Speed limit on bicycles ?!?!

[Dr.Manhattan]

I was on lunch and having some subway today, and grabbed the Toronto Sun. I was reading the article on the whole Bicycle courier incident, and there plans to change bicycle laws. They were trying to implement that EVERYONE by law has to wear a helmet on a bicycle. Also, that all bikes need to be registered in order to ride, and finally, the real kicker, bicycle speed limits.

Now, seriously, how ridiculous is all of that. They went on to elaborate that it all sounds extremely hard, and unethical, however they are gonna attempt to push it into legislation.

[Rossi86]

Welcome to Ontario, the land of people with limited abilities!

[Bandit Bill]

More duplicate laws. You can already be tried under the HTA for exceeding the speed limit on a bicycle. If they want to bring the speed limits for bicycles under that of other vehicles, well, good luck with that..

[Rossi86]

Next we're looking to put speed limits on people who go for a jog in the morning. If you go over 10 km/hr the police has the power to impound your running shoes for a week and you have to wear ankle cuffs for up to 10 years.

[CruisnGrrl]

all this is going to do is make congestion worse

and what about people from out of town

[Rob MacLennan]

I was on lunch and having some subway today, and grabbed the Toronto Sun. I was reading the article on the whole Bicycle courier incident, and there plans to change bicycle laws. They were trying to implement that EVERYONE by law has to wear a helmet on a bicycle. Also, that all bikes need to be registered in order to ride, and finally, the real kicker, bicycle speed limits.

Now, seriously, how ridiculous is all of that. They went on to elaborate that it all sounds extremely hard, and unethical, however they are gonna attempt to push it into legislation.

The same was said when motorcycle helmet laws were put into force. Looking around downtown Toronto it seems that 90%+ or cyclists are already wearing helmets.

As Bill said, cyclists are already bound by the speed limit. Creating a new one for them seems a dubious action, at best. They rarely do that limit as it stands.

The one that I really don't get though, is licensing of cyclists. How do you enforce that? DO they get a UK style tax disk to stick on their bikes? Would they be subject to random stops? Foolish.

[SkinnyPedal]

Unreal. More motivation for people to keep their ***** glued to their couches and get fatter.

[ddusseld]

Speed limit laws are already there.

If you ride your bike on the street you should be subject to the same requirements as all other vehicles on the street. License,registration and insurance. I don't know why anybody would be against this.

I was on lunch and having some subway today, and grabbed the Toronto Sun. I was reading the article on the whole Bicycle courier incident, and there plans to change bicycle laws. They were trying to implement that EVERYONE by law has to wear a helmet on a bicycle. Also, that all bikes need to be registered in order to ride, and finally, the real kicker, bicycle speed limits.

Now, seriously, how ridiculous is all of that. They went on to elaborate that it all sounds extremely hard, and unethical, however they are gonna attempt to push it into legislation.

[BrianZ]

Speed limit laws are already there.

If you ride your bike on the street you should be subject to the same requirements as all other vehicles on the street. License,registration and insurance. I don't know why anybody would be against this.

That's ridiculous! What about a kid riding his bicycle to school? I suppose you want to impose the same restrictions on skateboarders and roller bladers.

[DucDic]

i got stopped once in my teens for speeding on a bicycle...was on spears in oakville coming down the hill on my friends bike, one of those tour de france style ones, cop couldn't believe i was going over 70...i was looking for a hill to try and see how fast i could go, drafted behind a truck, he was slowing to make the turn at the bottom, i didn't see the cop waiting at the intersection to turn as well until i pulled out from the truck...cop had his mouth open looking at me as i went flying past...he was in disbelief that i showed up on his radar, gave me a lecture and sent me on my way...unless you have the perfect conditions, i don't see why there needs to be more laws on speed limits for bikes...try and get up to fifty on one unless you are going down a hill or drafting behind someone...not that easy...

[unL33T]

Personally I don't necessarily think helmets should be mandatory on a bicycle. I also don't think registration or insurance should even be mandatory. However, I think that a free/really cheap licence should be required just to ensure that people on bicycles actually know what rules they're supposed to be following (then they have no excuse currently I hardly ever see a cyclist actually obeying road rules) and I think they if they are involved in a collision of which they are at fault they should pay for damages out of pocket. None of this uninsured motorist ******** I keep hearing about.

