Never mind how well motorists comply with that traffic device, when we put magik paint down to provide for childlike cyclists, motorists will obey them!

It’s certainly more effective than standing on the corner staring at your feet, which is what most peds do here. They’ve been beaten into submission.

A friend moved here 10 years ago from Portland and damn near got himself killed several times trying to cross the street. He thought he could just step off the curb into a crosswalk and motorists would yield. Rude awakening. Crosswalks are meaningless here except to the motorists who regard them as target ranges.

This seems to convey the message “I’m not just hanging out here, but want to cross.” So I seem to get a higher compliance rate. I’ve been in Naples so much that I seem to have trained some of the car drivers what to expect.

That’s the “official” way to do it here. See:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jessflickr/112005416/

Parts of A1A have raised medians, while other sections are dual-left-turn areas, spaced closely enough to keep motorists from using them as a passing zone. The raised section is cut for “pedestrian safety” areas. As I pedaled on A1A yesterday, I saw a family cross into this area and stopped in my lane. The vehicle operator behind me had to stop, obviously, but what really surprised me was that the second lane vehicle operator also stopped to allow the family to cross, along with foot traffic in the other direction. I think more than a few people learned something yesterday, if only for a brief moment.

It truly made my day.

As to everything else, if one were to make a video with everything in it that I think should be in, it would be a lot longer than what The Star is going to go for. That’s editing. No matter what one puts in or out it is always possible to criticise the choice.

You’re right about cyclists spending a lot of time among pedestrians in Toronto. There are many intersections that I go through in which the pedestrian traffic is several times that of the car traffic. I’ve seen a lot of cyclists being inconsiderate of pedestrians. It’s an issue we’re struggling to deal with. Unfortunately, the human race has a certain percentage of obnoxious jerks. When they get on a bike there’s going to be problems.

Commuter mode share: Riding of Toronto Centre in 2006

38% – Public transit
34% – Bicycle and walking
28% – Car: passenger or driver

Most of the “public transit” will also be walking a block or two to get to their final destination, so the pedestrian density is high.

That video contains the most dangerous thing I’ve ever seen in a cycling video—it’s the only on-bike clip. It’s so stunningly stupid, it overshadows all the other flaws and oversights in the “safety” video.

If one is going to make a safety video, it’s appropriate to include at least a few of the common mistakes that get cyclists killed. Like staying out of the door zone (which she doesn’t) and not passing on the right in intersections and understanding the blind spots and turning radii of trucks. She talks about a tail light, but not a headlight. ??? 95% of crashes happen in FRONT of a cyclist. But flowers make her more visible.

After explaining how to cross streetcar tracks, she proceeds to ride TOTALLY in the door zone sandwiched between parked cars and parallel tracks! If she swerves to avoid a door, or pedestrian, she will snag the rail track and get thrown into the middle of the travel lane and be run over.

The pedestrian info was good. But kinda make you think cyclists spend a lot of time among pedestrians in Toronto.

I find it disturbing that you think normal and low key is more important than giving people information that might save their lives. Let’s just gloss it over. Their families can cry for them when they get run over by trucks. And if we play our cards right no one will ever know that is a completely preventable crash type… if the cyclist had just been INFORMED instead of LURED.

Fear-mongering is not necessary to promote safe behavior. But understanding risks and how to avoid them is essential to keeping cyclists safe.

http://www.thestar.com/videozone/638869

Note how everything is normal and low-key. It assumes normal people cycle in normal clothing. There are no helmets, jerseys, lycra, spandex or any other “road warrior” equipment. None of that sort of stuff is even mentioned, except for the weird interpolated slide after the video is over. Looks like The Star’s editors freaked out.