ACT Policing is appealing for witnesses to a collision involving a car and a 15-year-old cyclist in Phillip earlier today (Wednesday, January 11).
The collision occurred about 12.50 pm on the corner of Launceston Street and Yamba Drive.
The 15-year-old rider was taken by ACT Ambulance Service to The Canberra Hospital in a serious condition. His injuries are unknown at this stage.
ACT Policing’s Collision Investigation and Reconstruction Team is investigating the collision.
The left hand lane on Yamba Drive, between Launceston Street and Wisdom Street, is closed and will be for some time as police conduct their investigation.
Anyone who may be able to assist with the investigation is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000, or via the Crime Stoppers website on www.act.crimestoppers.com.au. Information can be provided anonymously.
Pestiness said :
Through a friend of a friend, yada yada, have heard a bit more about this incident and what I was told pretty much ties in with the above version of events.
A pretty scary moment for all involved no doubt.
Apologies for carelessly shooting my mouth off in response #1, too.
Erg0 said :
Well played Sir.
I like it how in that video, which is apparently cycling Mecca, has like 10 cars to every bicycle
NoImRight said :
You’d never catch the Dutch complaining like that.
Jethro said :
BicycleCanberra said :
Adapt and adopt are two different words.
NoImRight said :
Yes.
madamcholet said :
It would make sense that the 60 km/h section was extended to north of the lights. Given there are two sets of lights in close proximity and an area that attracts children (in the form of a skate park). From where does one presume the children would most likely come? My guess would be the houses on the other side of Yamba.
NoImRight said :
I’d love to be showing Australian examples here and there are, but until Aus traffic engineers start design transport infrastructure for all users and not just cars then the dutch will always be the model of people oriented cities
KeenGolfer said :
Can you find me where ( in the documents) are we looking to adopt the speed limits of 30kmh residential streets, 50km/h main collector roads in built up areas,70km main arterial roads and 90-100km on Highways. Better separation of cycling infrastructure on high speed high volume roads?
Anyone else sick of the freakin Dutch being touted as a role model of perfect behaviour? Geebus….
I didn’t finish school THAT long ago, and we had plenty of road safety lessons, which were rolled into our health program, and discussed in depth in other classes as well. Granted I went to a private school for the most part, but even then most schools that I know of offer the road ready course to be done on school grounds to encourage young drivers, my only issue with the road safety program is that it doesn’t cover cyclists.
BicycleCanberra said :
Canberra does have a Vision Zero policy, adapted from the Sweedish model. Have a look a the ACT Road Safety Action Plan 2011-2013 and the ACT Road Safety Strategy 2011-2020, both available online.
BicycleCanberra said :
Probably has a bit to do with why the stats on fatalities from cyclists not wearing helmets is so low over there. If cycling is a more ingrained part of the daily culture then the basic hurdle of awareness/appreciation between the warring motorists and cyclists has already been overcome before kids get their driving licence.
Gee, better education regarding road use resulting in what appears to be a better outcome for all. Who’d a thunk it.
Dork said :
Children in Canberra schools now days learn very little about road safety except what they learn from the back seat of their parents car. The Koala visits now and then but that’s about all. We used to have good road safety training and cycle safety at the the training centre’s in Deakin and Belconnen before they closed them down.
In the Netherlands this type of training still continues today and children sit a road safety cycle test in the last year of primary school as the majority of them cycle to High school.
http://vimeo.com/31545084
dungfungus said :
I was thinking of this this morning on my commute. This morning I witnessed riders doing things that were not really kosher on the cycle paths. One of the things that bugs me is oncoming riders who wont pass other riders & pedestrians safely (seems to be a Canberra thing because Canberrans cant do it in cars either).
I think education is the key, myself started riding again 4 years ago. Personally I like to explore my activities & understand them better but many people do not. There is literature that can give guidence to people but really sometimes it is face to face education that will get through. After that then enforcement penalties are next.
I had a look at the list of Infringements on the AFP website & it is quite extensive from not riding across the pedestrian crossing, keeping left to passing safely. It surprised me how many infringements there were, there are also infringements for pedestrians.
One of the big things people are forgetting is that while some of these things are a PITA, society is coping with it OK. Yep, there are accidents with the occaisional death but compared to motor vehicles its a drop in the ocean & enforcement is pretty low on the Governents radar.
This is not to say people should not take responsibility for themselves either.
dungfungus said :
I have asked him previously about the lack of action against cyclists, mainly in regards to them not wearing helmets. His response is that he will book cyclists (he is a NSW cop btw), but many cops won’t as they think it is a pain in the butt. He also mentioned that cyclists are not required to carry ID and he has had people give false info to him.
qbngeek said :
When you see your cop mate at the weekend, ask him also why the police continue to refuse to prosecute cyclists that still insist on riding on a pedestrian crossing. A lot of comments have been that the law is stupid but it is still the law. I think it is stupid to limit speed on the GDE to 80 kmh but the police and radar will still book me if I break the law by exceeding the limit. There is a bit of a double standard here namely, soak the motorists but don’t touch the peddlers.
I’m not, which I made clear in my previous post. I understand that everybody is different and that people make mistakes, I agree with you about road design. The issue I have is that making one mistake in a situation like this can cause death or serious injury and it’s not uncommon. It seems that we both agree that it needs to be more safe for everybody. All i’m saying is that people need to follow the law to keep themselves safe. What if we do implement the vision zero policy and no one abides by it. Would suggest scraping the policy if this was the case? I doubt that. I suggest better understanding, When people learn to drive they have have to know the laws and know the consequences, kids learn about road saftey in school, but nothing to do with when you are riding a bike.
Ryan said :
That is something I discussed in my original comment on this thread… I figured the law exists in reaction to the dickhead cyclists who don’t so much as slow down at the crossings. These people aren’t going to obey any law, so the law should be sensible, not a reaction to their dickheadery.