This so wrong!!! It really pisses me off! Probably a frustrated politician that doesn’t like being passed by bike and that is USING the death of a cyclist to ban it even though the accident as nothing to do with the cyclist or winter. There seems to be nothing about the trucker letting hooks in the way…
http://www.montrealgazette.com/technology/Tuque+seeks+halt+cycling/1186149/story.html
La Tuque seeks to halt cycling By Michelle Lalonde, The GazetteJanuary 16, 2009Comments (2) StoryPhotos ( 1 ) 
City officials in La Tuque will be urging police to enforce a little-known municipal bylaw that forbids cycling on icy or snowy streets after a cyclist was run over by a truck and killed there last week.
Serge Venne, 45, was cycling in downtown La Tuque, situated about 300 kilometres northeast of Montreal, on the evening of Jan. 6 when a flatbed truck drove past him. The truck, designed to transport lumber, had hooks protruding from it. The truck had moved over to give the cyclist room as it was passing, but when it swerved back to regain the lane, one of the hooks on the truck somehow snagged the cyclist and pulled him down and under the truck’s wheels, according to Constable Pierre Rivard of the Mauricie-Centre detachment of the Sûreté du Québec.
The driver continued on his way, apparently unaware that he had run over the cyclist, Rivard said. He was stopped by police at a truck stop a few kilometres from the site.
Rivard said ice or snow did not seem to have played a role in the incident.
But elected officials at La Tuque city hall say they will be urging police to enforce the no-winter-cycling bylaw, which has been on the books since 1988, said La Tuque city clerk Jean-Sébastien Poirier.
“Should the bylaw be updated? Time will tell, but for now the city council considers it inappropriate to cycle on streets that are icy or snowy.”
He acknowledged that cycling improves physical fitness and is a non-polluting form of transportation, but he said bicycles are not well-adapted to winter conditions.
“No one is against fitness or the environment, but we also have to consider the safety of the cyclists and the other people who use the roads.”
He said he had not been given details of the incident and did not know whether snow or ice had been factors.
Rivard could not say whether any other municipalities in the region had such a bylaw, nor whether anyone had ever been fined for winter cycling in La Tuque.
Quebec’s cycling lobby group reacted with outrage to the move by La Tuque to urge fines for winter cyclists.
“It’s very worrying for a city to have this type of bylaw,” said Vélo Québec’s Patrick Howe.
“If a cyclist is killed in the summer, will La Tuque adopt a bylaw to outlaw cycling altogether?” Howe asked, adding that snowmobiling accidents result in several deaths in the La Tuque area every year, and yet it is not banned.
He said certain weather conditions, such as freezing rain, can make winter cycling dangerous, and cyclists should use their judgment about when it’s safe to ride.
City of Montreal spokesperson Darren Becker said Montreal has no bylaw restricting cycling in winter and no intention of following La Tuque’s lead.
“In fact, Montreal has a pilot project in place to clear 30 of its 400 kilometres of bike routes to ensure that winter cycling can be as safe as possible.”
He stressed that the bike routes are only cleared after clearing of streets, sidewalks and access to schools, hospitals and daycares is completed.
mlalonde@thegazette.canwest.com© Copyright (c) The Montreal Gazette
http://www.montrealgazette.com/technology/Just/1133553/story.html
Just don’t do it The GazetteJanuary 2, 2009
Re: “How to bike (safely) in winter” (Gazette, Dec. 29).
Michelle Lalonde omitted the most important tip of all with regard to riding a bike in winter: Don’t do it!
Montreal streets are frustrating and treacherous enough in the winter without having to deal with cyclists, most of whom ride with utter contempt for the cars on the road, even under the best of conditions.
Recommending that winter riders take their place on the main streets even if it means “getting out in front of cars” does not serve to promote overall road safety, either.
Perhaps winter cycling is indeed not that dangerous, if you know what you’re doing - but that does not apply to the vast majority of Montreal cyclists.
Peter Mann
Montreal© Copyright (c) The Montreal Gazette
