How many of you can identify with this? You are driving home in bumper to bumper traffic after a hectic day of work. You need to take your son to soccer, daughter to ballet, and somehow manage to prepare a healthy supper in time. All you want to do is get home and out of traffic when up ahead a cyclist appears on the road stalling traffic further. You curse this cyclist and wish she would get the heck out of your way, as you struggle to squeeze past her without hitting her.
Well I am this cyclist, and I have a name and a face. I have a family that I love and who loves me; I have hopes and dreams. I am someone’s daughter, sister, friend, and girlfriend, and I have suffered enough abuse from Saskatoon motorists.
This summer when I had the choice of investing in a car or a bike, I decided to purchase the bike over the car. Relying on a bike for transportation meant that I was able to combine two things that I care deeply for: the environment and maintaining my physical fitness. My summer job with College Pro Painters required me to bike all over the city to get to work, and I soon discovered how unfriendly (and dangerous) Saskatoon roads are for cyclists.
After been continually sworn at and narrowly hit, I decided to bike on the sidewalk for my own safety. Ironically on the day that I was biking on the sidewalk, I was struck a Family Cleaners van pulling into traffic and was sent flying into the road. Although I maintained minor injuries, my $800 bike lay under the wheel of the Family Cleaner’s van, requiring $200 in repairs. I later found out that Family Cleaner’s would not even reimburse me for the damages, stating that I was at fault for being on the sidewalk. I felt small, helpless and frustrated. I am not allowed to travel on the sidewalk, yet when cycling on the road I am sworn at, honked at, spit at, and nearly struck. I feel like I am being penalized for doing my part to help the environment.
I have pleaded with city council to help make positive changes to assist cyclist safety (increasing the number of bike lanes, signs warning drivers, and infomercials) but have thus far been ignored. I am now turning to you, the residents of Saskatoon, to please respect cyclists on the road. If we want to keep our young people in Saskatchewan, let’s not hit them with our cars. Remember, someone’s life is riding on that bike.
Well I am this cyclist, and I have a name and a face. I have a family that I love and who loves me; I have hopes and dreams. I am someone’s daughter, sister, friend, and girlfriend, and I have suffered enough abuse from Saskatoon motorists.
This summer when I had the choice of investing in a car or a bike, I decided to purchase the bike over the car. Relying on a bike for transportation meant that I was able to combine two things that I care deeply for: the environment and maintaining my physical fitness. My summer job with College Pro Painters required me to bike all over the city to get to work, and I soon discovered how unfriendly (and dangerous) Saskatoon roads are for cyclists.
After been continually sworn at and narrowly hit, I decided to bike on the sidewalk for my own safety. Ironically on the day that I was biking on the sidewalk, I was struck a Family Cleaners van pulling into traffic and was sent flying into the road. Although I maintained minor injuries, my $800 bike lay under the wheel of the Family Cleaner’s van, requiring $200 in repairs. I later found out that Family Cleaner’s would not even reimburse me for the damages, stating that I was at fault for being on the sidewalk. I felt small, helpless and frustrated. I am not allowed to travel on the sidewalk, yet when cycling on the road I am sworn at, honked at, spit at, and nearly struck. I feel like I am being penalized for doing my part to help the environment.
I have pleaded with city council to help make positive changes to assist cyclist safety (increasing the number of bike lanes, signs warning drivers, and infomercials) but have thus far been ignored. I am now turning to you, the residents of Saskatoon, to please respect cyclists on the road. If we want to keep our young people in Saskatchewan, let’s not hit them with our cars. Remember, someone’s life is riding on that bike.
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