11-year-old cyclist injured after riding over bikeway bump

TransLink was not available for a comment after The Leader Spirit asked about the Canada Line bikeway speed bump that continuously raises concerns, and had one 11-year-old boy injured, including a broken arm, last week.

Together with his family, Lilong Tan rode down the Canada Line bikeway towards Richmond when he did not see the bump, lost control of his bicycle, and fell on the asphalt.

“I went flying to all the way over here, where you see what is where I coughed up blood,” Lilong recounted his fall.

He broke his arm, scraped his knees, and badly injured his mouth by chipping his front tooth.

Lilong’s incident was to be expected, according to cyclists who frequent the route, as everyone remembers their first run-in with the bump.

“I didn’t see it on time, so it was a pretty rough one,” said one bicyclist.

It wasn’t there a couple of years ago. The first time I went over it was rough to say the least,” said another bicyclist to The Leader Spirit.

“If you’re not aware of it, it can be a real shock to you,” said a third.

A sign tries to warn bicyclists of the potential hazardous spot on the bikeway.

However, many do not even see the sign when riding through the area.

“There is a sign,” asked one bicyclist in an interview with The Leader Spirit.

“I didn’t know. I didn’t know at all,” she said.

Lilong Tan suggested to “make the speed bump smaller and not that dangerous, and maybe even some flashing light on the sign.”

The bikeway is owned and operated by TransLink.

The Transportation Authority said it would be looking into the matter.