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House_Keeper you got it right when you said we don't have the infrastructure in place to have the bike schemes in place as you mentioned earlier. Roads should be wider with a bike lane (and I mean a proper bike lane, one that pedestrians don't use) and cyclists should have to use them (baffles me why some don't use them on Kerferd/Albert Road though). Then everyone can use the roads happily and safely!
I'm glad we agree on something. If only we could have adequate cycling infrastructure in Australia, we wouldn't be talking about animosity between cyclists and motorists.
Why doesn't our govt build the necessary infrastructure? I don't know. Some people claim that it is "too expensive". That is not true when you take into account the health benefits of cycling. Obesity costs us 58 BILLIONS per year. A cycling culture could lower than bill significantly. I believe that cycling paths are cheaper than the medical bill of an unhealthy population.
Because of our govt lack of foresight in this matter, we are forced into a situation where two type of traffic travelling at very different speed must coexist. That is a bad idea, prone to accidents. As a cyclist on a main road, I almost fear the passage of every car, hoping nobody will make a mistake.
Not all drivers behave poorly, and not all cyclist behave well. Travelling mostly on secondary roads, I have found that most drivers behave respectfully. Maybe somebody travelling on main road will have a different experience. I have seen cyclists do silly things. A lot of cyclists are teenagers, you need to take that into account.
There is a huge imbalance in that relationship though. If anything goes wrong, it is the cyclist who risks going to hospital. That is why I believe car drivers ought to be extra careful of cyclists, irrespective of what they may think of them.
I hope you will never have to face the situation of having killed a cyclist by hitting it from behind. This is not some something easy to live with. This is the most common way to get killed as a cyclist. Most of the time, it is the vehicle driver who did not see the cyclist. There is not much cyclists can do to reduce that risk. Helmets are useless in this type of accidents. Wearing visible clothing helps, but only to some degree.
I would have hoped that politicians could have shown a bit of leadership on this issue. Sadly, some of them are not that smart.
http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/polit...ghts-as-motorists-on-roads-20091111-i7wf.html
This is a rant from Car Scully, ex-minister of roads in the NSW govt. The worst govt we ever had. Even by the low standards of this govt, Mr Scully got kicked out in 2006.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Scully
When I read that, I thought that somebody at that level of government could not be that stupid. He must be thinking he will get some political advantages from pandering to the car drivers. Maybe he plans to go for election in the western suburbs of Sydney.
Mr. Scully claimed to have built many bicycle paths in Sydney. A few have been built. The only problem is that they don't connect with each other, or form any kind of sensible network. The bicycle paths were build where it was convenient to build them, not where they were needed. Ever heard of a customer-driven approach, Mr. Scully? It shouldn't be that hard to figure out that a connected network of bicycle paths leading to the major work places and shopping places would have a good chance of encouraging more cycling. Instead, Mr. Scully built a few isolated bicycle paths, and tells cyclists to get of the road. GET OUT OF MY WAY CYCLISTS! GO AND PLAY IN THIS FAR AWAY BICYCLE PATH WE BUILT ESPECIALLY FOR YOU.
It is clear that Mr Scully has NO IDEA that less people on bicycles mean more traffic jams. For a former minister of roads, that is unbelievable.
If he manages to scare off all the cyclists as he wants, there will be more traffic jams for everybody. The lonely brave cyclist will be able to ride slowly through the traffic jam. At least, there won't be a large speed difference between cars & cyclists with this brilliant idea.
Reading this article makes me sad, because many people will be influenced by it. This can only make already hostile car drivers more aggressive. I believe it is irresponsible for a person of that standing to publish something like that.
That is the end of my long rant against this article. I'm afraid my comments won't be published in the herald though.
Whatever you do, please remember that lives are at risk when cyclists are forced to share the road.
And please don't join Mr Scully in this despicable car pandering behavior. Nobody is better off because of it, not even the car drivers.
Cheers,