The Editor,
Re. “Mountie misinformed about cyclists’ road rights” (Opinion, The Tri-City News, June 9).
I’m taken aback by Mario Bartel’s column. When asked by an RCMP officer why he wasn’t riding in the bike lane, his reply was “I don’t have to.”
Although Mr. Bartel didn’t point out there are no bike lanes on Gaglardi Way, two issues arise from his piece:
• Why then are we spending untold hundreds of thousands of dollars building bike lanes to accommodate cyclists when they “don’t have to” use them?
• If bicycles are considered vehicles and, therefore, cyclists feel they can use the roads when there are perfectly good, expensive bike lanes available for them to travel in, then perhaps they should be subjected to licensing and insurance the same as motor vehicles. Also, if cyclists want bikes to be considered vehicles, it would be wonderful if they’d act like they were driving vehicles — i.e., stopping at signs and signals, using hand signals to indicate when they’re making a turn, etc. — instead of acting as whatever they feel is more convenient, vehicle or pedestrian. Oh, and don’t forget riding two, three and four abreast instead of single-file.
The Lower Mainland has bent over backwards to accommodate cyclists. I wonder when and if they’ll start appreciating that fact.
Robert W. Fraser, Port Moody
