Cyclists should know when to stop
April 12, 2011
AS MELBOURNE adapts more and more to becoming a city for cyclists - something long equated with our enviable reputation as one of the world's most liveable cities - there are some imperative lessons still to be learnt by those who prefer two wheels to four. One is elementary road etiquette.
As The Age reported yesterday, a survey by the Monash University Accident Research Centre has found Melbourne's cyclists are running red lights at an alarming rate. Hidden cameras placed at 10 city intersections filmed 4225 cyclists, almost 7 per cent of whom ignored the red lights; at one intersection, 13 per cent went through the light.
These statistics, while disturbing, are hardly surprising to the many people - behind a wheel or on foot - who share public roads with cyclists. Of course, there are as many law-observing cyclists as there are drivers or pedestrians; conversely, however, this means there is also a rogue element whose flagrant breaching of the rules taints the guilty and innocent alike. In the case of cyclists, such cavalier behaviour only feeds the already strong negative attitude in which they are held by some drivers.
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It should be remembered that red lights - let alone the rules that govern the direction of one-way streets or the provision of footpaths for feet only: areas that some cyclists regard as their territory - are there for good reason. Compliance means safety; ignorance poses potential risk to life and limb. Cyclists are not exempt. This is all the more critical because of the continuing growth of pedal power. More than a million bicycles are sold in Australia each year, and bikes have steadily outsold cars for many years.
There is strong argument that Victorian roads have not been safe for cyclists - each year, an average of nine are killed and almost 500 seriously injured - but changes are happening to ensure Melbourne is becoming, like Copenhagen or Amsterdam, a bicycle-friendly environment.
But with such privileges there must also be inherent responsibility: no self-respecting Dutch or Danish cyclist would sail through a red light; it is part of their heritage to abide by the rules.
In Melbourne, cyclists can be fined $299 for running red lights. There might be some sense in increasing this, but, like most road regulations, it can never be thoroughly policed. Likewise, the notion of registering bicycles and licensing cyclists would create extra bureaucracy.
The solution rests with the riders, who should realise that responsibility starts with them.
Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/editorial/cyclists-should-know-when-to-stop-20110411-1dazd.html#ixzz1MZ4RpMMt
Monday, May 16, 2011
Angry drivers make a cyclist's life hell
Craig Fry
February 15, 2011
Comments 164
Cyclists run the gauntlet of abuse everyday in our car obssessed culture.
Melbourne can be a dangerous place to ride a bicycle. My son face-planted onto concrete at the weekend while riding his bike in our backyard. Skin off, split lip, bruised nose and many tears. Blood everywhere.
Two hours later someone nearly killed me as I was cycling along Beach Road. A male P-plate driver swerved deliberately while bulleting past, trying to put me into the gutter, or worse. Apparently I was taking up too much of this driver's lane. He missed me by inches.
I did something then that I have never done in my 10-plus years of cycling on Melbourne's mean streets. When my fight or flight moment came this time, I reacted by trying to chase the driver down.
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Silly really. My exposed flesh and bones on a bike barely weighing eight kilograms chasing a faster and heavier tonne or so of metal, plastic, glass and rubber. But chase him I did. It was a split-second thing.
I have copped my share of abuse while cycling Melbourne's roads over the years. My list of encounters includes enduring countless moments of aggression, various missiles thrown (including a tampon once). Even a whack on the back from a young chicken-suited man, who was holding a beer and leaning out the window of a car hurtling past. True story. It wasn't funny at the time.
This wasn't the first time a driver has swerved at me. And all of my cycling friends have had similar experiences. One was even chased and run down by one aggrieved driver who had mounted the footpath to do so. He got away with it.
So last weekend was the tipping point for me. I have a wife and three young children, a mortgage and a job I need. I'm tired of the abuse and aggression from some drivers who feel justified simply because I'm cycling on the road. I gave chase this time because I wanted to take a stand.
