You can tell I鈥檓 a fair weather cyclist by the fact that it鈥檚 May, and I鈥檝e only been on a handful of rides this year.

I only ride for fun and exercise. The alternative 鈥� staring at a wall while riding an exercise bike indoors 鈥� is a lot less appealing.

On the other hand, I have never come close to being hit by a truck or car while riding a stationary bike.

This spring, the provincial government updated a number of transportation rules. This included regulations for self-driving cars, e-bike rules, and clarifying some rules for people using mobility devices.

The one that affects cyclists is a new passing requirement for drivers.

Drivers passing 鈥渧ulnerable road users,鈥� a category that includes cyclists, equestrians, wheelchair users and others who from time to time share the road with cars, must now be at least one full metre away when passing. That expands to 1.5 metres when the speed limit is above 50 km/h.

Drivers can be closer 鈥� half a metre 鈥� when there鈥檚 a separated and protected bike lane.

I鈥檝e been lucky, in that I鈥檝e never been hit by a car while riding. Never clipped by a mirror, never doored, never run into a right hook.

(Ask your cyclist friends if you don鈥檛 know what those perils are.)

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Part of this is the fact that I鈥檓 a purely recreational cyclist. I don鈥檛 seek out busy streets, and I don鈥檛 have to use them, as many people who rely on a bike do.

But even I have to venture across a four-lane major road just to get out of my neighbourhood and into a quiet rural area. So I have to trust the skill, attention, and goodwill of all the drivers going past me.

All I have between myself and a pickup truck with dual wheels, or a full-sized dump truck with a pup trailer, is a line of paint marking off the bike lane. Sometimes not even that.

So I鈥檓 cautious and careful. I use hand signals, I keep the blinking tail light on my bike charged, I wear a helmet and offensively bright cycling gear.

But it does occur to me from time to time that if a driver is drunk, or fiddling idly with their cellphone, I could be ground under a set of tires, and a new regulation on giving me some more distance won鈥檛 save me.

It would be nice if things were otherwise, but for a century we鈥檝e been building roads to serve cars first. Refitting them with bike lanes, even separated, protected bike lanes, is better than nothing, but it鈥檚 not a lot better.

There鈥檚 a world where our transportation infrastructure is built to serve all users. Pedestrians, wheelchair users, parents with strollers, buses and trams and SkyTrain, delivery trucks, cyclists, and yes, private cars.

Actually building it, starting from what we have now, is likely the work of another century. Maybe 50 years, if we really put our minds to it.

I鈥檇 like to go for a bike ride in that world, someday.