Experience tells me that a stone chip rates as a higher priority than the death of a cyclist in this country.
Can we call an end to the ‘open season’ on the members of our community who choose to ride a bicycle, please? Enough is enough. Three and now one more make four in a week. These are people. Fathers, sisters, school friends…
Riding a bike is here to stay. It’s been around for a long time. It is becoming more popular again. And it will continue to grow. Thankfully.
You have every right to be on the road. You have every right to expect safe passage. I look forward to hearing the coroner’s findings. They won’t come soon enough.
Ignore the ranters. The uninformed opinion. These situations always bring these people out into the open. Helmets were introduced to protect. Hi-Viz is now the expectation. The focus is constantly on the vulnerable. How about we try lower speed limits? Or completing the regions cycleways? Or removing parking from prime arterial real estate to make room for cycling?
What are you going to do about it? I hope joining your local cycling advocacy group is on your list. Regardless of the your cycling tribe, the only way forward is to speak with one voice. And not a voice that tells us that we need to improve our behaviour. Alot of things need to happen, but apologising for being on a bike is not one of them.
cycling/freedom
Cycle Action Auckland – a voice for cyclists
This has been a really bad week for cycling. I hope it doesn't put anyone off any more than the other road deaths put motorists off.
To the fallen: rest in peace.
Indeed. The callous disregard of vulnerable road users by both motorists and authorities requires a rapid response – driver education and legal/penalty issues on one side, and improvements to infrastructure (especially the removal of parking spaces on arterial roads, and the provision of cycle lanes) on the other.
The killing has got to stop.
Tragic. When the city finally turns this stretch of street into a beautiful boulevard (safe for all users) it should be named after this person.
Progressive licencing.
Bicycle, motorbike, car, truck/bus.
At least a year on each with a pursuit competence test at the end of each year.
Agree with all the above comments. I think the real problem is our driver attitudes. They have to change, & I realise that legislation (like banning cellphones, which has made a noticeable reduction)is probably the way.
In holland, the driver is at fault first. This makes motorists there very carefull, We need something, to make motorists change behaviour.
the removal of parking is not practicle and will only serve to further alienate and frustrate the very people we need to win over.
Licencing of bicycles is a no go as would be expensive and impracticle to implement.
about the only thing I can think of is tougher driving tests (we have to be the worst/most agreesive drivers in the western world) and a law that for any accident involving motor vehicles and cyclist the driver is instantly treated as guilty unless the cyclist wasn't wearing/using lights/helmet, placing the onus on the driver to prove their innocence. I think this is how things are done in holland, but not sure.
Time for an organised memorial ride through town..
Strict liability is part of the answer. If a car hits a cyclist or a pedestrian, then the driver of the car is presumed initially to be liable. Its not a recipie for terrorist cyclists, but the way virtually every European country helps cyclists be safer. Expect roars of rage at the idea from the Motoring Classes.
http://ipayroadtax.com/uncategorized/strict-liability-why-its-a-life-saver/
I always get around by bicycle but avoid sharing the road with motor vehicles .
By doing so I have to endure risking being fined $200 for riding on what we call 'footpaths' + $55 for not wearing a helmet.
http://sites.google.com/site/urbanbicycles/cyclelanes
The way forward is here: http://policy.rutgers.edu/faculty/pucher/irresistible.pdf
Alan – that works for some cyclists – and recommended for my kids (+ helmets) when I'm not with them but it does make it harder for people backing out of driveways to see you.
Letter to the Editor of NZ Herald this morning comments that cyclists shouldn't be on the road if there is a cyclepath provided.
I've used the Tamaki Dr cycle path for recreational riding and it is totally unsuitable for anyone riding over 15k. In most places it needs to serve traffic going in both directions, has frequent obstacles like power poles. We need it, want it etc but for commuters and sports riders it is inadequate.
We don't have the luxury of implementing Dutch style cycle paths but, oh, wouldn't it be luverly!
I was hit on my bike by an opening car door in Newtown, Sydney. Head over heels, but thankfully I could ride away after the shock. Driver showed no sympathy, in fact, she seemed indignant that I got in her way! Since then I am extra wary cycling past parked cars, always looking for heads on the driver's side.
Yes, driver attitudes need to change with education and awareness. It should be obligatory for every new driver to complete a defensive driving course. But what about all those stubborn drivers who have little respect for anyone/thing else while on the road? And this is before any drugs or alcohol are involved. Where are the courtesy and manners in our driving culture? It's a systemic problem.
