Cyclist’s death in Surrey prompts calls for more protected bike lanes
Posted September 8, 2023 11:10 am.
Cycling advocates are calling for more separated bike infrastructure after the death of a cyclist in Surrey earlier this week.
Jeff Leigh, president of HUB Cycling, an advocacy group, says the tragedy highlights the need to separate vehicle traffic from those riding bicycles.
“Not only stop people driving from coming into the lane but if there’s an incident with the person cycling, it prevents the cyclist from going into the roadway and colliding with a vehicle. They work for both parties,” he told CityNews.
Read More: Surrey cyclist dies after collision with truck: RCMP
On Tuesday, the Surrey RCMP said a cyclist travelling on 104 Avenue just east of Scott Road lost control and hit a semi-truck, killing the 50-year-old woman.
Leigh says while there is still some unknown information surrounding the crash, he points out it happened in an area that had unprotected, painted bike lanes.
“We can’t presume what initiated the incident, we’d only be guessing. But we do know when we have high vehicle volumes and a lack of protection, painted lanes do not provide appropriate protection or comfort for people cycling,” he said.
The advocate says Surrey has made “good progress” on the province’s Vision Zero strategy — which aims to entirely eliminate road deaths on city streets. However, Leigh thinks this tragedy should serve as a reminder that more work still needs to be done.
“We have a crash like this and a tragedy like this, we need to learn from it. We need to look back on things that we already do … and say, ‘What does it take to reduce the likelihood of these sorts of incidents?’ Because one is too many. We need to be better,” he said.
Leigh says he and HUB Cycling will continue to work with municipalities to push for better bike infrastructure.
