11042 replies to this topic

[jonny]

^ You can't use only the Goose to get in and out of town. You will have to us a bicycle lane or regular roadway at points. 

 

This accident was clearly the Mini driver's fault. You will fail your driver's test if you don't shoulder check in situations such as this. Any conversation of a cube van is irrelevant as the vehicle in question is clearly a Mini. 

 

He/she could have just as easily have run over a mom jogging with a stroller on the sidewalk or a kid riding their bicycle on the sidewalk or a guy out for a morning run. 

 

That being said, right hooking is really easy to do. When I cycle I try to be ultra vigilant in these situations and try to not ride in blind spots. Hopefully everybody involved is OK. 

[Cassidy]

I live beside the Goose, but will have to venture onto roadways on the East side of the New Blue Bridge, let's say 95% on the Goose if that works.

 

In my post, I didn't make note of a cube van as the vehicle involved in the accident, I made reference to a cube van traveling BEHIND the vehicle in the accident:

"If you're driving and you've got a big van, a one ton cube, or even a pick-up with a camper on it immediately behind you"

 

It is, in effect, completely blocking the Mini's view of what may or may not be present in the bike lane, and therefore completely relevant (contrary to your assertion otherwise).

Edited by Cassidy, 19 February 2019 - 12:18 PM.

[Victoria Watcher]

right hooking is also somewhat easy to avoid as a cyclist. don’t pass cars at any significant speed in any situation where they have a right turn option.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 19 February 2019 - 12:06 PM.

[Jackerbie]

Neither would I, which is why I plan on using only the Goose to get in and out of town when I purchase my electric bike.

Nothing is 100% safe when you're sitting on a bike with your body 100% exposed to whatever might accidentally hit you, but at least on the Goose you don't have this kind of right hand turn situation lurking to bite you.

 

Which brings me to my next point, which is actually a cycling question.

Where, in the downtown core, does one safely lock up an electric bicycle for the full workday when one can't put the said bicycle in their office?

So far, I can only really see the locked cage at the Bay Centre ($30,00 per month) as fulfilling that requirement?

Are there other safe locations for locking up bicycles that I'm unaware of?

 

I'll be a fair weather cyclist to and from work, all in an effort to live a few more years, lose a bit of excess weight ... and hopefully still be around to walk my daughter down the aisle when the time comes to do so

 

City parkades and the Broughton Square parkade (Robbins) have bike parking near the attendant kiosk, but I can't comment on how secure these spaces are. I believe they're just racks, so you'd be relying on casual surveillance from the attendant and whatever lock you use for security.

[jonny]

[Nparker]

https://youtu.be/vG4a8e3XU38

[Cassidy]

If there was a cube van closely following this car, and hugging the bike lane white line ... the car wouldn't see this cyclist who, if they were doing 40kph would hit the car as it turned into the driveway.

The driver wouldn't see the bike because the cube van blocks his/her view rearward, and the cyclist wouldn't see the cars turn signal because the same cube van blocks their view forward.

 

https://www.google.c...!7i13312!8i6656

[Cassidy]

City parkades and the Broughton Square parkade (Robbins) have bike parking near the attendant kiosk, but I can't comment on how secure these spaces are. I believe they're just racks, so you'd be relying on casual surveillance from the attendant and whatever lock you use for security.

Not to disparage City parkade workers, but my own experience is that they don't pay too much attention to anything beyond their cash registers.

The advantage is the City parkades are free to use, and the Bay parkade is $30,00 per month ... but the Bay parkade has a totally enclosed and locked bike cage, and they also offer some sort of change room to change into "work" clothes.

[jonny]

When driving a motor vehicle it is the driver's duty to know their surroundings at all times. When mirrors are used properly, they're pretty clutch.

 

Why are you so obsessed with this tailgating cube van angle? Do you have any evidence that this is what occurred? 

[FogPub]

what’s the design solution though? a separated lane still would have a gap for the vehicle entry. no bike lane at all would likely be safer here.

Solution is no lane at all on the downhill part and have bikes take their place in the traffic flow - and yes that means no overtaking on the right!  If the car in front of you stops, you stop.  EDIT TO ADD: A bike lane on the uphill side of the road, however, makes lots of sense.

 

Other solution, of course, is to ban bikes from that side of the road entirely as there's a perfectly good alternate - and flat - route through the Songhees from Spinnaker's Pub around to the traffic light at the bottom of that hill...or to the Goose.

Edited by FogPub, 19 February 2019 - 01:03 PM.

[Cassidy]

When driving a motor vehicle it is the driver's duty to know their surroundings at all times. When mirrors are used properly, they're pretty clutch.

Why are you so obsessed with this tailgating cube van angle? Do you have any evidence that this is what occurred? 

