18 November 2013

For Gawd's Sake! lets bring in rego for bikes

| gasman
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I am aware this will become a bike vs car thread. So be it.

You own a cra, not the road

This past week, during my usual bicycle commutes to and from work, I had three separate but related incidents with cars.

1. Riding along Dudley St, Yarralumla, car swings wide to overtake me with a blind crest ahead, gets surprised when oncoming traffic appears over the crest, and veers left to avoid car, towards me. I swerve off the road to avoid being hit.

2. Riding along a nice, wide, straight bit of road in Aranda. Car overtakes me and immediately does a hook turn left, across my path. I have to hit the brakes hard to avoid hitting the car.

3. Scrivener Dam lookout entrance road has a Give Way sign where it crosses the bike path. I’m riding along bike path, truck fails to give way and almost barrels into me.

By themselves, these incidents are nothing special. These close calls happen often. I survive by assuming any particular car will do the most idiotic thing possible at any given point, and I take steps to avoid a collision before it happens. (I should point out that the majority of drivers are considerate, careful and even courteous drivers, but it only takes one idiot driver for me to lose my one life).

What makes this past week of interest is that in each of these three cases I managed to catch up to each driver at the next intersection and had a brief, and polite (at my side) chat. The chat entailed my simply asking if they recognised that their actions were contrary to the law, and even worse, life-threateningly dangerous to me, father of 3, husband of 1.

But that’s not the interesting bit. What really made this a stand-out week of close calls, was that in all three instances, the drivers replied “You don’t pay rego” but in more creative and colourful language.

Each time, I was gobsmacked by the banality of the drivers’ responses. They drove off, smug in their slapdown logic, before I could formulate a reasoned reply, but in case they are reading this, here it is:

Firstly, I do pay rego. Most cyclists do. I own 2 cars. I pay rego for them. I simply choose to ride a bike whenever possible.

But so what? What logic are those 3 drivers trying to use? Does paying rego somehow give you the right to break the road rules, and drive like a homicidal maniac? Does paying a few hundred dollars in rego somehow give you more rights on the road than other road users? Do they seriously believe that rego pays for the cost of building and maintaining roads?

Car registration pays only for the administrative costs of registering cars (thats why its called “rego”) and CTP pays for the medical costs of those people maimed by car crashes (rarely are they “accidents”). Roads are paid for from general tax revenue, such as income tax, rates, land tax and GST. These are taxes that we (cyclists included) all pay.

You own a car, NOT the road.

Maybe they think rego will make cyclists more accountable. True, some cyclists ride through red lights. I don’t. Those that do put themselves (but nobody else) at risk, and they are knobs. Paying rego won’t stop them.

Back to my original post heading. (Warning – sarcasm ahead): I would happily pay rego for my bike. This, as I understand it from the 3 philosophers I met this week, will finally give me the moral right to ride a bicycle on Canberra’s roads. It should also shut up the inane bleating of car drivers who’s only excuse for dangerous and inconsiderate driving is the claim that we don’t pay rego.

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SidneyReilly2:49 pm 03 Jan 16

Registering bikes is like trying to control marbles on the deck of a roling ship.BUT it may be sensible to register adult cyclists. Still regstering Bycycles is done several over seas cities do it. But I dont know what the cyclists objection to this is… is it just a financial issue for cyclists or are there issues of pure emotional bias?
Yet in these days of hi tech where someone can track your every nuance via your smart phone I cant see why this cant be electronic. If the ACT Legislative Assembly could be shown a model that made them money it would be done before I finished typing….Its not about big brother, its not about sharing the costs of roads and infrastructure but it is about safety for both sides., Talking to a girl in a chequout queue the other day her leg in plaster, seems she was getting out of a vehicle parked legally at the kerb when she was hit by a cyclist, she said he was very nice about called an ambulance who called police and now she is concerned because she has to sue the cyclist to recover her medical bills. “Ahh dont worry I said phone Mal Meninga, he’ll get it all done for free – as if”

gasman said :

gasman said :

I try to be confrontative, and try my best to be polite. But I think it is important to stand up for our rights, especially as we as cyclists are benefitting everybody.

Edit – what I meant to write was that I try NOT to be confrontative.

Based on your story in the OP, I think you got it right the first time. I call BS on your edit.

gasman said :

I try to be confrontative, and try my best to be polite. But I think it is important to stand up for our rights, especially as we as cyclists are benefitting everybody.