Oh yeah, bicycles already are supposed to obey the speed limits. Why bother adding a special bike limit?

[Gnu]

That's ridiculous! What about a kid riding his bicycle to school? I suppose you want to impose the same restrictions on skateboarders and roller bladers.

So kids should be above the law? My kid's dirt bikes need to be plated and insured (and they are not even ridden on the road!) so bikes should be no different.

[RetroGrouch]

Yeah, lots of anti-bicycle rhetoric flying around City Hall these days. But I can relate to their frustration. I've been an avid bicyclist for almost 30 years until sidelined with an injury a couple of years ago. I got on the pedal bike again this past summer and realized things have changed and not for the better. Yes, there are still a lot of drivers that treat cyclists as second class citizens but it's shocking how many bad cyclists there are now. I'm not a safety dweeb that obeys all laws 100% of the time but I understand the rule of right of way which is completely overlooked by many cyclists that I see in downtown Toronto. Now I do roll through reds and stop signs but only after I check there is no oncoming traffic. I have no issues with that but I do have issues with cyclists blowing through reds and stops without so much as a glance to check for other traffic. Everyday I see cyclists riding and talking on the phone, texting, smoking, holding a coffee, listening to their music players, all things that distract from paying complete attention to the road. Also I noticed the majority of cyclists do not obey crosswalks and streetcar doors, they merely use the pedestrians as pylons for their personal obstacle course. I would hate to get a bicycle license or be forced to wear a helmet but until cyclists clean up their acts it may be inevitable.

[Mark Duc]

No wonder the rest of he country are LTAO @ T. I vote for all cyclist to have to be bubble wrapped, in at least 3 layers and wear DOT approved full face helmets. Jeepers weepers, what next.

[GreyGhost]

The stupidest part about this whole thing is it is only Toronto considering this. Saying it is anything other than fundraising is obvious BS. Unless you lived in Toronto, they can't force you to register anything. Hell, the waterfront trail runs through, would they put a kiosk at each end where you can write your license, register your bike and pay your money before you are allowed to enter? This whole idea is so stupid and impractical it hurts.

I would still disagree with most of the law if it was province-wide, but at least it would be enforceable. You can pick up a blanket liablility policy to cover you while outside your car for <$200/yr for $1M, forcing people to have such a policy is not a bad idea.

As far as licensing to ensure cyclists know the rules, I have met very few who don't, they just ignore them, no licensing will make that any better.

Speed limits for bikes have to be the same as speed limits for cars. I can stop faster and am more manoeuvreable than a car, so why should I get a lower speed limit? There are very few places in Toronto where you can exceed the speed limit by more that 10 km/h. It is possible, but those places aren't the locations they are worried about.

[ddusseld]

If they are 16 then by all means. Just like driving a car. You do realize that if a cyclist hits your car and does damage and the cyclist is not insured you are paying for the repair? My feeling is that cyclists want to be respected on the road with all of the rights of a car driver. This comes with a price, all of the responsibilities of a car driver. Very simple.

I understand that this is not doable and will never come about but it should.....

That's ridiculous! What about a kid riding his bicycle to school? I suppose you want to impose the same restrictions on skateboarders and roller bladers.

[TBSS_guy]

They were trying to implement that EVERYONE by law has to wear a helmet on a bicycle. Also, that all bikes need to be registered in order to ride, and finally, the real kicker, bicycle speed limits.

Growing up in Montreal we had posted speed limits on some of the bike paths ...not that we ever obeyed them... and a friend once got a ticket for 70 in a 30 zone while blowing a stop sign...

As for helmet laws, have you SEEN Toronto drivers? I'm afraid to walk around my house without a helmet they're so bad...

[Taternuts]

Back in the day, I was able to sprint a road bike well over 60 km/h. Any time I saw a speed trap I'd give it a go. Never got a ticket but had some cops laughing about it.

[mat2312]

I say we enforce existing legislation and ticket anyone who's running red lights/stop signs or otherwise driving like an idiot, regardless of the vehicle they're operating.


This is such a non-issue....

[SiNNeR]

That's ridiculous! What about a kid riding his bicycle to school? I suppose you want to impose the same restrictions on skateboarders and roller bladers.

skateboarding is illegal most places anyways, lol
blame the candle wax and plumbing torches for that one,