Perhaps surprisingly, I caught the driver at the lights in Sandringham. Obscenities were exchanged, and mutual threats made through his open window. And then, red-faced and even angrier, the driver sped off. Hardly a satisfactory outcome, but it could have been worse.
Even though I was "taking a stand", to be honest I'm not really sure what I expected to achieve. I'm certainly not a fighter. I'm a 42-year-old father trying to keep fit, and wanting to not be seriously injured or killed while doing so.
Then, as I was rolling homewards, the same driver sped past and swerved at me again. He had doubled back to chase me. He turned around and came back a third time just as I stopped and called the police. Seeing me on my mobile phone, the driver took off.
I eventually made my way home, physically shaking, and looking nervously over my shoulder and down side-streets all the way.
I'm still angry about this. Angry at this foolish driver, and angry at Melbourne's masculine car culture and dwindling traffic conditions that contributes to this senseless abuse.
Forty cyclists were killed last year in Australia, compared to 31 in 2009 and 28 in 2008. Every year many thousands more cyclists are seriously injured in accidents involving cars and other vehicles, and the numbers are increasing. To be fair, most of those are likely to be genuine accidents. But God knows how many deliberate near misses like mine go unreported every day.
So what's the answer?
Longer term strategies to improve safety for cyclists might include more effective lane markings and segregation of bikes and cars, and better driver and cyclist education. What about mandatory online courses on driver-cyclist behaviour as a condition of gaining a driver's licence? Such courses could also be compulsory at licence renewal time. Most cyclists are also drivers, so this could be a good way of capturing everyone.
Improved public transport options, and better road system design to reduce traffic congestion might also help. It can be hell driving in Melbourne, and presumably this adds to the feeling that space on the road is something to fight for.
In the short term, cyclists should be collecting licence plate numbers and vehicle descriptions of dangerous drivers, and reporting these incidents to the police and other bodies who could take action (for example Bicycle Victoria). We should do that even though the police may not be able to act in many cases. I know some cyclists have taken to riding with bike-mounted digital cameras to record such information in the event of threatening driver behaviour.
Dangerous driving and aggression directed at cyclists is unacceptable, and we must take a stand against it somehow. But the next time your fight or flight moment comes when cycling, and unfortunately it will come eventually, resist the urge to chase that car and abuse the driver. Nothing good will come of that, and it will probably make things worse.
Happily, my son's face is healing well, and he is already back on the bike and enjoying his cycling again. Me, I'm still angry and nervous, and wondering if the risk is worth it.
Dr Craig Fry is a Melbourne cyclist and academic.
Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/angry-drivers-make-a-cyclists-life-hell-20110215-1aure.html#ixzz1MZ4D8XsJ
Craig Fry
February 15, 2011
Comments 164
Cyclists run the gauntlet of abuse everyday in our car obssessed culture.
Melbourne can be a dangerous place to ride a bicycle. My son face-planted onto concrete at the weekend while riding his bike in our backyard. Skin off, split lip, bruised nose and many tears. Blood everywhere.
Two hours later someone nearly killed me as I was cycling along Beach Road. A male P-plate driver swerved deliberately while bulleting past, trying to put me into the gutter, or worse. Apparently I was taking up too much of this driver's lane. He missed me by inches.
I did something then that I have never done in my 10-plus years of cycling on Melbourne's mean streets. When my fight or flight moment came this time, I reacted by trying to chase the driver down.
Advertisement: Story continues below
Silly really. My exposed flesh and bones on a bike barely weighing eight kilograms chasing a faster and heavier tonne or so of metal, plastic, glass and rubber. But chase him I did. It was a split-second thing.
I have copped my share of abuse while cycling Melbourne's roads over the years. My list of encounters includes enduring countless moments of aggression, various missiles thrown (including a tampon once). Even a whack on the back from a young chicken-suited man, who was holding a beer and leaning out the window of a car hurtling past. True story. It wasn't funny at the time.
This wasn't the first time a driver has swerved at me. And all of my cycling friends have had similar experiences. One was even chased and run down by one aggrieved driver who had mounted the footpath to do so. He got away with it.
