Okay... I wrote 2 letters to politicians today. I'm a good nag. Haha. This is to support Margaret and her letter to the city.

Dear Mayor Miller and Councillors,

I think you're doing a great job in running this city. It covers a huge amount of area and encompasses the dense downtown core as well as the post World War Two "bedroom community" suburbs of the former boroughs of Metro Toronto.

I also wish that I could fill this email with compliments and congratulations, but I can't, mainly because of the danger that I and thousands of other Torontonians are in day after day on our streets.

The other day, my friend Margaret was yelled at, belittled, and endangered when a motorist took offense at her making a left turn at Dundas & River St. Margaret is an experienced cyclist who is on the Toronto Cycling Committee, and was turning like cyclists are taught to in many local and national instructional course - like any other vehicle. Because of this motorist's ignorance of her right to be on the streets of Toronto, he called her unpleasant names and attempted to force her into the curb with his pickup truck.

While I am obviously upset that this happened to my friend, I am more upset that this is not, by far, an isolated incident. I'm someone who bikes to work on all but the very coldest days of the winter in our great city, and Every Single Day am cut off, or passed to closely by, or harassed by a driver who thinks that because I'm not in a car I don't have a right to be on the roads.

This is my 3rd year of commuting by bike... I'm not a novice. I know what is proper cycling practice and what isn't. I show respect for car drivers in that I abide by the same rules as they do... stopping at red lights, not passing open streetcar doors, etc. Yet, every day, I'm treated like a second-class citizen by drivers who think that a bicycle is a toy for kids, rather than a low-cost, healthy, and environmentally beneficial way to get around Toronto.

I know for certain that the property tax I give to the City of Toronto every year goes into our roads, and in that sense, I have more of a right to use our roads than a driver from Brampton or Newmarket commuting by car has, whatever my mode of transportation. Why then, are all drivers automatically more important than cyclists and pedestrians in our city? If we are all equal... why don't drivers know this?

Since the Canadian Automobile Association says that the average car costs $9,000 per year to own and operate, I believe it would be smart to adopt some "alternative" transportation policies which will encourage transit, cycling and walking. Since I don't own a car, $9,000 of my money is going into Toronto's economy each year, instead of being given to car and oil companies.

If more Torontonians took transit, biked or walked, we'd not only have a more livable city with breathable air, but a cleaner one.

I look forward to a cleaner, more equitable future on our roads with you.

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Two cyclists were killed in Toronto yesterday, both hit by large trucks: Toronto Star Article

- Gary (pukegreen.com)

By  Anonymous, at 7:41 AM