Lions Gate commuters...

...be careful out there :-(

The Patullo bridge has the same issue, but I think the amount of cyclists and pedestrian are less.

here's two scary lions gate stories . . .

my buddy was on the downhill stretch on the south bound side when he came up to a ped walking in the opposite direction . the guy had a jacket in his right hand , and as the two passed he offered no allowance for the two to pass each other . in fact quite the contrary happened . with kind of a " fuck you , i'm a pedestrian " look on his face , swung the jacket forward right into my buddies front wheel and handlebars , which jerked him right off his bike . he landed over in the southbound lane of traffic , which fortunately had no cars approaching immediately , and he was able to jump back over the barrier .

the second one happened to my mom years ago . she was coasting down the north bound side . she wasn't a real steady cyclist so when she bumped over one of the irregularities on the side walk , she wavered a bit , and then struck the end of her bars on the outside railing , which has vertical supports . that was enough to twist her bars and send her over the barrier into the traffic lanes . again there were no cars coming , but she said her leap back over the barrier was probably the fastest she had ever moved in her life .

i wonder if this latest fatality will be enough incentive for something to be done ?

I've always been more concerned about the pedestrians walking towards you while descending. There are some suspect looking people in the park there and I have passed a few who have that "screw you biker" look. When I see that I slow right down as I do have a fear someone will just push my into traffic off my bike.

I do always try to stay on the grass side of the sidewalk when passing people coming head on just in case.

here's two scary lions gate stories . . .

my buddy was on the downhill stretch on the south bound side when he came up to a ped walking in the opposite direction . the guy had a jacket in his right hand , and as the two passed he offered no allowance for the two to pass each other . in fact quite the contrary happened . with kind of a " fuck you , i'm a pedestrian " look on his face , swung the jacket forward right into my buddies front wheel and handlebars , which jerked him right off his bike . he landed over in the southbound lane of traffic , which fortunately had no cars approaching immediately , and he was able to jump back over the barrier .

the second one happened to my mom years ago . she was coasting down the north bound side . she wasn't a real steady cyclist so when she bumped over one of the irregularities on the side walk , she wavered a bit , and then struck the end of her bars on the outside railing , which has vertical supports . that was enough to twist her bars and send her over the barrier into the traffic lanes . again there were no cars coming , but she said her leap back over the barrier was probably the fastest she had ever moved in her life .

i wonder if this latest fatality will be enough incentive for something to be done ?

Wow…I've experienced similar to both of those incidents. First time a pedestrian deliberately stepped in front of me on the downhill section. I've no idea why but luckily I was able to swerve and stay on the path…

Second incident was when I nearly caught my bar ends in the railings but that was entirely my own fault. I luckily scuffed my knuckles only

Given the volume of bike and pedestrian traffic a solution might be to make pedestrian traffic one-way only (but facing oncoming bike traffic) on the actual Causeway…at least the pedestrians won't be surprised by a bike coming up behind…

In all my years commuting over that bridge, 1991 to last year, plus all the times I rode the bridge before I never once had a problem. Never had issues on the Burrard bridge either. Real tragedy here though. A few years back a woman I know broke her femur northbound on LG on the north side when her road bar caught the coat of a pedestrian. Coat had flapped open in the wind just as she passed by. Not the time or place to comment on whys.

Sad story. People are trying to do the right thing by biking instead of driving but the infrastructure isn't great for supporting them. On a side note, I bike with a large knife in my pack. Any wacko-pedestrian wants to mess with me, they'll die.

The woman who was killed works with me at St. Paul's Hospital…she's done bicycle tours all over the world and has been commuting by bike forever. This really can happen to anyone.

I just started biking the Causeway on Monday. I have to say, it's a little scary. People do a real clip down there and there isn't a lot of space to stop, same with a lot of the little bumps (I will add, I am a novice on a road bike). Definitely trying to take the cautious approach.

Sad story. People are trying to do the right thing by biking instead of driving but the infrastructure isn't great for supporting them. On a side note, I bike with a large knife in my pack. Any wacko-pedestrian wants to mess with me, they'll die.

So if someday you had to use it, do you think the plaintiffs attorneys would pull up this post and charge you with premeditated manslaughter?

Pretty shitty what happened, RIP. I've used this route for over 10 years now and never had a problem. Sometime it's just an accident…

So if someday you had to use it, do you think the plaintiffs attorneys would pull up this post and charge you with premeditated manslaughter?

No they wouldn't, because there is no lawyer for the "plantiff". It would be the crown vs the defendant. And crown couldn't approve a charge of premeditated manslaughter, because that doesn't exist.

with kind of a "fuck you, i'm a pedestrian" look on his face, swung the jacket forward right into my buddies front wheel and handlebars, which jerked him right off his bike.

Holy shitballs. Did your buddy give chase and beat the ever loving snot out of the guy? I've never had any issues crossing the bridge, but if someone ever was to do something intentionally that risked my life, I don't know what my reaction would be.

A very sad situation, and I hope that the traffic cameras or on board bus cameras caught something.

Stanley Park bike route survey begins
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/stanley-park-bike-route-survey-begins-1.2537305

http://www.vancouversun.com/Repairs+starting+Stanley+Park+causeway/9506262/story.html

A little more info than the CBC story….