The Vancouver Police Department continues to crack down on rogue cyclists and wrote 733 tickets over the last four years to cyclists for riding their bikes on a sidewalk, according to statistics provided to the Courier.
The statistical evidence suggests some city councillors’ accusations at a council meeting Tuesday that police weren’t enforcing laws against cyclists for riding on a sidewalk are unwarranted. Councillors Tim Stevenson, Adriane Carr and George Affleck all raised concerns about police inaction on ticketing cyclists for riding on a sidewalk.
“I’ve never seen police ever doing anything,” Stevenson told council after listening to presentations from city staff related to cycling and transportation. “I don’t know if they have a program. It’s difficult to catch people, obviously, unless you have some sort of a system with police waiting at a certain place like radar traps. But I would really like this to be taken more seriously.”
Affleck told reporters after the meeting that police weren’t “doing their job” enforcing laws for cyclists riding on a sidewalk, riding without a helmet or without a bell on their bikes, which he said would help reduce collisions with pedestrians.
“Certainly, as councillors, the number one complaint we get is related to enforcement — that we are not enforcing the laws that exist,” said Affleck, whose concerns were echoed by Carr, who suggested staff work with the city’s active transportation advisory committee to identify “hot spots” where infractions are prominent.
The statistics provided to the Courier didn’t indicate location but showed 202 tickets for riding on a sidewalk were issued in 2011. That decreased to 132 in 2012, then increased to 230 in 2013 and dropped again in 2014 to 169. Each ticket comes with a $129 fine.
Tickets for riding without a helmet totalled 1,810 in 2011. Police issued 1,808 in 2012 and 1,541 in 2013. Last year, tickets issued dropped substantially to 990. The cost of a ticket is $29.
Const. Brian Montague, a VPD media liaison officer, said he understands concerns from council and the public about dangerous habits of cyclists. Police also hear the same concerns about pedestrians and motorists and have to prioritize enforcement, he said.
He noted that during an interview Wednesday with a television reporter outside the VPD’s Cambie Street precinct, at least a dozen cyclists rode by on the sidewalk. About half were not wearing helmets, he said.
“Yes, our job as police is enforcement and education but we can’t ticket everybody,” Montague said. “There’s no way you can do that — even if we put the entire police department on duty to do nothing but ticket cyclists. Would the citizens of Vancouver be happy with how we are deploying those resources? Probably not.”
Added Montague: “There are bad drivers, there are bad cyclists and there are bad pedestrians. And there’s lots of good drivers, good cyclists and good pedestrians, too. But everyone has a role to play here. If everyone followed the rules of the road, we would have far less collisions and far less fatalities. Bottom line.”
Mayor Gregor Robertson reminded councillors at Tuesday’s meeting that council dedicated $500,000 in the 2015 budget to the VPD to target dangerous drivers and cyclists who put pedestrians at risk in school zones, on sidewalks and near community centres, parks and libraries.
The VPD are still working on implementation of the campaign but Montague said enforcement will be “a big part” of the focus, although he added that “plans can also change depending on the results or impact of what action is being taken.”
A staff report that went before council Tuesday showed that cyclists made an average of 100,000 trips per day last year. On the Burrard Bridge alone, monthly cycling trips reached 300,000, according to the report, which also showed more people were riding bikes, taking transit and walking than ever before in the city.
An accompanying report on cycling safety showed cycling trips were up 41 per cent between 2008 and 2011, with collision rates decreasing by 17 per cent for the same time period. While half of all collisions involved a vehicle, only eight per cent were related to a cyclist colliding with another cyclist, pedestrian or animal.
Coun. Andrea Reimer remarked on the city’s success to get more people taking alternative modes of transportation than a vehicle. She also pointed out the cycling safety study indicated that 93 per cent of collisions involving bicycles showed cyclists had the right-of-way.
So she wondered why councillors were focused on bad behaviour of cyclists instead of the good news in both reports. Her remarks seemed to cause her fellow Vision Vancouver councillors Stevenson and Kerry Jang, who once participated in a cycling course but prefer driving, to abruptly leave the council chambers before being reminded that a quorum was needed to conduct the meeting.
“As long as we’re seeing cyclists as being always being at fault, it’s very difficult for the drivers to change their behaviour,” Reimer said before the two councillors got up from their chairs.
Reached Thursday, Jang and Stevenson told the Courier that Reimer’s comments had nothing to do with them simultaneously leaving the chamber. Stevenson said he needed a coffee and Jang said he needed a washroom break.
As for his comments to council regarding police inaction on ticketing, Stevenson said he now believes police are taking the issue seriously and he was pleased to hear the VPD issued 733 tickets over the last four years.
“I think that’s excellent,” he said, noting his main concern is with seniors being caught off guard by cyclists riding on sidewalks. “The fact that I didn’t know about these [statistics] obviously means a lot of other people don’t, either. You don’t read about it. It would be helpful to publicize because I think that those cyclists who do do that need to know that indeed the police are looking out for them.”
Told about the statistics for the ticketing of cyclists for riding on sidewalks and not wearing helmets, Affleck said he still believes police could do a better job to enforce the law. He argued that with staff reports showing an increase in cycling, the VPD stats actually show a decline in tickets.
“To me, based on statistics, it shows me they aren’t doing their job,” he said.
@Howellings
