In Regina, the City has gone out of its way to make things friendly for cyclists, even making lanes specifically for them to ride in on some roads.
It makes no difference however. Cyclists in Regina still ride on the sidewalks and I've nearly been hit by them just waiting to cross at stoplights on my way to and from the parkade to get my car before and after work.
I've spoken to them about the fact that they are legally regarded as vehicles and are supposed to be on the road and they give me smart-assed responses. Some of them genuinely seem to believe that it is their legal right to ride on the sidewalk and mow down pedestrians who get in their way!
When cyclists are on the road here, they're almost always riding on the wrong side of the road, increasing their chances of getting hit. The problem is that there are free driving lessons in our Secondary School curriculuum, but apparently no bike safety taught in Elementary School, when it should become ingrained in every kid's brain (as it did in mine growing up in Toronto, where driver education was an expensive luxury—offered in Secondary School, but at a high fee I could not afford).
I didn't learn to drive or get my licence until long after I moved out here and I was 21 (the way some kids here drive, some of them shouldn't be allowed to get their learner's permit until they're 21).
I have one friend here who is an avid cyclist (he often rides in fundraising events, etc) when there isn't snow on the ground (it amazes me how many average guys with worthless bikes ride in the snow here, even when they look like they're going to fall in traffic on icy roads). He wouldn't be caught dead riding on the sidewalk, no matter how much danger or annoyance he endures from motorists. He knows the rules of the road and he obeys them.
We also have a few cops on bikes, but when I see them, they're too busy hanging out with each other, chatting. It appears that there simply is no enforcement for cyclists who don't obey the law here, and that's the biggest problem.
Education at an early age along with enforcement is the only way to get things in line. Rolling out the red carpet with bike lanes, etc doesn't help—the bike lanes aren't everywhere (they also get in the way of motorists being able to turn right without cutting the cyclists off, which results in their hostility), and it gives the cyclists an "entitlement mentality."
Then they get scared in traffic (and this is far from a big, busy city) and jump to the sidewalk when there aren't bike lanes, especially downtown. The only difference when they just about mow you down is that they'll hollar an apology behind them as they keep whizzing past. Better than rude hand signals, but hardly acceptable when they should be stopping and apologizing face-to-face and simply shouldn't be there in the first place.
I'm not a cyclist anymore, but I never rode on the sidewalk here when I was—it would have felt juvenile to me to do so. I never rode on the sidewalk after the age of nine in Toronto, either. We did however, have very detailed bike safety lessons in school.
WTF was he thinking riding up between cars like that.. I don't have a problem with bikes, hell i own one too. But follow the rules!