Edit – what I meant to write was that I try NOT to be confrontative.

Gungahlin Al said :

Gasman, that’s an outstanding bit of clickbaiting worthy of MamaMia! 🙂

Do you mean the title or the pic? Either way, I’ll take it as a compliment!

Gungahlin Al said :

I experience much the same sorts of attitudes as you. I try to stay awy from on-road cycling as much as I can but there are places it is unavoidable, given the ACT Gov obsession with taking the cheap for for many years.

I think DTC summed it up pretty well. Don’t expect logic on the spot – fight or flight kicks in. Just hope the embarrassment sinks in later and causes a rethink.

I try to be confrontative, and try my best to be polite. But I think it is important to stand up for our rights, especially as we as cyclists are benefitting everybody.

Gungahlin Al2:11 pm 19 Nov 13

Gasman, that’s an outstanding bit of clickbaiting worthy of MamaMia! 🙂

I experience much the same sorts of attitudes as you. I try to stay awy from on-road cycling as much as I can but there are places it is unavoidable, given the ACT Gov obsession with taking the cheap for for many years.

I think DTC summed it up pretty well. Don’t expect logic on the spot – fight or flight kicks in. Just hope the embarrassment sinks in later and causes a rethink.

gasman said :

Solidarity said :

The thing about the cyclist rant is that it is totally useless

It doesn’t matter what cyclists say about motorists, it doesn’t matter what they go on about

It doesn’t make a lick of difference, cause when you’re dead, you’re dead. People driving cars aren’t going to suddenly start paying attention and being courteous, it’s not until they kill a cyclist they might start to realise what they are capable of… you know, the whole “it’ll never happen to me”

I disagree. I have cycled extensively in Europe, Canada, and the USA. Nowhere have I encountered the same level of driver impatience, intolerance and aggression as I do here in Canberra. While some of those places have better cycling infrastructure than Canberra, and some have worse, the main thing that makes the difference is car driver attitude. I got treated with more respect on the roads in car-centric California than I do here in my home town.

People can be informed and educated, and attitudes can change. The more people cycle, and the more we stand up for our rights, the safer the practice will become.

Our difference in attitudes are this – I’ve accepted that Canberran drivers are douchebags, and take this into account when I make my decision to ride. You on the other hand, seem content shouting at the brick wall of Canberran driver ignorance and playing the blame game….

Nothings going to change.

Henry82 said :

gasman said :

As some sort of comeback, I have invested in the Rideye project on Kickstarter..

To me, unless you’re doing >3.5hr rides, might as well just use the ContourRoam2 – which has smoother edges and not pre-order for 9 months time. If you have an accident, the camera will run out of battery or space anyway, so saving footage isn’t a problem.

Also, video proof doesn’t really help when you’re stuck under a car – you might be legally in the right, but you’re still dead/mangled/injured

I used to ride with 2 GoPro cameras, one facing forward, and one backwards. I needs to recharge every day, then insert the memory card into a computer to manully delete the video clips. It’s not a huge burden, but it was enough of a hassle for me not to bother after a while.

The rideye is not available yet,hopefully March 2014. It eliminates most of the hassle by having 24 hour battery life and a continuous lop recording system. The crash detection is a bonus.

The point of a video camera is not just for evidence (and most car/bike interactions do not result in death) but also as a deterant. If car drivers know that many/most cyclists ride with cameras they will drive more responsibly.

Solidarity said :

The thing about the cyclist rant is that it is totally useless

It doesn’t matter what cyclists say about motorists, it doesn’t matter what they go on about

It doesn’t make a lick of difference, cause when you’re dead, you’re dead. People driving cars aren’t going to suddenly start paying attention and being courteous, it’s not until they kill a cyclist they might start to realise what they are capable of… you know, the whole “it’ll never happen to me”

I disagree. I have cycled extensively in Europe, Canada, and the USA. Nowhere have I encountered the same level of driver impatience, intolerance and aggression as I do here in Canberra. While some of those places have better cycling infrastructure than Canberra, and some have worse, the main thing that makes the difference is car driver attitude. I got treated with more respect on the roads in car-centric California than I do here in my home town.

People can be informed and educated, and attitudes can change. The more people cycle, and the more we stand up for our rights, the safer the practice will become.

gasman said :

Pork Hunt said :

gasman said :

As some sort of comeback, I have invested in the Rideye project on Kickstarter.

