Bylaw officers are out in full force ticketing cyclists who exceed 20 kilometres per hour on the city’s pathway system. Armed with a radar gun the officers can issue tickets of $50 and are also looking to stop cyclists who fail to use bells when passing.
The crackdown follows a month-long education campaign during which officers issued cyclists with warnings and handed out free bells. The city says the crackdown is coming in response to complaints about unsafe bike riders.
Mike Warren a Calgary cyclist who works near the airport says the 20 km/h speed limit may be reasonable in busy areas but doesn’t make sense on empty paths outside the core. “Twenty km/h is pretty slow…. If I limited myself to 20 km/h on those bits [near the airport] it would take me probably an extra 15 minutes 20 minutes at least to get to work” he says.
Like most cyclists Warren doesn’t have a speedometer on his bike. He suggests that instead of enforcing the speed limit on all pathways the city should only crack down on speed where it’s dangerous. “It would make a lot more sense because you wouldn’t have to have people with radar guns” says Warren. “You could just say OK speeding through a bunch of joggers at lunchtime — not cool.”
Julia Beitz a cyclist and volunteer at The Good Life Community Bike Shop in Eau Claire says the crackdown hasn’t been an issue around the shop. She agrees cyclists need to use common sense and hopes bylaw officers will do the same. “There’s definitely people who go way too quickly so maybe it’s good to snag them but as well not to be ridiculous in who you’re ticketing” she says. (JK)
