I guess I have to put it up on the forum again this year. This rant is not intended for the majority of motorists who have read, fully understand and comply with the Highway Traffic Act. This is for the few who do not seem to understand one of the most basic rules of the road.

Now please repeat after me....
1. Bicycles are allowed on all of the roads on PEI.
2. Bicycles and their riders have all the rights and responsibilities of motorized vehicles.
3. When a motor vehicle approaches a cyclist from behind, THE MOTORIST is responsible to make sure that he/she stays out of the cyclists way, not the other way around.
4. Cyclists are not moving targets
5. Road cyclists cannot simply "take it to the ditch" when a motorist feels he/she cannot wait 2 seconds and decides to try to squeeze in between them and a car coming the other way.
6. When I see a Cyclist on the road ahead, I will use my head for more than a hat rack.

If you do not understand any of the above, please re read the Highway Traffic Act, (if you can read) or give up your license to the authorities, or at the very least have someone else drive. Cycling is dangerous enough as it is without some bone headed drivers making it even more so.

but I know this is going to degenerate into back and forth between the two camps, it never fails.

very well put...and did give me laugh too.....

Message to bikers.
You don't own the road. You share the road.
You are expected to abide by the same laws as car drivers.
That means stopping at traffic lights and signs.
It means not driving on the sidewalk when it's convenient.
It means not cutting off traffic so you can cross the road.

Today alone I almost hit two bike riders. Not because I can't understand the basic rules of the road. Because I was turning right and these 2 bikers decided to come up my inside and turn left in front of my car.
Neither wearing a helmet.

Earlier today, yes on the same day, a biker rolled out right in front of me causing me to emergency stop to avoid hitting him.
Also no helmet.

Breaking the law by not wearing helmets and not giving a s#!t about road rules.

It works both ways.

I am the first to agree that some bikers do not follow the rules of the road, and yes, they are required by law to follow all of the rules themselves. I would be more than happy to see a cyclist ticketed for disobeying the law.

However, we are at the disadvantage...If I make a mistake, I lose. If a motorist make a mistake, I lose...

add to that, bikers should not be in the center, center left of the lane.

5 of them on brackley point road at 5 30 pm, center and center left. and the reason they cant pull over to the edge of the road is???????

Just so you know, cyclists have the right to ride in the centre of their lane if they so wish. We usually stay to the right as a courtesy to other drivers and as a safety issue...

then dont whine when you get clipped for being in the center lane on the back side of a hill in an 80 km h zone and your doing 30.

cars can get a ticket for impeding traffic for driving slow, as should bikes in this case.

In other words, if I am in my lane, cycling down the road and you aren't watching where you are going, I should just accept the fact that you are going to run me down? Death penalty for cyclists?

When was the last time you saw a cyclist "impeding traffic" ? How many times has a cyclist really interfered with the flow of traffic? Come on....

in other words, when im doing 80, and i pop over the top of the hill and your doing 30, and i have to pile on the brakes so hard my antilocks kick in, because your in the dead center lane and notover even a foot from the shoulder then yes you should accept the death penalty.

ive started biking as well, and im never more then a foot off the shoulder, andmost times im on the grassy shoulder, just so i dont get clipped or cause an accident.

but then again, i geuss cyclists are never in the wrong.

I have seen cyclists impede traffic. It's not that unusual.
Just like slow drivers impede traffic.

If you are a cyclist and you use the center of the road you are pretty much an idiot.
Unless you are turning left there is not reason you should be there.
Slower traffic should always yield right to faster traffic.

Actually, I think that 99 % of cyclists would be on the side of the road for their own sake....

That is most likely true.

Just so you know, you should check the HTA, paragraph 194(2)(b):
(2) A person who is riding a bicycle
(b) shall ride as near as practicable to the right-hand curb or edge of
a roadway;

Therefore they do not have the right to ride in the center of their lane if they so wish. And, before you jump all over me, I have no problem sharing the road with cyclists, staying behind until safe to pass etc.

Of course, if the cyclist is about to make a left turn, that's quite a good place to be. Leave it too late to move over and you might not be able to get across.

I don't know about PEI but drivers in NB are very friendly (in the main) to cyclists.

If I'm waiting at the top of my street to go straight on or turn left someone stops to let me out and the drivers going the other way see what's happened and they stop too. It's lovely.

Speaking of all this, I noticed some road work recently but I cannot remember where, but is looked very much like a bike path in progress.

Is this on the agenda for PEI this Summer?
If not then it's about time it became and issue.

Bikers should have a lane out of traffic and paths to get around.
Works great in Ottawa.

agreed, most are, all but the f***ing idiots at supper time who decided center to center left on the blind side of a hill was where they should have been, add into the mix oncoming traffic, and it was a bit of a dangerous situation, and fyi, i was watching where i was going, which is more then i can say for the idiots.

agreed, and if there going to be on center to make the turn,perhaps learning a hand signal might not be a bad idea. next thing after that, would the travelling public behind them know what the hand signals meant?

Tell me something....I'm from England. I vaguely recall something from my childhood about using the right arm straight out to signal turning right and a left turn to be signalled by the same arm but with the upper arm out and forearm up. I think the idea was to keep your left hand on the handle bar ready to use the back brake.

Is it the same here, but in reverse...what with the brakes being on the opposite side and driving on the opposite side?

I actually think it's clearer to use the right arm for right turn and the left for a left turn.

if memory serves, you use your left arm for signaling... bent at the elbow, hand up is right turn, straight out is left, and bent at the elbow hand down, means slowing down and stopping.


thats if mymeory serves, been a pile of years since i took my lic.