Unlike existing action cameras, like the GoPro, which need frequent charging and manual memory card management, the Rideye is like a black box flight recorder for your bike. Battery lasts a month of rides, video is recorded in a continuous loop (when the memory is full, it starts to over-write the oldest clips) and it has a crash-detection sensor that will automatically save the video at the time of a collision.

I’m publicising this to encourage more cyclists to use video cameras. Once a certain critical mass of cyclists have video cameras, and car drivers know it, the more safely they will drive around us.

I can’t wait for the outcry when a cyclist then has the video used as evidence against them and against their wishes. The day cannot be too far away when the plod will seize a camera from a vehicle involved in a stack.

In my experience when there is a dangerous or life-threatening incident between a car and a bike, the car is at fault 99% of the time. So I more than happy to ride with a video camera on my bike.

Further, I find it disturbing that you are implying that the most vulnerable party is to blame in car vs bike incidents. Australia has about 40-70 bike deaths per year, the majority caused by cars and trucks. How many car driver deaths caused by bicycles can you come up with?

In the first sentence, I was referring to cyclists running red lights etc. Sorry, should have been clearer. In the second, I did mean “vehicle” to cover all forms of wheeled transport.

The thing about the cyclist rant is that it is totally useless

It doesn’t matter what cyclists say about motorists, it doesn’t matter what they go on about

It doesn’t make a lick of difference, cause when you’re dead, you’re dead. People driving cars aren’t going to suddenly start paying attention and being courteous, it’s not until they kill a cyclist they might start to realise what they are capable of… you know, the whole “it’ll never happen to me”

blah blah blah

fromthecapital said :

Couldn’ put it better myself.

Link: http://catallaxyfiles.com/2013/11/09/roads-and-the-wheel/

.

Wow, that is a fantastic example of reductio ad absurdum. Indeed, its so absurd I’m wondering whether it is being done sarcastically. Its hard, on the internet, to figure that out.

Pork Hunt said :

gasman said :

As some sort of comeback, I have invested in the Rideye project on Kickstarter.

Unlike existing action cameras, like the GoPro, which need frequent charging and manual memory card management, the Rideye is like a black box flight recorder for your bike. Battery lasts a month of rides, video is recorded in a continuous loop (when the memory is full, it starts to over-write the oldest clips) and it has a crash-detection sensor that will automatically save the video at the time of a collision.

I’m publicising this to encourage more cyclists to use video cameras. Once a certain critical mass of cyclists have video cameras, and car drivers know it, the more safely they will drive around us.

I can’t wait for the outcry when a cyclist then has the video used as evidence against them and against their wishes. The day cannot be too far away when the plod will seize a camera from a vehicle involved in a stack.

In my experience when there is a dangerous or life-threatening incident between a car and a bike, the car is at fault 99% of the time. So I more than happy to ride with a video camera on my bike.

Further, I find it disturbing that you are implying that the most vulnerable party is to blame in car vs bike incidents. Australia has about 40-70 bike deaths per year, the majority caused by cars and trucks. How many car driver deaths caused by bicycles can you come up with?

gasman said :

As some sort of comeback, I have invested in the Rideye project on Kickstarter..

To me, unless you’re doing >3.5hr rides, might as well just use the ContourRoam2 – which has smoother edges and not pre-order for 9 months time. If you have an accident, the camera will run out of battery or space anyway, so saving footage isn’t a problem.

Also, video proof doesn’t really help when you’re stuck under a car – you might be legally in the right, but you’re still dead/mangled/injured

gasman said :

Grrrr said :

gasman said :

Going around a roundabout, I also take up the entire lane to avoid cars trying to overtake inside the roundabout (I kid you not – they will do this is given a chance!)

The road rules are a little unclear whether or not this is legal.

The road rules are unclear whether cars are allowed to overtake bicycles on a single-lane roundabout? I think they’re pretty clear – it’s not allowed.

No, I meant the road rules at not clear whether or not it is legal for a bicycle to ride in the centre of a lane, obstructing the car traffic, in order to prevent car rom overtaking in a dangerous situation.

The road rules say all vehicles must travel as far to the left as “practicable”. There is another rule that states it is illegal to obstruct traffic. But what if I obstruct traffic to prevent that traffic from being dangerous?

I wouldnt call it obstructing the traffic if you are punting along and trying to keep the flow. As you know, you are quicker though most roundabouts than cars anyway. Taking the lane is the best thing to do and it is my understanding that any “vehicle” is allowed to use the whole lane.

