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GREENINGS It’s harder to cycle safely (Feb. 2025)

February 21st, 2025 · No Comments

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Monster vehicles have changed the biking equation

I often bike my kids from our place in the Annex to Little Italy where they do Taekwondo. I will often shout instructions at them from the road as they are still on the sidewalk. I tell them to ring the bell to let people know they are there, say “thank you” when people let them pass, and follow other cycling etiquette as we merrily make our way down. 

While ditching the car was an environmental decision we made long ago, I have discovered that cycling gives my kids agency awareness that sitting in a car or taking transit simply does not afford. They are getting exercise just getting there. When we are travelling, they need to make a million decisions to get there safely: Do we cross now? Do we wait for mommy? Do we ring this bell, or will it scare the dog? 

They have the power to make decisions that other forms of transport don’t allow. They can decide which side street to take, whether they want to stop off at the park, or whether to bike on the sidewalk or the road (they are allowed on some stretches). They are actively engaged in getting to their destination. It also gives us freedom in terms of timing as we aren’t stuck on a bus schedule (which is getting less reliable with more and more funding cuts). 

There are many virtues of cycling so you’d think more people would be doing it. The biggest thing stopping most parents from cycling with their children is the danger from cars. Not just any cars; our cities are getting flooded with monster vehicles.

Toronto is not being spared the SUV bloat pandemic. Cars are getting so big now that pickups can have 15-foot frontal blind spots; in other words, they won’t know they’re running over a child until they feel them under the wheel. It is hard to fault people for not wanting to risk their lives when nothing is being done to regulate the monstrosities that are killing people on our streets. They are nothing short of murder machines. The size serves no other purpose beyond making hurricane season more violent with added carbon in the air. 

The size increase has been gradual so it’s hard for most of us to notice. If you do an online search, there are websites that do model by model comparisons of how much car bloat even the same model car has undergone. I had to take my parents’ 1997 minivan this summer for a day. While driving it on the narrow streets of the Annex, I got so close to a pickup truck that we nearly clipped side mirrors, except that my mirror completely passed under his mirror (with an inch or two to spare). That’s when I truly realized how monstrously large vehicles have become over time. 

If we want safer streets, get monster cars off the road. This should be council’s first priority. Other jurisdictions have introduced higher parking rates for large vehicles. We need to follow suit with only small and electric vehicles having the lowest rates. Higher parking levies for large and gas-powered vehicles should be a given especially after watching all the climate-related disasters strike our neighbours to the south. 

It would be wise to simply abandon certain areas of Florida at this point. We are creating climate refugees from first world countries. 

Someone said to me that when they were young, they took their bikes to the park with no helmets, no parents, no shoes. They simply played till dusk and came home for dinner. I said I can’t do that with these monster trucks around. Other parents already judge me for cycling my kids amid all the dangers. I don’t trust jerks in these large vehicles to not run over my kids. 

I am not just pleading for the environment’s sake. I am pleading for people to give children a chance to have some semblance of a sane childhood where parents can let go and let their kids run wild. Nothing endangers my children like these monster cars. We must tax these cars out of existence if we want our children to have the free and wild childhood their parents and grandparents had. 

Terri Chu is an engineer committed to practical environmentalism. This column is dedicated to helping the community reduce energy use, and help distinguish environmental truths from myths. Send questions, comments, and ideas for future columns to Terri at terri.chu@whyshouldicare.ca.

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