Bicycles in Amsterdam – Photo by James Schwartz / The Urban Country (March 2012)
On Monday 47-year-old Toronto resident Joseph “Maverick” Mavec died after his bicycle tire jammed in a streetcar track and he fell on his head. This tragic and unfortunate incident has prompted a discussion about navigating a city full of streetcar tracks by bicycle and riding without a helmet.
As someone who lives on a major arterial road with streetcar service in downtown Toronto I am well acquainted with navigating streetcar tracks on my bicycle. I ride virtually every day through intersections with webs of streetcar tracks turning in all directions.
Streetcar tracks require a level of caution while navigating them by bicycle. It isn’t difficult to hit the tracks at the wrong angle and lodge your tire into the tracks. My friend Herb over at iBikeTO posted some solid tips for crossing streetcar tracks.
In my 10 years of bicycling in the city, I have been fortunate enough not to be knocked off my bike at the hands of streetcar tracks, but my rear tire has occasionally been caught in the track, causing a brief slide and an drastically increased heart rate – but no fall.
Toronto isn’t alone in the annoyance, and sometimes danger caused by streetcar tracks. In Seattle, bike crashes as a result of streetcar tracks led to a lawsuit, and in San Francisco streetcar tracks have been known to cause spills.
Streetcar tracks are only an issue here for no other reason than bad design.
Just like Seattle, San Francisco and Toronto, Amsterdam has a network of LRT vehicles running throughout the city on surface-level tracks on roads shared by motorists and people on bicycles.
You might even say Amsterdam’s tram system is fairly comprehensive:
Amsterdam Tramnet photo courtesy of Wikipedia upload
The key difference in Amsterdam is that bicycle facilities exist that direct people riding bicycles to cross streetcar tracks at safe angles.
In Toronto, it is very common to be forced to cross streetcar tracks at dangerous angles by parked or right-turning cars. In Amsterdam the danger has been eliminated by properly designed bicycle facilities.
Below is a typical junction with streetcar tracks in Amsterdam. Notice how the bicyclists are directed to cross the streetcar tracks at close to a 90 degree angle:
Bicycles in Amsterdam – Photo by James Schwartz / The Urban Country (March 2012)
Here is a closer shot of that same Amsterdam junction:
Bicycles in Amsterdam – Photo by James Schwartz / The Urban Country (March 2012)
Here in Toronto it is common to ride alongside streetcar tracks and be forced to merge into the streetcar tracks at times.
The Dutch ensure this won’t happen because they provide bike lanes that keep cyclists safely away from streetcar tracks:
Bicycles in Amsterdam – Photo by James Schwartz / The Urban Country (March 2012)
Bicycles in Amsterdam – Photo by James Schwartz / The Urban Country (March 2012)
Although it has yet to be determined if Mr. Mavec’s death was caused by his head injury, the debate about helmets has also resurfaced as a result of this incident (he was not wearing a helmet).
My friend Lloyd Alter over at Treehugger is reconsidering the value of bicycle helmets after this tragedy and another recent incident happened whereby a cyclist fell on her head but survived (she was wearing a helmet).
Comparing two distinct incidents as proof of helmet effectiveness is flawed. You can find plenty of cases where a cyclist fell and hit their head and survived with and without helmets, as there are plenty of cases where cyclists have died with and without helmets.
When a pedestrian falls and hits their head and dies, it doesn’t make me feel compelled to wear a helmet when I’m walking. Similarly, cases of people dying from head injuries in motor vehicles doesn’t compel people to wear helmets inside cars (even though a helmet would add some additional protection).
I fully support Lloyd whether or not he chooses to wear a helmet, but as I stated in my 2010 article on bicycle helmet effectiveness, I don’t believe bicycle helmets are warranted in commuter/urban environments.
My sincere condolences go out to Joseph’s family for their loss. I hope the discussions that result from his death may help somebody else avoid a similar fate.
James D. Schwartz is a Transportation Pragmatist and the Editor of The Urban Country. You can contact James at james.schwartz@theurbancountry.com or follow him on Twitter.
Related Articles:
Dear Bicycle Helmet (June 2012)
Bike Helmets Not Warranted (Sept 2010)
Barriers to Cycling: Debunking the Myths (Nov 2009)
10 Observations About Bicycling in Amsterdam (March 2012)
Preventable Deaths: Asking All The Wrong Questions (June 2012)