Calgary Herald, October 1991
By Sheldon Alberts
Messengers want regulations applied to all cyclists in City.
They've been called everything from street outlaws to two-wheeled kamikazes.
But Calgary's bike couriers are about to become fully registered andresponsible drivers. And they want the rest of the City's cyclists to dothe same.
City Council is expected to pass a by-law October 15 that would regulatethe bike courier business. Companies will have to be licensed and insuredand riders will have to mount identification plates on their bikes.
"It's certainly better than what we had, which was nothing,"said Alderman Rick Smith, who has long lobbied for more stringent bikecourier rules.
Still, the courier companies say regulations don't go far enough.
They want tougher rules for recreational and commuter cyclists and formotorists ignorant of the rights of bicyclists on the road.
The Calgary Bicycle Advisory Council estimates between 1,000 and 3,000bicycles are in the downtown core everyday. Only 127 of them are businesscouriers.
"If there are 1,000 cyclists downtown and only 127 of them areliving by the rules, then you know there are a bunch who aren't,"says Marjorie Zingle , executive director of the Calgary Messenger andCourier Association.
Dave Benallick, who rode bikes from 1987 until late last year, sayscouriers will ride safer once the by-law takes effect. But inattentivemotorists will still be out of control.
"The cars just cut bikes off left, right and centre," saysBenallick, who started his own courier company last year.
Zingle was behind the drive to identify couriers because it will beeasier to locate the riders who regularity break the law. And she's willingto accept the requirement for insurance. Indeed many companies alreadycarry liability insurance to protect them in case of severe accidents.
But Zingle says it's unfair that "regular cyclists are exempt.
"Every time there is an accident, it is automatically assumed thatit is a courier," Zingle says. "That's our next bone of contention...theCity's got a real problem teaching both motorists and cyclists how to dealwith each other."
Alderman Ray Clark, chairman of the Operations and Development Committee,said the City has no plans to force similar rules on recreational cyclists.
Bicycle couriers are largely responsible for offenses like riding onsidewalks, darting across traffic lanes and riding the wrong way down one-waystreets, Clark said.
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