Sidewalk Tragedy a Wake-Up Call

Today the Toronto Sun finally decided to cover the tragic and unnecessary death of Cheng Li Jiang, who was struck on the sidewalk by a 15-year-old cyclist last Thursday and succumbed to her head injuries on Friday.

I had been expecting Joe Warmington’s article after I first learned about Jiang’s tragic death – given his incessant disdain for cyclists.

This tragedy illustrates everything that is wrong with cycling in this city.

You see, the reason people resort to riding on the sidewalk is because of the inadequate bicycle infrastructure in our city. And why do we have inadequate bicycle infrastructure? Because of people like Joe Warmington - who only months ago cried foul when the city voted to add 2 bicycle lanes to Jarvis street.

In a May 30th, 2009 article entitled “Councillors’ axle of evil”, Warmington argues that building bicycle infrastructure is a waste of money:

“It’s not a war on cars. It’s a war on sanity. And they seem to be winning”.

So let’s get this straight. You don’t want the city to add new bike lanes because it will add to your commute time. You want cycling on the sidewalk to be punishable under the highway traffic act and you want mandatory cyclist licensing and training.

Warmington has even suggested that cyclists should pay insurance the same way automobile owners pay insurance.

When you add this all up, you’re simply discouraging people from cycling altogether.

So which way do you want it Joe? Do you simply want everyone in the city to drive cars everywhere? That surely isn’t going to help your commute time.

I recommend you take a trip to Netherlands or France or even Montreal to see how cycling can really work without all of the impediments you’re suggesting.

Maybe then you’ll get it through your simple mind that investing in bicycle infrastructure will actually help improve traffic congestion for people like yourself.

Jiang’s death was both tragic and preventable and should be a wake-up call for the Joe Warmington’s of the world. Improving our cycling infrastructure can help avoid unnecessary tragedies – even if it means sacrificing the odd automobile lane.