If you were tidlding along at 5km/h or deliberatley weaving to slow the traffic down then I say, yes, that is a problem.

I see the obstruction bit as being a deliberate act. If you are riding down the road to get to your destination you are not obstructing anything.

Its something Canberra drivers really struggle with; slower vehicles on the road like backhoes, graders and cyclists. As a driver (& I am one too), you have to deal with slower traffic, its a fact of life. Its not that hard.

gasman said :

As some sort of comeback, I have invested in the Rideye project on Kickstarter.

Unlike existing action cameras, like the GoPro, which need frequent charging and manual memory card management, the Rideye is like a black box flight recorder for your bike. Battery lasts a month of rides, video is recorded in a continuous loop (when the memory is full, it starts to over-write the oldest clips) and it has a crash-detection sensor that will automatically save the video at the time of a collision.

I’m publicising this to encourage more cyclists to use video cameras. Once a certain critical mass of cyclists have video cameras, and car drivers know it, the more safely they will drive around us.

I can’t wait for the outcry when a cyclist then has the video used as evidence against them and against their wishes. The day cannot be too far away when the plod will seize a camera from a vehicle involved in a stack.

fromthecapital10:16 pm 18 Nov 13

PantsMan said :

The ACT idiotic infatuation with bicycles as part of our anti-capitalist agenda has been noticed by the righties at the Catallaxyfiles. They had this to say on Mr Rattenbury’s Road User Hierarchy:

The wheel led to a major change in the efficiency of transportation of goods and people. It facilitated migration and trade.

Ultimately paved roads were built, especially by the Romans, to allow an increase in the speed and reliability of wheeled transportation.

For that is the principal purpose of a road – to increase the efficiency of wheeled transport, especially large vehicles like cars and trucks.

Yet the ACT Greens want to unwind thousands of years of advances by prioritising pedestrians above wheeled vehicles. Greens MLA Shane Rattenbury wants a ‘road users hierarchy’ with pedestrians number 1 followed by cyclists and so on down to cars and trucks at the bottom (as he is a keen cyclist, isn’t there a conflict of interest in ranking bicycles above cars?)

This is a loony-tunes idea. Can you imagine how pompous pedestrians will behave knowing that they have priority over everything else – why stick to a pedestrian crossing? It would further fuel the culture of entitlement and rights.

How warm and cuddly Canberra will seem after the harsh austerities of Europe. With such priorities, the justification for providing sealed roads to the new suburbs seems dubious – clearly people would flock to suburbs where they could be secure from nasty cars and rely on bicycle paths.

Rattenbury also says that a 40 km/h trial speed limit in town centres has been ‘well received by the public’. Not by me buddy.

If 50 km/h is better than 60 km/h, and 40 km/h is better than 50 km/h, why stop at 40?

In 1865 the UK Parliament passed the Locomotives on Highways Act. The Act provided that all mechanically powered road vehicles must:
?Have three drivers
?Not exceed 4 mph (6.4 kph) on the open road and 2 mph (3.2 kph) in towns; and
?Be preceded by a man on foot waving a red flag to warn the public.

Is this the objective Rattenbury has in mind?

Couldn’ put it better myself.

Link: http://catallaxyfiles.com/2013/11/09/roads-and-the-wheel/

I thought the romans built roads for their soldiers to walk around on?

Please, tell me more about how efficient it is for individuals to get around in 2 tonne vehicles.

As some sort of comeback, I have invested in the Rideye project on Kickstarter.

Unlike existing action cameras, like the GoPro, which need frequent charging and manual memory card management, the Rideye is like a black box flight recorder for your bike. Battery lasts a month of rides, video is recorded in a continuous loop (when the memory is full, it starts to over-write the oldest clips) and it has a crash-detection sensor that will automatically save the video at the time of a collision.

I’m publicising this to encourage more cyclists to use video cameras. Once a certain critical mass of cyclists have video cameras, and car drivers know it, the more safely they will drive around us.

The rego thing is such a cop-out.

All the available research points to rego being more expensive to administer than it collects in revenue. Otherwise countless jurisdictions around the world would be doing it.

Are dipshits like those who’ve nearly run you off the road this week going to be happy to pick up the short fall? I think not.

gasman said :

Grrrr said :

gasman said :

Going around a roundabout, I also take up the entire lane to avoid cars trying to overtake inside the roundabout (I kid you not – they will do this is given a chance!)

