To the Editor:

"Bicyclists may occupy as much of a traffic lane as their safety
warrants." This is a direct quote from the Bicycle Safety brochure
published by Service Nova Scotia and Municipal Relations. It means, if
there’s no room to share, cyclists have the right to take as much lane
space as they need. Unfortunately, this fact does not appear to be a
part of the training given to officers of the Cape Breton Regional
Police.

Several weeks ago, a police constable in an unmarked cruiser squeezed
by me within centimeters as I traveled east on Kings Road just past
Kenwood Drive. When I honked my horn and yelled after him, he pulled
me over and accused me of "impeding traffic" (all the while his
cruiser, stopped on the road, was doing just that) and that I should be
riding at the extreme right.

This past Friday, a police officer honked at me as I traveled west
towards Kenwood Drive. I pointed to the lane next to me to signal him
to go around me; he did. However, when I got to work, he caught up
with me and told me the same fallacy about "impeding traffic" (and
accused me of making a "left hand turn signal" when I pointed to the
adjacent lane) and said I need to move over more. This officer, unlike
the other, was at least polite about it and didn’t impede traffic
himself.

In both cases, the officers claimed they were doing this for my
"safety."

I've only ever had one collision on Kings Road, with a cyclist riding
on the sidewalk at the Kimberly Drive intersection.

If these police officers truly want to increase the safety of cyclists,
it's the cyclists on the sidewalks, not the law-abiding ones on the
road, that they need to address.

JOHN A ARDELLI
11-62 CHARLOTTE ST
SYDNEY NS B1P 1B7

(902) 564-8346
(902) 565-6958