Joe Takes On Pedal Pushers

Pedal-pushers a problem

By JOE WARMINGTON

Considering there were two elderly women in his way, the guy on the bike was pretty skilled to avoid hitting them.

Two centimetres here, four there, and who knows, maybe you need an ambulance.

Imagine the nerve of those women walking on the sidewalk like that -- you know blocking this young guy on his bike from getting to the next section of Queen St. W. where a woman with a stroller had to veer out of his way.

Darn pedestrians!

Did they not get the memo from City Hall? You know the one -- "Yield to those on bike because they are king." Truth is, this gutless weasel on this bike, one of dozens like him I witnessed yesterday, is actually breaking the rules.

Toronto Police Traffic Service Sgt. Tim Burrows was telling me adults are not permitted to ride their bicycles on city sidewalks under any circumstances, or ride on pedestrian crosswalks to hedge their bets to get through traffic intersections faster.

They don't seem to be listening. It happens everywhere.

Now for sure, there are some skilled and law-abiding cyclists but there are some huffy and puffy ones, too -- cursing drivers but breaking every darned rule of the road that exists.

"They think they are above the law," says security officer George Vavoulis, who sees it all the time. "I can tell you, people on bikes do more violations of the traffic laws than anybody else."

In five hours in different locations yesterday, I saw plenty to back that up.

Many don't wear helmets or abide by stoplights or signs, don't wait their turn in traffic and instead fly up the right or left of it. Many are hazards to themselves and everybody else, which is not really fair since they don't pay for licensing or insurance or the tax charged for every fuel fill-up that maintains the roads.

But as bad as some of these cyclists are, there is nothing lower than riding on a sidewalk.

Read on.....