-=> Quoting Richard Glazer to Bill Piehler <=-
 RG> A while back My friends and I were stopped by the police because we
 RG> were riding our bikes on the road rather than on the bike lane. Parts
  ---
 RG> lose control of the bike. Well we tried to explain this to the officer
 RG> to no avail. We were told either to use the bikelane on the sidewalk or
 RG> get a ticket. I was wonder if they had the right to force a cyclist to
 RG> use the bike path if the rider deemed them dangereous??
 Hi Richard... in 91 I was part of a ride from Halifax to Toronto and we
came thru Montreal  (and again in 92, QC to Toronto)... I had the same
discussion with a cop at that time... HE at least listened... and I asked
him if HE ever rode a bike... he replied 'all the time', I asked him then
where HE preferred to ride as being safe and prudent etc... HE said HE never
rode on the bikepaths... and lanes... to much risk...
So have heart...  besides we were 'tourists'  only locals are bound by those
rules... like having licences, ha...  BTW... where the paths were maintained
they were not bad... downtown and on the bridges... yechh...
I'd suggest doing two queries... one to the PROVINCE, and one to the ?MUC?
police... you might also look for the local (if any) CANBIKE instructors
or bike advocacy groups/clubs...   MANY Cops work based on what they think 
?)
the law is... or in some cases WAS...  MOST simply don't KNOW or Care...
others like the one I got... care but don't know, OR try to bluff you in 
rder
to cure a problem that they have... at that time... even though the law 
llows
something normally...
One should also ask oneself, HONESTLY, what if anything did I do to attract
that much attention...often the real reason is quite apparent on 
etrospect...
I listen a lot to my radios... and I can say for a fact that manytimes cops
are really looking for an legal excuse to size someone up for a valid 
eason..
whether it's being an unsafe operator, or they are looking for someone that
just rode away from a local variety store holdup... so don't feel bad...
Obscure laws exist for the convenience of odd situations that don't fit
clearly defined ones...
There was one cop stopped me once and wanted politely to search my car...
ie. voluntarily... after finding nothing of interest, I asked him why... and
he said he was investigating a report of car breakins... and he went away...
all very friendly... BUT he never ever checked that I owned the CAR...
or my ID... go figure.
But by all means find out the real reasons... and share with us...
IF you do end up having to use the paths/lanes, you may gather the ammunition
needed to guarantee that they are SAFE and USEFUL ones to use.
BTW, many places that did have sidepath laws, either don't enforce, or have
recently changed them... one I know out here... is either changed or 
hanging,
but IT states that 'where a USEABLE sidepath exists, it is to be used'.
Often interpreted as ALWAYS HAS TO BE... disregarding USEABLE... and as 
lways
it is held legally to be determined by the OPERATOR, not someone else.
Although someone else can CLOSE it to use as unsafe...
 
... Supposing is good, but finding out is better.
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