did it say the driver was drunk? I think that would have been made pretty clear if it was the case. The lack of a shoulder combined with a bad / inattentive driver seems to be the culprit here.
Tragedy either way, but details are important.
"When will we ever learn" bikes and cars don't mix well. If there are no place in the road for both to share the weaker will give way. Drunk or not it does not matter. Why push yourself? America (I guess Canada also) is/are not made for bicycle ridership. The car rules. Perhaps gas prices will change that, but it is not yet. Given our habits and politics it will be a long time coming. My condolences to the family.
I'm not sure why you assume that it was a bad or inattentive driver that was at fault. I live in San Francisco, and I can tell you that without a doubt the worst, most recless drivers on the streets are all bicyclists. When I'm walking I nearly get run over, and when I'm driving I'm constantly getting cut off.
When you are riding a bike in an area not designed for it, you need to make sure that you are staying out of the way of cars.
There are only a few ways to mak biking on the roads safer.
1. Increase the number of bicyclists on the road to the point where drivers encounter them regularly. Familiarity will get people used to thinking about them, I hope. This also can have the side effect of increasing construction of bike infrastructure.
2. Require how to deal with cyclists to be part of the requirements to get a license to drive.
3. Increase education among cyclists on how to safely bike on the road, how to deal with cars, etc. Too many people get on bikes without realizing how different the experience will be from driving.
4. Clarify laws about bikes on the road. Where are the rights and responsibilities of cars and bikes the same, and in what ways do they differ?
3 in particular is very open ended. It may mean licensing and insurance for bikers, or new kinds of tickets, or new roles and responsibilities for traffic cops, like ticketing bikers who do unsafe things. Have you ever seen a bike pulled over?
If I read this correctly, these cyclists died on a highway. I've never known a highway to be designed bicycle friendly. Maybe their intentions were all good and honorable, but I wouldn't risk my life for the trip. It seems naive. I'd rather try to free-climb El Capitan.
I no longer drive my bicycle on the shoulder.
I take a full lane just like a motorcycle and pretend I am a car. This forces drivers to change lanes when passing, and is far safer.
(I also use an Electric power assist bicycle so I can keep up to traffic and not slow things down much).
This is a tragic event that did not need to happen. I am very sorry this happened, and my sincere condolences go out to those immediately affected, but one way of looking at this is that it was a poorly-prepared-for stunt. Before you can even apply the rules of effective cycling in moving from place to place, you must choose your route. If these cyclists were aware that "the road was built in the sixties so it is unchanged ... narrow and very scary- dead straight and flat so everyone speeds, and when the trucks pass by you are either almost blown off the road or sucked into its draft", then why did they not cycle with a follow car with blinkers on? If they were not aware of this, then why didn't they do their homework?
A cross-country cycle ride, even one with sympathetic roads, requires planning. I find it hard to see how this event, even it had come off as planned, relates to the reality of every-day practical cycling. Practical cycling is cycling to and from work and errands. This is where bicycles can displace cars. But even doing that in areas where you are familiar with the roads, you must plan your route.
This is a tragic event that did not need to happen. I am very sorry this happened, and my sincere condolences go out to those immediately affected, but one way of looking at this is that it was a poorly-prepared-for stunt. Before you can even apply the rules of effective cycling in moving from place to place, you must choose your route. If these cyclists were aware that "the road was built in the sixties so it is unchanged ... narrow and very scary- dead straight and flat so everyone speeds, and when the trucks pass by you are either almost blown off the road or sucked into its draft", then why did they not cycle with a follow car with blinkers on? If they were not aware of this, then why didn't they do their homework?
A cross-country cycle ride, even one with sympathetic roads, requires planning. I find it hard to see how this event, even it had come off as planned, relates to the reality of every-day practical cycling. Practical cycling is cycling to and from work and errands. This is where bicycles can displace cars. But even doing that in areas where you are familiar with the roads, you must plan your route.