A Red Deer cycling group is concerned about road safety after multiple cyclists were sent to hospital following a collision in Sherwood Park this past weekend.
A group of cyclists were hit by a pickup truck on a highway in the large hamlet east of Edmonton Saturday. Five cyclists were transported to hospitals; two suffered serious, non-life-threatening injuries.
Bill Franz, Red Deer Association for Bicycle Commuting (RDABC) president, said as a cyclist, he was shocked to hear about the crash.
“It could have been so much worse,” he said. “They easily could have been killed. I’ve rode on highways … and everybody who does that will have their share of horror stories to tell you.”
Franz said he’s received plenty of verbal abuse while riding on city roads.
“There has been three or four instances this year … where I’ve been honked at, yelled at and sworn at. It’s all verbal, but it’s still disturbing,” he said.
While most drivers are courteous of cyclists, there are some who aren’t, Franz said.
“There’s a small number of people who think they own the road, but that’s not true, it’s a shared space,” said Franz. “I do know an awful lot of people who won’t ride on roads and will only ride on sidewalks because they’re afraid.”
Franz said he believes riding on sidewalks can be dangerous due to cars pulling out of driveways, the narrow paths and poor sight lines.
Sherwood Park MLA Annie McKittrick is working on a private member’s bill to implement a one-metre passing rule for vehicles in Alberta. Franz said this is something the RDABC has wanted in the past.
Franz wrote a letter and sent it to Red Deer-North MLA Kim Schriener and Red Deer-South MLA Barb Miller, asking them to support the bill.
“Provincial governments in other parts of Canada – Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, P.E.I. and Ontario – have passed into law the requirement for drivers to keep a minimum of one metre separation from cyclists when passing,” the letter said.
The letter was also posted on the association’s Facebook and Twitter pages. Franz said he encourages others who support the idea to write letters to their MLAs.
Franz said bicycle lanes in Red Deer do make roads in the city safer. But there should be more bicycle lanes in the city, he added.
“Cyclists know where to be, drivers expect them to be in that lane,” he said, adding there are certain areas with bicycle lanes, such as the Spruce Drive hill, where cycling can still be dangerous.
sean.mcintosh@reddeeradvocate.com
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