Haven't seen any 'Look for Bikes' or '1.5m to Survive' signs along Tamaki Drive, or in many other places around Auckland. Is this something we could lobby for?
Makes me furious the thought that this driver opened the door without looking and that the truck driver was following so closely that he couldn't avoid collision with the cyclist. NZ really needs to change the driving culture here and teach drivers to watch out for cyclists.
I also think, as cyclists that we need to change cycling culture so that those of us out for fast rides, in fact all riders, don't run red lights. If we want drivers to respect us we have to respect the rules of the road as well, even if that means we have to slow and stop for the lights. I know it is frustrating to lose the momentum of the ride, but we live in a city and that is the nature of urban cycling.
Here is the argument we need to make again and again:
Try this thought experiment: Imagine the shared cycle/footpath on Tamaki drive at a resonably popular time – a shared space intended and legitimate for both cyclists and pedestrians. Think of cyclist riding along it at 25km/h passing fmailies with young children, people listening to i-pods, people with a hearing impairment at a distance of less than 1m. Is is dangerous to walk or dangerous to cycle?
Now imagine Tamaki drive – a shared space intended and legitimate for both motor vehicles and cycles. Motor vehicles driving along at 40-50km/h passing cyclists at a distance of less than 1.5-2m. Is it dangerous to cycle or dangerous to drive?
Cycling advocates in New Zealand have to work to provide for 'all' cyclists within our laws which define bicycles as 'vehicles' which, as such have a right to use the roads,- while at the same time prohibiting them from using the existing network of segregated pathways ( 'footpaths' ).
The vast majority of New Zealanders are highly suspicious of the assertion that 'sharing the road with motor vehicles is safe' and consequently the numbers who choose to use bicycles are very small and the demographic from which the majority of them come is narrowly limited to those being 'confident and competent' (as defined by roading engineers).
Democracy is a numbers game and until we (as cycling advocates and as a society), accept that the focus needs to be changed to providing facilities for what roading engineers call 'vulnerable users', (who like most of us are not necessarily particularly confident, competent, assertive, athletic etc )bicyclists are never going to have the politically credible numbers that it will take to get widespread support and funding to implement the changes that need to be made to ensure the safety of all of us who choose what is arguably the most efficient and healthy way to get around within our cities – AND out on the open roads.
More authoritarian and punitive laws and attitudes aren't going to encourage any changes.
A more liberal legal framework and creative approach exploring every opportunity to open up existing infrastructure for use by what we could call 'slow bicyclists' is more likely to have an encouraging and enabling effect.
I live within 300 metres of a school where the bike sheds are virtually empty. The kids that I do see riding past are ALL on the footpaths, – most likely the pre-condition set
by their parents. Yes, there are driveways, but the difference is that cyclists are in control with regard to whether they need to stop. ( Anyway- aren't drivers required to
check for pedestrians/skateboarders/nobility scooters?)
Being in control of your own destiny is central to feeling safe when choosing to cycle. The law as it currently stands in New Zealand deprives cyclists who see themselves as 'vulnerable' of this right. Change can not be made until the law is rescinded to allow 'slow bicycling' on 'footpaths' so that Local Governments are under an obligation to fund the necessary improvements, modifications and extensions to physically segregated bicycling facilities.
I spent 10 years riding unhelmeted on the footpaths of Japan.
In Japanese cities, very little provision is made for cyclists but they do have the freedom to choose where it is safe for them to ride and virtually all of them see that as sharing the pavements with pedestrians. An estimated 86 million of Japan's 124 million people from a demographic wider than that which drives cars use bicycles as part of their everyday transport.
If we don't change, we'll end up where we're going
Memorial ride in rush hour traffic along Tamaki Drive? When?
@ Cen K
You seem to be implying that ALL people using
bicycles want to be travelling as fast as is practicable.
This is a common assumption in New Zealand (even among cycle advocates ) probably because virtually the only people who do cycle are doing it either as a competitive recreational activity, or they have a defined destination which they need to get to in a limited time.
There are a lot of people who would use a bicycle if they didn't feel like they had to be in some kind of race- either with themselves or with others – or have to keep up with the pace when travelling alongside motor-vehicles.
Indeed that is what the cycling cultures that have been allowed to evolve in Europe and Japan look like.
If we won't allow, enable and encourage people to ride bicycles slowly, we will never have the numbers to provide for those who want to ride fast ( i.e. it's not politically expedient to provide for minorities by taking away the privaleges of majorities – e.g. removing the right to parking to provide for segregated cycle lanes )
First things first.
