Thank you for joining us at the Halifax Central Library on January 21st to improve the rules of the road. Stay tuned for future updates.
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- Cyclists were unanimous in asking for rules against “right hooks”
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- Halifax Chebucto MLA Joachim Stroink speaks to the media about the Motor Vehicle Act
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- A supporter places a dot on one of the proposals
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- We received great feedback about some things supporters liked, and others they weren’t so sure about
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- Supporters signed petitions to reform the Motor Vehicle Act and build more bicycle lanes in Halifax
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- Over 75 people shared their thoughts in person, with many more contributing online
Hi, I was unable to attend the Jan 21 event. I am glad you are advocating on this issue. I am an avid commuter and touring cyclist. I was the Manager of Physical Activity for Dept of Health and Wellness until my retirement in 2013 and still do a little volunteering and consulting.
My suggestion is around using the evidence to support your efforts. Maybe you already do. a couple of examples.
1. The one meter rule. Has there been any evaluation to assess how it has been implemented and its effectiveness? Not that I’ve seen. Have heard lots of anecdotes but thats not good enough.
2. speed zones. has the 30 km limit in school zones reduced injury or increased walking and biking to school. I have looked at the published literature and its not clear.
The last thin we want is for someone to say to the HCC ” you haven’t done your homework “.
Both evidence and local knowledge will help us all. Just a thought.
Mike Arthur
Hi Mike,
Thanks for that. We do have a detailed piece of research for many of these initiatives, but not all. The purpose of the engagement was to gauge members’ thoughts on these issues before a bigger campaign. As for #1 – there has been no research on this type of legislation anywhere that we know of. For #2 the research is quite conclusive in that speed limits need to be backed up by the threat of enforcement and engineering changes to make the road design appropriate for the desired speed. When it comes to actually increasing biking or walking we’re not aware of any evidence showing that speed limit changes have an easily-measurable impact on walking. The size of the school zone makes me think that a speed limit change would need to extend far beyond a school to make it attractive…
In any case, we’ve done lots of homework, and will do even more before making a specific legislation request to government.
– Ben