My point (which you're missing, which is OK) is that it takes little or nothing to obscure a drivers view of any particular angle, and further that it's only the cyclist who gets maimed or worse.

 

You want to put it all on the driver ... OK, go ahead and do so.

But other than feeling bad, and perhaps getting sued, the driver is never going to be the one in pain, or dead.

[Victoria Watcher]

then it’s back to the bike. screaming down the hill and passing cars is reckless. variable rates of speed for cars going in the same direction we know is problematic. so is car/bike or at least when the bike is the faster object.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 19 February 2019 - 01:14 PM.

[DustMagnet]

The driver could experience emotional pain, and feel dead inside.

As for the the security of a bicycle downtown Victoria... take it in your office.  Maybe a rental lockup cage would work but only if it's valet.  As soon as other people have access to your secure facility it is by definition no longer secure (e.g. see "secure" bike rooms in condo buildings).

 

Maybe hanging out in The Stolen Bicycle Avengers ( - which is poorly named as there's no actual avenging going on - has biased my view of the situation but I frankly expect my bike to be grabbed out from under me when I am downtown.

[Cassidy]

As for the the security of a bicycle downtown Victoria... take it in your office.  Maybe a rental lockup cage would work but only if it's valet.  As soon as other people have access to your secure facility it is by definition no longer secure (e.g. see "secure" bike rooms in condo buildings).

Good point, having walked down there to the Bay to look at it, there would be around 30+ people with a key to the lock-up, and no attendant anywhere near-by. Seems I need to reevaluate riding a bike to and from work.

I literally can't get the bike into my office space, as the elevator is too small (think the 2 person variety), and the stairwell too narrow and tight to even start to get a bike into.

 

Seems somewhat of an nasty joke, the COV spends multi-millions on bike lanes, but nobody can ride a bike to and from work in the downtown core due to the relative guarantee that their bike will (at some point) be stolen.

Does the VicPD even take stolen bike reports any longer?

[Coreyburger]

Seems somewhat of an nasty joke, the COV spends multi-millions on bike lanes, but nobody can ride a bike to and from work in the downtown core due to the relative guarantee that their bike will (at some point) be stolen.

Does the VicPD even take stolen bike reports any longer?

 

Yes, and they do a decent job of finding stolen bikes & returning them to their owners.

[Victoria Watcher]

you think a bike thief is paying $30/mo. and she’s provided her id to the bay centre and is just waiting for your bike?

[jonny]

You want to put it all on the driver ... OK, go ahead and do so.

 

We know you don't like people riding bicycles. Why you even participate in this thread given that fact is kind of weird, but OK.

 

Legally this is all on the car driver. Like I said, same thing could have happened to a pedestrian. Or a skateboarder. Or a jogger. Or a rollerblader. Or a kid on a razor.

 

You can go on and on about obscured views all you want, but the fact of the matter is it's the motor vehicle driver who is liable in a right hook situation. This game you play with cyclists has run its course. Why don't you play the same game with the many more people who are injured while using motor vehicles?

 

then it’s back to the bike. screaming down the hill and passing cars is reckless. 

 

Passing cars is reckless. Alrighty then. 

[Victoria Watcher]

passing cars that are not stopped then. passing cars that might turn. whatever. that bike could have employed a strategy to avoid the crash. but didn’t. few would. but it was preventable if the bike had been going slower.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 19 February 2019 - 02:06 PM.

[Cassidy]

We know you don't like people riding bicycles. Why you even participate in this thread given that fact is kind of weird, but OK.

This game you play with cyclists has run its course. Why don't you play the same game with the many more people who are injured while using motor vehicles?

I can't help you understand what you're not able to understand, sorry.

 

More importantly though, who made you the V.V. bicycle thread cop?

Forgive me, but I won't be taking any advice from you on what the substance of my posts will consist of, or what threads I might decide to post to.

In fact I've decided to up my participation in this thread, such that I'll now be commenting on each and every post made.

I'll keep a sharp eye out for your own posts, and be sure to chime in with a deep critical analysis of your observations, accompanied by a detailed response of my own!

[nagel]

Cassidy, IMO the lack of secure bike parking downtown is now one of the biggest barriers to cycling.  My wife works around Quadra and Johnson, and they do not provide secure bike parking at all, and we both agree it's not worth the risk to leave her expensive electric cargo bike out front on the bike rack.  So there's lots of trips that are made by car instead of by bike.  I also choose to not bike at certain times due to the fear of having the bike stolen.  In fact at one bike advocacy meeting another advocate looked out the window and saw my bike (they didn't know it was mine) and said "what idiot would park that bike right there?", and yes, I was watching it like a hawk the entire time.  

 

In Vancouver there are now some secure public bike parking facilities at Skytrain stations, with more being added in the future.  Nothing beats a workplace lockup.  We need public solutions too, perhaps paid facilities in current parkades.