So last weekend was the tipping point for me. I have a wife and three young children, a mortgage and a job I need. I'm tired of the abuse and aggression from some drivers who feel justified simply because I'm cycling on the road. I gave chase this time because I wanted to take a stand.
Perhaps surprisingly, I caught the driver at the lights in Sandringham. Obscenities were exchanged, and mutual threats made through his open window. And then, red-faced and even angrier, the driver sped off. Hardly a satisfactory outcome, but it could have been worse.
Even though I was "taking a stand", to be honest I'm not really sure what I expected to achieve. I'm certainly not a fighter. I'm a 42-year-old father trying to keep fit, and wanting to not be seriously injured or killed while doing so.
Then, as I was rolling homewards, the same driver sped past and swerved at me again. He had doubled back to chase me. He turned around and came back a third time just as I stopped and called the police. Seeing me on my mobile phone, the driver took off.
I eventually made my way home, physically shaking, and looking nervously over my shoulder and down side-streets all the way.
I'm still angry about this. Angry at this foolish driver, and angry at Melbourne's masculine car culture and dwindling traffic conditions that contributes to this senseless abuse.
Forty cyclists were killed last year in Australia, compared to 31 in 2009 and 28 in 2008. Every year many thousands more cyclists are seriously injured in accidents involving cars and other vehicles, and the numbers are increasing. To be fair, most of those are likely to be genuine accidents. But God knows how many deliberate near misses like mine go unreported every day.
So what's the answer?
Longer term strategies to improve safety for cyclists might include more effective lane markings and segregation of bikes and cars, and better driver and cyclist education. What about mandatory online courses on driver-cyclist behaviour as a condition of gaining a driver's licence? Such courses could also be compulsory at licence renewal time. Most cyclists are also drivers, so this could be a good way of capturing everyone.
Improved public transport options, and better road system design to reduce traffic congestion might also help. It can be hell driving in Melbourne, and presumably this adds to the feeling that space on the road is something to fight for.
In the short term, cyclists should be collecting licence plate numbers and vehicle descriptions of dangerous drivers, and reporting these incidents to the police and other bodies who could take action (for example Bicycle Victoria). We should do that even though the police may not be able to act in many cases. I know some cyclists have taken to riding with bike-mounted digital cameras to record such information in the event of threatening driver behaviour.
Dangerous driving and aggression directed at cyclists is unacceptable, and we must take a stand against it somehow. But the next time your fight or flight moment comes when cycling, and unfortunately it will come eventually, resist the urge to chase that car and abuse the driver. Nothing good will come of that, and it will probably make things worse.
Happily, my son's face is healing well, and he is already back on the bike and enjoying his cycling again. Me, I'm still angry and nervous, and wondering if the risk is worth it.
Dr Craig Fry is a Melbourne cyclist and academic.
Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/angry-drivers-make-a-cyclists-life-hell-20110215-1aure.html#ixzz1MZ4D8XsJ
Cyclists up against shock-jock ravings
July 29, 2010
Comments 232
I'm freewheeling down Macquarie Street, breathing the salt-sparkle, seeing the Opera House rise from the bush, mindful of the good Guvnor's legacy, when a car veers in, shoving me dangerously near the parked vehicles. "Ya, gedoff the road!" yell its occupants, evidently delighted with their command of broadest yobbo.
Admittedly, my middle digit may have raised itself microscopically from handlebar level, but the yobs' next move was to rev that clapped out Ford Fiesta, accelerate past and swerve hard in front, gesticulating wildly, screaming, "Hope ya crash, bitch!" before tearing off to the expressway.
That was weeks ago, my first experience of car-on-bike road rage, and it did rather take the shine off the ride. Since then, though, such incidents are noticeably more common. Just yesterday morning, I was pedalling happily along my local inner-city bike lane when, from a large furniture van, travelling the other way (and therefore entirely unimpeded by me), came the same full-throated war-cry: "Gedoff the road!"