I absolutely agree with the last comment and I add that is needed a legislation that protects the weaker (cyclist) from the stronger (car bumper). That is what Law is supposed to do.
I
Make that a SLOW memorial ride in Tamaki Drive rush hour traffic – next Thursday?
The death of the lady on Tamaki Drive is tragic and whilst I would participate in memorial ride, to schedule one or suggest one at peak time is just what we don't need. People are trying to get home and we cyclists will not endear ourselves or get sympathy by doing something which could be regarded as obstructionist, regardless of the reason for doing it. A memorial ride will get media attention irrespective of the time it is done, so let's be reasonable.
As regards cycle safety, it is not a problem easily solved because some of the worst drivers in the world are right here in New Zealand. I have driven in countries in five continents and it was not until coming here that I have ever suffered fear on the road. I love driving, but NZ drivers strike fear in me. They are incompetant, inconsiderate and impatient. Once those areas are addressed, then cycling will be more enjoyable and safe—-and I ride Tamaki Drive each weekend and have been in a group where four mates were hit, so I am very aware of the dangers of cycling.
I am giving up cycling. I use to cycle everyday before coming to NZ. I used to do at least 3000km per year commuting, and I am experienced in cycling in France, Belgium, Netherland, England, Wales. I have travelled extensively and the only other countries I can think about which are more dangerous than NZ to cycle in are all in Western Africa.
In general car drivers in New Zealand are savages with no road sense, no training and no consideration for other road users.The situation has grown worse over the last 2 /3 years, and my experience is that there are more and more instances of drivers out there hunting for cyclists. I do not count the number of times I have been deliberately forced onto the pavement.
If by any stroke of luck you pick up the registration number and report it to the authorities, they ignore it.
Two months ago, a driver pulling out of the Shell service station on East Tamaki looked at me coming, with all the fluorescent attire, then pulled out in front of me at the last minute. My right knee has not recovered yet.
I am buying a car. It is cheaper than a funeral. I need metal around me to protect me.
Can't wait for $5 per litre petrol, as it will mean a lot of cretins off the road, may be making cycling safer.
If you are thinking about coming to cycle for a holiday in New Zealand, DON'T DO IT, it is far too dangerous.
Ok, a very SLOW memorial ride at rush hour on Thursday in memory of a woman who was trying to f**ken get home herself.
I too am fed up with the dangerous careless driving in New Zealand. I was knocked off my bicycle on my way home through Papakura on Tuesday by a car driver who just drove off. Thankfully nothing broken but I have lots of soft tissue injuries on my elbows, knees and torso. It could have been a lot worse!
Why can't there be a TV safety campaign which spells out the facts: cyclists are NOT permitted on footpaths, it is NOT safe for cyclists to ride fast on shared pathways, cyclists have EQUAL RIGHTS to be on the road, respect cyclists because they are making a healthy, environmentally friendly choice. I know not everyone will listen, but some motorists will be ignorant of these facts and education has to be at least part of the solution.
I have written on this topic before. I am a vet recreational cyclist, I compete, am a member of a competitive club, a vets club and ride for pleasure. What,s more I am a driver of cars. I also work for the Health sector and witness daily the obesity incidence and everything that goes with that including a lot of the tax I pay. I am active in establishing "different" forms of transport and hugely supportive of shifting funding to primary care (I call it SELF HEALTH). In fact if the government bought every obese person a bike it would cost them less in the long run to treat them.
Whilst I often see cyclists on the road who are not confident and do not "work with" traffic I regularly experience very poor driving and very aggressive driving with respect to cyclists. I am ashamed of being a kiwi when it comes ot competance in driving a car. We are by far the worst drivers n the western world and what young people in subarus et al have against cyclist I do not know. The current generation of drivers are seriously lacking in something psychological or they are all on P or both.
Even getting out at 6am on a Sunday with a group of friends and cycling out into the country for 100 to 150 km (Yes thats what we do) does not make us immune from the idiot factor. Generally I find most bust drivers and truck drivers responsible. Some are not.
Cycling is not only here to stay but if some of those fat, smokiing, drinking people do not get on one soon and change their life style, there will be one less car on the road soon and I will still be riding 20 years from now.
Just remember when you see some stupid behaviour' stop get out your cell phone and ring *555 and report the rego number.
Then carry on riding but responsibly.
Greg Simpson