Share The Road Cycling Coalition
editShare The Road Cycling Coalition, also known as "Share The Road", is a non-profit organization that works with municipal, provincial, and federal governments to create a bicycle-friendly Ontario. Share The Road was founded in 2008 by Eleanor McMahon after her husband, Sergeant Greg Stobbart, was killed in a bicycle incident in 2006. The Share The Road Cycling Coalition hopes to educate people on the importance of keeping bikers safe on the roads, attempts to improve road safety for bikers, and enhances accessibility to roads for bikers.[1] Cycling is an activity that must often take place in what is considered a "dangerous environment", for example, major roads used by other vehicles.[2],This is why Share The Road finds it important to spread awareness of bicycle safety to both cyclists and other vehicle drivers, and suggests that they share the roads of Ontario with one another.
About The Founder, Eleanor McMahon
editEleanor McMahon lives in Burlington, Ontario. McMahon was elected to the Ontario legislature in 2014 as MPP for Burlington as part of the Liberal Party of Canada. She began the Share The Road organization after her husband was killed in a cycling accident in 2006 by a driver who was under suspension. She has worked in business, government, and after starting the Share The Road Cycling Coalition, also worked with non-profit organizations. McMahon has worked since 2008 to enhance penalties for suspended drivers in Ontario. [3]
Laws That Support "Share The Road Cycling Coalition"
editIn Ontario, all vehicles that use the roads, must share them. This includes cars, buses, trucks, motorcycles, bicycles, etc. According to Ontario's Highway Traffic Act, a bicycle is considered a vehicle, just as a car or truck is, and therefore, must abide by the same rules and traffic laws. [4] According to The Making Ontario's Roads Safer Act, motorized vehicles are required to drive at least one meter apart from a cyclist or wait for a safe chance to pass. [5] According to the Ministry of Transportation in Ontario, a motorized vehicle that fails to pass a cyclist with at least one meter between them could be fined somewhere between $60 and $500, as well as two demerit points on the motorist's licence. Motorized vehicles are encouraged by the Ministry of Transportation to change lanes to pass when they have the opportunity. [6]
Works Cited
edit- ^ Stuckless, Jamie. "About Us". Share The Road Cycling Coalition. Share The Road. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
- ^ Pucher, John; Buehler, Ralph (2012). "City Cycling". The MIT Press. 1 (1): 3. Retrieved 19 October 2015.
- ^ "Biography". Eleanor McMahon Member of Provincial Parliament for Burlington. Liberal Caucus Service Bureau. Retrieved 20 October 2015.
- ^ "Bicycle Safety". Ontario Ministry of Transportation. Queen's Printer For Ontario. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
- ^ "Female cyclist in serious condition after getting hit by car in Huron County". Bell Media Television. CTV News. 29 July 2015. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
- ^ "Sharing The Road With Cyclists". Ministry of Transportation. Government of Ontario. Retrieved 20 October 2015.