QUESTION:
With the sunny weather returning, we are seeing cyclists out in force on city streets and main thoroughfares. Is there a regulation in the Metro area on how a group of cyclists should conduct themselves on streets and main thoroughfares like Marine Drive? Can they ride two or three abreast and prevent cars from passing them?
Lastly, is there an ordinance on whether cyclists must wear helmets, or is it left to the individual's good judgement?
David Reinboth
West Vancouver
Dear Mr. Reinboth:
As a cyclist, I too have recently felt the pull of the warmer, drier weather and the lure of the wind in my face. In fact, I cycled the bike paths in Ambleside with my two boys just this past weekend. Yet like you, David, many motorists don't view cycling from such a sunny disposition. To them, and quite rightly so, cyclists present yet another distracting, and potentially dangerous, risk on the road.
This is not as it should be. Contrary to what some cyclists think, our roads do not double as the mountain roads of a leg of the Tour De France. Nor do the rules governing how they must behave allow this.
In short, cyclists may not ride abreast, they must stay to the right, and they must use hand signals. Motorists must yield to cyclists because they are considered a slower moving member of the road using traffic. However, this does not give cyclists licence to ride in packs, to weave through stopped traffic, and to run red lights and stop signs.
As one who spent almost three years of his policing career on a bicycle, I can say from experience that the relationship between cyclists and motorists is often strained. I can also say as a police officer who has dealt on many occasions with irate cyclists and motorists alike that the reason for this tension is invariably based in a failure of one or the other, or of both, to follow the road rules and to conduct themselves with courtesy.
As for helmets, the law is unequivocal. Everyone riding a bicycle must wear a helmet. Incidentally, the wording of your question contains a vein of irony. I can say with certainty that a decision not to wear a helmet can not possibly be made as a result of good judgement. Rather, such a decision is, in my view, foolish.
Sgt. Peter DeVries Professional Standards Unit North Vancouver RCMP
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