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Seconds later a small white van buzzed past in my direction, horn blaring loud and long without reason or provocation. At almost the same moment, it transpired, my student daughter, cycling a couple of blocks away, was cussed and spat at by (of all things) a pedestrian. Nice.
I put this sudden rash of bike-hate down to shock-jock syndrome, it having happened since Alan Jones took his war on cyclists to the airwaves.
Elsewhere, the term ''cycle wars'' refers to the competition - as between London and Paris - to get more cyclists on the road, more quickly. Here it has a more sinister ring, the war being to get cyclists off the road.
Like most city people, I don't listen to Jones all that much. But I recently stumbled across a podcast of his now-notorious Clover Moore interview - if that's indeed what it was - last month on the subject of city cycleways.
Still less than 5 per cent built, the 200-kilometre cycleway stands to benefit the city greatly, establishing safe bike arteries in both directions and yielding twice the per-dollar economic benefit of a new motorway. Yet Jones describes it as "the biggest disgrace in traffic management that I have ever seen" and insists it will "destroy the city completely".
He was in fine form that morning. With a spite suggesting payback for Clover's defence of Moore Park (against the SCG, of which Jones is a long-time director), he set about cutting in, hectoring, talking over, abusing. "You haven't got a clue what you're talking about," he told the lord mayor. "You virtually speak for nobody . . . For god's sake, Clover Moore, can't you read?"
As a Redfern resident I recognised the familiar aural patterns of man bullying woman; these dramas are often played out in our street. Occasionally it's female-on-male but, in general, I find, the gender roles assert themselves among the inebriate classes.
But Moore, while audibly irritated by Jones's rude non sequiturs, stayed calm, patiently pointing to her increased majority at the last election (with the cycleway a key pledge), to burgeoning use and recent polling showing 80 per cent support.
I would have dismissed the entire event as the rough-housing of public life - but for the extent to which the driving populace appears to take Jones as their behavioural totem. He hates cyclists, they hate cyclists; he slags them with impunity, well, so can they.
Even before the interview, and despite city council efforts, Sydney was working hard on its international reputation as a cycle-hating city. Professor John Pucher, of Rutgers University, who spent a year here trying to understand why, noted "an incredible level of aggression from Sydney motorists" - even compared with US cities.
Europe, he reports, (and to a large extent North America and Canada) imposes many more sticks - much higher petrol prices, vehicle taxes, rego and licensing - as well as many more carrots - extensive bike parking, bike-and-ride buses, cycleways, cycle-friendly traffic speeds and lights and mandatory cycle training in schools.
Tomorrow, for instance, Transport for London - the world's most intelligent bureaucracy - launches its Barclays Cycle Hire scheme. Modelled on Montreal, the scheme makes 6000 bikes available for hire at centres throughout the metropolis. For £1 a day, or £45 a year - paid on-street or online - you can make unlimited half-hour trips. Cycle longer, you pay more. Simple and brilliant.
Here, where an entire state government can't even copy London's Oyster Card properly, the city must do what it can - namely, build separate cycleways.
This should please motorists, since it reduces congestion and limits the build-up of road rage behind cyclists convinced their only safe option is to ''claim the lane''. It cleans the air and cuts our ballooning diabetes and heart disease budgets. How is it "the worst traffic management ever''?
The real wonder - disgrace - is that we let these shock jocks raise profits by artificially raising our ire, when really what we should raise is our collective middle digit.
Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/cyclists-up-against-shockjock-ravings-20100728-10vy4.html#ixzz1MZ3rcxU1
July 29, 2010
Comments 232
I'm freewheeling down Macquarie Street, breathing the salt-sparkle, seeing the Opera House rise from the bush, mindful of the good Guvnor's legacy, when a car veers in, shoving me dangerously near the parked vehicles. "Ya, gedoff the road!" yell its occupants, evidently delighted with their command of broadest yobbo.
Admittedly, my middle digit may have raised itself microscopically from handlebar level, but the yobs' next move was to rev that clapped out Ford Fiesta, accelerate past and swerve hard in front, gesticulating wildly, screaming, "Hope ya crash, bitch!" before tearing off to the expressway.
