Unfortunately, you see it all the time in Banff and Canmore – cyclists making their merry way to who knows where before or after sunset, dressed in dark clothing and with no lights adorning their bike.
Also unfortunately, by “see” we mean notice, often as said cyclists are nearly struck by a vehicle with a surprised driver who didn’t see them behind the wheel.
A Tuesday night incident (page 6) in Canmore nicely illuminated the problem of cycling in the dark, sans illumination.
The fact the 40-year-old cyclist is still alive could be lumped into the amazing category, at the very least.
When you’re struck by a vehicle and pinned beneath it, only to be freed by a handy group of nearby people lending their muscles to the situation by lifting it and pulling you out – that’s a day where you should immediately go buy a lottery ticket afterward. Unless one assumes that all luck was used up in surviving the incident.
We’re not making light of the man’s predicament after being struck, simply pointing out that bikes without lights is a recurring problem.
As mentioned, we see so many cyclists – young and old alike – on the roads, with no lights. And typically, not only do they have no lights, they have no reflectors or reflective tape on their clothing. And why favoured after dark clothing seems to be typically in the dark colour range is beyond us.
As the RCMP point out, a bike on the road must follow the Traffic Safety Act – and thus have appropriate lights. Is a blitz on ticketing unlit bikes necessary to make this happen?
The thing is, a quick Internet search showed up a handy dandy set of front and rear lights for a bike priced at the not-staggering amount of $12.75 (prices vary, of course).
At that price, and with the stuffing of stockings in mind at this time of year, what an economical investment in a person’s safety. If the cost of possibly saving a life is a mere $12.75, no bike in the valley should be without illumination.
Many quality ideas out there
We must say, we’re liking some of the “outside the box” thinking that is being displayed these days in our valley.
While this space is often used to point out inadequacies of one sort or another, it’s also used to give credit where credit is due – and that’s the situation this week.
With affordable housing an ongoing issue, we like some of the options presented for development of the old daycare site in Canmore. We realize any development will disapppoint some in the neighbourhood, but in a town where affordable housing is badly needed, a mix of modest single family and townhomes would be welcome.
Then there is Parks’ installation of new signage warning of potential avalanche hazards in the frontcountry. After several lives were claimed last year in seemingly friendly terrain, the move makes sense. Let’s face it, few would consider where lives were lost last year dangerous terrain. Forewarned is forearmed when it comes to possible avalanche locations.
Finally, we do like the idea of a Banff Access Card that could be informally presented when making purchases by residents possibly struggling to make ends meet. Affordability is a major problem in Banff and a card as proposed could be a way of assisting while ensuring residents’ privacy.
