Campaign reminds cyclists to use lights, obey road rules

The clocks turned back, the sun is setting earlier — and your afternoon bike ride to or from class or work just got darker.

An event on Monday with Hamilton Police aims to remind cyclists that they are required to have a working white light on the front of their bikes and a red light on the back. They will be on campus at McMaster University to raise awareness about safe riding.

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First, the carrot: The Ainslie Wood Westdale Community Association will be handing out donated lights to students and they'll also have bike registration forms to help keep track of bikes that get stolen. 

Then, the stick: The education and awareness push will be followed by an enforcement campaign on campus and in the neighbourhood, Hamilton Police said.​

Cyclists often to blame for crashes on Cannon

The city hopes to do more cycling education citywide. The dedicated bike lanes on Cannon Street saw a whopping 500 to 600 trips per day in peak summer months, but that came with more significantly crashes involving cyclists.

"Even though the number of crashes have increased, the overall volume of users has increased too," said Dave Ferguson, the city's traffic superintendent. 

Ferguson says that since the lanes went in, it's more often the case that cyclists have been at fault for "disobeying the rules of the road."

"There are incidents where cyclists are running red lights and stop signs," he said. "There are also some incidents where drivers aren't yielding to cyclists."