That was weeks ago, my first experience of car-on-bike road rage, and it did rather take the shine off the ride. Since then, though, such incidents are noticeably more common. Just yesterday morning, I was pedalling happily along my local inner-city bike lane when, from a large furniture van, travelling the other way (and therefore entirely unimpeded by me), came the same full-throated war-cry: "Gedoff the road!"
Advertisement: Story continues below
Seconds later a small white van buzzed past in my direction, horn blaring loud and long without reason or provocation. At almost the same moment, it transpired, my student daughter, cycling a couple of blocks away, was cussed and spat at by (of all things) a pedestrian. Nice.
I put this sudden rash of bike-hate down to shock-jock syndrome, it having happened since Alan Jones took his war on cyclists to the airwaves.
Elsewhere, the term ''cycle wars'' refers to the competition - as between London and Paris - to get more cyclists on the road, more quickly. Here it has a more sinister ring, the war being to get cyclists off the road.
Like most city people, I don't listen to Jones all that much. But I recently stumbled across a podcast of his now-notorious Clover Moore interview - if that's indeed what it was - last month on the subject of city cycleways.
Still less than 5 per cent built, the 200-kilometre cycleway stands to benefit the city greatly, establishing safe bike arteries in both directions and yielding twice the per-dollar economic benefit of a new motorway. Yet Jones describes it as "the biggest disgrace in traffic management that I have ever seen" and insists it will "destroy the city completely".
He was in fine form that morning. With a spite suggesting payback for Clover's defence of Moore Park (against the SCG, of which Jones is a long-time director), he set about cutting in, hectoring, talking over, abusing. "You haven't got a clue what you're talking about," he told the lord mayor. "You virtually speak for nobody . . . For god's sake, Clover Moore, can't you read?"
As a Redfern resident I recognised the familiar aural patterns of man bullying woman; these dramas are often played out in our street. Occasionally it's female-on-male but, in general, I find, the gender roles assert themselves among the inebriate classes.
But Moore, while audibly irritated by Jones's rude non sequiturs, stayed calm, patiently pointing to her increased majority at the last election (with the cycleway a key pledge), to burgeoning use and recent polling showing 80 per cent support.
I would have dismissed the entire event as the rough-housing of public life - but for the extent to which the driving populace appears to take Jones as their behavioural totem. He hates cyclists, they hate cyclists; he slags them with impunity, well, so can they.
Even before the interview, and despite city council efforts, Sydney was working hard on its international reputation as a cycle-hating city. Professor John Pucher, of Rutgers University, who spent a year here trying to understand why, noted "an incredible level of aggression from Sydney motorists" - even compared with US cities.
Europe, he reports, (and to a large extent North America and Canada) imposes many more sticks - much higher petrol prices, vehicle taxes, rego and licensing - as well as many more carrots - extensive bike parking, bike-and-ride buses, cycleways, cycle-friendly traffic speeds and lights and mandatory cycle training in schools.
Tomorrow, for instance, Transport for London - the world's most intelligent bureaucracy - launches its Barclays Cycle Hire scheme. Modelled on Montreal, the scheme makes 6000 bikes available for hire at centres throughout the metropolis. For £1 a day, or £45 a year - paid on-street or online - you can make unlimited half-hour trips. Cycle longer, you pay more. Simple and brilliant.
Here, where an entire state government can't even copy London's Oyster Card properly, the city must do what it can - namely, build separate cycleways.
This should please motorists, since it reduces congestion and limits the build-up of road rage behind cyclists convinced their only safe option is to ''claim the lane''. It cleans the air and cuts our ballooning diabetes and heart disease budgets. How is it "the worst traffic management ever''?
The real wonder - disgrace - is that we let these shock jocks raise profits by artificially raising our ire, when really what we should raise is our collective middle digit.
Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/cyclists-up-against-shockjock-ravings-20100728-10vy4.html#ixzz1MZ3rcxU1
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