Citing senior struck by bike, business group questions move to allow sidewalk cycling for minors

A Saskatoon business group is questioning whether the city's plan to allow kids 14 and under to ride on city sidewalks will put senior and other pedestrians at risk. 

Randy Pshebylo, the executive director of the Riversdale Business Improvement District, wrote to city hall on behalf of the group Monday.

"Could city council provide assurances that the best practice being proposed....[will] allow patrons, seniors and pedestrians in the RBID the predictable expectation of exiting doorways and not being struck by someone?" Pshebylo wrote. 

"What means of enforcement will the city implement to ensure pedestrians are safe on sidewalks when existing education efforts are insufficient and police are not enforcing what already exists?"

• Read Pshebylo's full letter here. 

Photo of alleged collision attached

While stopping short of opposing the new sidewalk riding rule — one of many potential changes to the city's bike bylaw under discussion at city hall — Pshebylo said people within the district are already being harmed during sidewalk collisions with cyclists. 

Pshebylo attached an undated photo of what he said was an elderly woman who exited a business on the 100 block of 20th Street W and was struck by a youth on a bicycle. 

The photo appears to show a paramedic tending to a hard-to-see person in front of a clothing store. Two civilians and a Saskatoon bike cop are observing the scene. All the people's faces are obscured with blue dots. 

The elderly woman was struck by the cyclist and broke her hip, according to Pshebylo.

"A similar incident happened with a customer exiting a business in the 300 block of 20th Street W, sustaining injuries from being struck by someone on a bicycle," Pshebylo added. 

What the proposed new law says 

Saskatoon city councillors are scheduled to potentially discuss the sidewalk cycling rule and the other potential changes at city hall Monday afternoon. 

The proposed section about sidewalks in the revised bylaw reads as follows: 

"No person, over the age of 14, shall drive a bicycle upon a sidewalk unless:

• the sidewalk is delineated as a shared-use path by signage or pavement markings and they are operating at a moderate rate of speed, or so not to startle, endanger, or interfere with any other person, or
• they are entering upon or leaving land adjacent to a street."

The current bylaw has no specific section on sidewalk but states, "Every person operating a bicycle shall utilize only that portion of the street as is intended for the passage of motor vehicles."

In a report outlining the suggested change, the city wrote that cyclists riding on sidewalks face a higher risk of collision with vehicles at driveways, lanes and intersections. 

One group consulted about the proposed change, Saskatoon Cycles, told the city it was worried the current bylaw forces kids onto unsafe roads. 

• Study finds many in Saskatoon assume cycling is dangerous, some view cyclists as 'special'

Additional proposed changes to the bike blyaw include:

• Requiring motorists to give cyclists one-metre clearing when passing.
• Not requiring cyclists to bike as close as possible to the curb when cycling on roads. 
• Not requiring but encouraging helmet use. 

City council still needs to approve the changes. 

• New law would require Saskatoon drivers to keep a 1-metre distance when passing bikes