Partly fearing being accused of not offering a solution and partly to demonstrate a system that seem s to be enjoying more than moderate success, I’d like to invite Boris Johnson, mayor of London, UK to crash out on our sofa and spend a few days cycling around our fair city. After his beyond crass act of blaming the cyclists for the rash of cyclist fatalities, five in nine days, I think it’s time he put the cycling shoe on the other foot and break a sweat.

As a motorist, I respect that we have to share the road with cyclists. I also respect that regardless of whose fault it is when three thousand plus pounds of metal goes head to head with flesh astride titanium, the latter usually pays the price, sometimes with life. I know people firsthand, who have had a brush with petroleum gulping beasts, but like guns, vehicles don’t kill people, people kill people. It’s more than nerve-racking when the call comes from your husband that he has “garage-saled” off his bike on a major road during morning rush hour. He was lucky, and my son still has his father. But it just as easily could have gone the other way. Point made. Urban cycling is dangerous. But to what extent will municipalities go to mitigate accidents?

Vancouver’s mayor Gregor Robertson pissed a lot people off by spending a few million, a fraction of the basic capital budget, in making the city more cyclist friendly by way of bike only lanes through part of the downtown core in addition to dedicating an entire lane of the Burrard Bridge to cyclists. But after the dust settled, we all adjusted to the repurposed lanes and got on with our lives. But he’s not finished carrying on the mandate of sustainability. More lanes are in discussions, and guess what? If those go through, we’ll all survive them too.

Surprisingly, Boris owns a bike. So when over a thousand cyclists staged a "die in" on the road in front of government transportation offices, his empathy centre shut down and his political centre fired up. In silence they lay, alongside their metal steeds for 15 minutes, garnering international attention and putting Boris on the spot. A rather dark piece of performance art or a macabre tribute to the five cyclist deaths in nine days, London’s cycling constituents are fed up with the sub par, dare we say, outright dangerous cycling culture. Statistics reveal that the majority of fault lies with the drivers, in London’s case, the lorries are the biggest threat. I am no accountant but five deaths in nine days are pretty terrifying. London’s regular ridership decreased by twenty percent following the five deaths.

So while Vancouver is a city that is garnering global attention for its valiant efforts at bolstering its sustainability mandate and increasing cyclist safety in doing so, it has a long way to go. That said, it’s made great strides and with its rainy climate, might be the perfect destination for Boris to test drive our lanes and get inspired. Boris, if you can pony up the airfare, we’ll put you up if you don’t mind sleeping on the sofa. I make a mean omelet.