Dear editor,
Thank you Mr. Minard — you are one of few in the Valley to really voice your disdain of the cyclists here in "lotus land."
I have been complaining for years to anyone who would listen, including Comox town council, and to no avail. Cyclists are not the only ones to be criticized; the skateboarders and rollerbladers are no angels, but the cyclists are by far the worst offenders.
Let's start with the helmet issue; many young cyclists do not wear proper head protection. Maybe it would mess their hair. There is a law requiring cyclists to wear a helmet, but no enforcement. Maybe the law is to protect local government from lawsuits.
The sidewalks in Comox are not safe for pedestrians. Cyclists, boarders, and rollerbladers go screaming around on the sidewalks and it scares the heck out of non-suspecting users of the sidewalks.
They are walkways, not race tracks. And they will ride two-abreast and expect pedestrians to give way to them.
I have gotten the finger several times for telling them to get off the sidewalk. If they are too afraid to ride on the roadway, then leave your bike at home.
There seems to be a big drive and political brownie-point drive to create bicycle lanes everywhere. I'm in favour if only the cyclists would use them.
I also think that if we are to spend a lot of money on these lanes, cyclists should pay to use the roads just the same as motorists pay to use them. Licence bike riders and require liability insurance.
Motorists have enough to be concerned about; they do not need to have to worry about a cyclist screaming through the intersection or crosswalk in front of them. They continually come up your right hand side, even when you are signalling a right turn.
I get a kick out of these cyclists that are all decked out in their Spandex, riding boots, gloves and glasses, on their expensive machines, and then they proceed to make damn fools of themselves by irresponsible actions at intersections and crosswalks.
Ride single file on the roads — cars do.
Parents of small children, why do you have to bring your precious kids downtown in the busy traffic on their training bikes? Do you not think they might be a tad terrified of riding on Comox Avenue during busy times?
Teach them to ride on the quieter residential streets, please. Teach them proper and responsible riding; god knows they will pick up all of the bad habits down the road.
It is time that someone in government grab on to this problem and find a workable solution.
Someone is going to get hurt or killed in Comox if nothing is done. Can we wait until this happens? No.
One of the groups in the Valley could earn some praise with an educational program for cyclists. Skateboarders and rollerbladers are another issue I will not address in this letter.
Carl Munn
Comox