Alberta Cycling Coalition hopes petition gets wheels turning on safer roads

A group of cyclists is presenting a petition to the Alberta government on Wednesday seeking safer roads for everyone.

Aaron Schooler of the Alberta Cycling Coalition says driver behaviour toward cyclists can get downright ugly at times.

"All the time. All the time. This is a common message I hear from friends, and I have experienced it myself. I have almost been hit many times," Schooler told the Calgary Eyeopener on Wednesday.

He isreferring to drivers who seemingly pass far too close to cyclists to send a message.

"Usually the driver just doesn't know the requirements of the Traffic Safety Act," Schooler said.

"A big portion of our push is education for both the cyclists and the motorists."

The coalition has three main asks based onresearch conducted last year.

• Safe passing distances of 1-metre, or 1.5-metres at speeds more than 60 kilometres per hour.
• Allowing cyclists to ride side-by-side, rather than single file.
• Clarifying that cyclists can ride as far to the right "as is safe" compared with what is practical.

Schooler says the two-abreast request is probably the most controversial to some people.

"Allowing two abreast ridingwhen not impeding the regular flow of trafficis the wording on our petition," Schooler said.

"If it's a small group of two to four cyclists, this is usually discouraged, but there are ways to write this into legislation to restrict that."

With files from the Calgary Eyeopener.