Former-Victoria councillor Stephen Andrew is partially blaming the design of a city bike lane for his husband being injured while riding a bike on Tuesday (Jan. 9) morning.
And it’s a bike lane design that he says he warned city staff about while he was on council.
Andrew posted a message on X (formerly Twitter) Tuesday saying his husband Danny had been hit by the driver of a car at Government Street and Pembroke Street.
“I’ve feared this for months,” Andrew posted, adding that his husband suffered bruising from the crash, which led to the police and paramedics being called out.
Andrew posted that his husband was riding his bike south on Government when a driver heading in the same direction turned right onto Pembroke, hitting the cyclist.
“Clearly the driver didn’t shoulder check or yield,” posted Andrew, who said that these incidents will happen again due to the design of the bike lane.
“When the city built this bike lane I was on council and I warned the @CityOfVictoria traffic department several times,” he said. “There was an issue with design – specifically sight lines. Danny previously experienced close calls. Clearly, the city traffic engineers ignored my concern. The cars parked along the bike lane block vision. It’s why (it’s) … so important for drivers to be extra careful.
“But design plays a major role here. To prevent further issues, I recommended the city place a mirror on the corner, or some device to warn motorists and have a better view when a bike is coming. I was ignored, paid lip service and the city went on about its business.”
I’ve feared this for months - my husband was hit by a car this morning on his bike.
— Stephen Andrew (@Stephen_Andrew) January 9, 2024
He has some bruising and we have to get the bike checked out, but thankfully he’s alive.
Police and paramedics attended. Apparently the driver got a ticket.
But, I believe a similar…
Andrew says this is not an anti-bike lane position.
“It’s trying to get the city to wake up and acknowledge it has some serious design flaws in some bike lanes,” he says. “There is an inconsistency across the city.
Some issues, he says, are “motorists no turns on red lights,” others are “motorists yield on red lights,” and some lights are “motorists turn before cyclists proceed” while most are “cyclists proceed before motorists turn.”
“It’s ridiculous,” he said, adding the city is now on notice to fix the bike lane.
“Let’s pray egos are swallowed and the design is fixed before a tragedy occurs.”
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