I've done a lot of cycling this year. In June, I took part in the Valley Granfondo, and more recently, I tagged along with the Cops for Cancer Tour de Valley to write a feature about one of their training rides.
I ride three or four times a week, mostly in the mornings before work, maybe a longer ride on the weekend.
I'm cautious when I'm on the road. I use hand signals, I have red flashing LED lights on the back of my bike, I wear cycling clothes in colours so bright they're visible from space.
But I know that no matter how careful I am, one bad driver could end my ride.
I've had a few alarming incidents with reckless or aggressive drivers, but I've been lucky. Other riders, experienced and careful, haven't been so fortunate.
On July 12, a rider died and two others were seriously injured when a car crashed into them during the Okanagan Granfondo.
On July 7,, while they were on a training ride near Prince George. The driver allegedly fled the scene, but a suspect was arrested later.
Obviously, those deaths have hit close to home for a lot of riders, including me.
I've always had the possibility of a crash in the back of my mind.
When I go for a ride, I always take my driver's licence, because I worry that if I got hit by a car and flung into a ditch, and I was too badly hurt to speak, I'd need ID so the paramedics could contact my family.
If you bring up cycling, a lot of non-cyclists will react negatively. A significant minority of drivers, if you suggest bike lanes or car-free streets or lower speed limits, will turn tomato-red and start ranting about a war on cars. They will also remember every single time they saw a cyclist do something dangerous or stupid, like rolling through a red light.
It's true, some cyclists break the rules of the road. So do some drivers, of course.
The difference is potential consequences.
Drivers are worried that cyclists will reduce their parking options, make them five minutes late, or, at worst, leave a head-shaped dent in their car door.
Cyclists are worried that drivers will kill them.
Cars weigh thousands of pounds and can travel at more than 100 km/h. Every driver is a potential threat to their own safety, and to the safety of everyone else on the roads, parking lots, and nearby sidewalks.
Any discussion of cycling safety, bike commuting, or bike lanes that doesn't take this incredible disparity into account is a waste of time.
Pretending that drivers and cyclists are on an equal footing is nonsense. If we want more people to take up cycling, and most of us would agree that's a laudable goal, we need to start by remembering that cyclists are vulnerable, and drivers are not. If we keep pretending otherwise, careful, experienced cyclists will keep dying on our roads.
