A committed cyclist takes on (some of) his fellow riders
I never thought I would ever take on the role of Judas Iscariot, especially about fellow cyclists but a metamorphosis has taken place over the last year.
I have to confess to changing from being a defender of riders to finally having to agree that some cyclists in Perth are, literally, off the chain.
As I ride to work each day, I see growing numbers of cyclists openly defy the traffic laws, seemingly without any concern for their own, and anyone else's, safety. These riders are either ignorant of, or just choose to ignore the road rules. Car drivers complain about the unpredictable road manners of some riders and are justifiably worried they will knock a cyclist off through no fault of their own.
The talk among experienced two wheelers is the new wave of converts to cycling are giving riders a bad name.So when 7.30WA heard the police were planning a campaign to crack down on errant riders we decided to look at the extent of the problem. Over a period of three weeks we tracked cyclists on their daily commutes, and went out riding with bunch riders on the weekend.We filmed police out on patrol in the city, catching riders without helmets, overtaking on the left of cars, riding through red lights and stop signs. At one operation at a North Perth intersection, police issued $1750 worth of fines in under an hour.
Breathtaking
Some of the behaviour we filmed out on the roads is nothing short of breathtaking.The recent explosion in numbers of ride to work warriors, echoed on the weekends by trains of road riders racing from cafe to cafe, has triggered concern amongst motoring organisations and the police. Senior Sergeant Les Horrocks says impatient riders think they can cross on red lights but it will cost them $150. "The cyclist thinks that he will be able to get through quicker than what the car could and he can zip around whatever, it's just a sad fact of life I suppose, " he said.
According to the Bicycle Transport Alliance's Heinrich Benz, a small minority of cyclists jump the red lights because they feel so unsafe on the roads, they go into a survival mode."In that survival mode, when they see a safe passage anywhere they're going to use it, so they make a judgement, they think it's safe for me to cross," he said. "I don't think they're doing it to flout the law." Road crash data indicates that between 2006 and 2007 about 15 per cent of people taken to hospital from road crashes were cyclists, and many of those were middle-aged men.
As petrol and parking prices have risen, more commuters have left the car behind and taken to two wheels.Bike sales are rocketing - 1.3 million bikes were sold in Australia last year and the statisticians say the number of people riding regularly has increased 32 per cent in the last decade.
Falling behind
The Royal Automobile Club's Matt Brown says the sudden rise in the numbers of bike riders on Perth's roads has seen the infrastructure provided for cyclists fall behind. "What's coming through to us is that cyclists just don't feel safe on our roads," he said. Reporter Jake Sturmer went for a drive around Perth with Matt Brown to identify where facilities for riders could be improved, with separate paths for riders to keep them away from cars and pedestrians. Mr Brown says the RAC is conducting bike safety forums to gauge what should be done to improve rider safety.
"What was interesting was at the start of the forums there is this real psychological divide between the bike riders, the motorists and the policy makers and the enforcers in the police," he said. "Through the forums what we do is we break down those barriers, we get them talking to each other." But while some bad riders are attracting all the attention for their poor traffic skills, Mr Brown believes car drivers also have to lift their game."We need to get the message through to motorists, if you're passing a cyclist, just think to yourself how would you act if that cyclist was your son or your daughter, how would it change your attitude to them," he said.Heinrich Benz admits there is a small but highly visible group of riders who are creating tension on the roads but the majority of cyclists need to be congratulated and even rewarded.
"They all have cars at home, they don't use them at the moment, they don't compete for one of the parking spots in the city, they don't compete for road space, they don't hold you up at the red lights," he said."You should thank them, you should give them a cake and a cup of coffee every time."I don't think I'll hold my breath for that to occur.
(Mark Bennett is the producer of 7.30WA, you can see the TV story on the 7.30WA website, just clink on the link on the ABC Western Australia home page)
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