The road rules are a little unclear whether or not this is legal.

The road rules are unclear whether cars are allowed to overtake bicycles on a single-lane roundabout? I think they’re pretty clear – it’s not allowed.

No, I meant the road rules at not clear whether or not it is legal for a bicycle to ride in the centre of a lane, obstructing the car traffic, in order to prevent car rom overtaking in a dangerous situation.

The road rules say all vehicles must travel as far to the left as “practicable”. There is another rule that states it is illegal to obstruct traffic. But what if I obstruct traffic to prevent that traffic from being dangerous?

That’s what people like C&GN do.

Is negligent bicycling a thing? Wobblers need to be off the road. So do fixie riding hipsters walking their bikes in the middle of the left hand lane on Hindmarsh right after the blind corner.

markjohnconley4:25 pm 18 Nov 13

Leon said :

BimboGeek said :

Don’t they still teach road rules and bike safety in primary school?

If they taught the road rules in primary school, more people would know that a turning driver must give way to pedestrians who are crossing the road the driver is entering.

Well said Leon, I’m always educating the vehicular occupants on this one

Grrrr said :

gasman said :

Going around a roundabout, I also take up the entire lane to avoid cars trying to overtake inside the roundabout (I kid you not – they will do this is given a chance!)

The road rules are a little unclear whether or not this is legal.

The road rules are unclear whether cars are allowed to overtake bicycles on a single-lane roundabout? I think they’re pretty clear – it’s not allowed.

No, I meant the road rules at not clear whether or not it is legal for a bicycle to ride in the centre of a lane, obstructing the car traffic, in order to prevent car rom overtaking in a dangerous situation.

The road rules say all vehicles must travel as far to the left as “practicable”. There is another rule that states it is illegal to obstruct traffic. But what if I obstruct traffic to prevent that traffic from being dangerous?

gasman said :

Going around a roundabout, I also take up the entire lane to avoid cars trying to overtake inside the roundabout (I kid you not – they will do this is given a chance!)

The road rules are a little unclear whether or not this is legal.

The road rules are unclear whether cars are allowed to overtake bicycles on a single-lane roundabout? I think they’re pretty clear – it’s not allowed. You’ll also see that roundabouts typically have double-white lines for ~10m before them, too. Meaning; no overtaking.

Beyond that, it also fails the primary directive for overtaking: Overtake only when you have a clear
view of the road ahead, *and you can do so safely.*

I would happily support bike registration if it solved a problem (and I’ve said this before.) Particularly, an ANZ ownership database for all new bike sales with an RRP of – say – $1k+, with the DB accessible in real-time by both police and members of the public. Seen a bogan on a $4k bike? Buying a 2nd hand bike? Enter serial # into web page on your smartphone, see if it’s reported stolen.

Of course, it would merely change the driver comments from “get a rego” to “get a rego plate” .. I think I have a bike rego plate from 1970’s Belgium somewhere. I don’t think that scheme lasted. You’re probably not suprised.

Alternatively, we could legislate for subsidised handgun purchases and concealed public possession for cyclists, along with matching American-style “self-defense” laws. That might even out the power balance. 😛

gasman said :

tim_c said :

You should ask them to explain:

As for Dudley Street, I used to often ride along there and I would always make a point of picking a gap in the traffic and then moving well out from the edge of the road (ie. about 1 m from the edge line) as I approached the crest, being sure to keep moving at a good rate (so I didn’t delay people unnecessarily) and then to move far over to the left immediately when the view ahead was clear again – usually only a couple of seconds later. This made it clear to even the stupidest drivers that it wasn’t safe to overtake

I usually do this too. I ride in the middle of the lane to stop cars from overtaking coming up to the blind crest. Occasionally get a horn blown at me for doing so. I am, after all, delaying the car by a few seconds. Going around a roundabout, I also take up the entire lane to avoid cars trying to overtake inside the roundabout (I kid you not – they will do this is given a chance!)

The road rules are a little unclear whether or not this is legal. They state that a vehicle must keep as far to the left of the roads as is “practicable” (A.C.T.). I’m sure lawyers would argue for hours the meaning of “practicable” should an incident occur.

“Yes, I was avoiding an obstruction”
“There was no obstruction”
“Yes, there was”

To be honest, even if you did pay rego they’d still find something to call you (f*g cyclist etc). I don’t think a calm concise argument is going to sway their opinion.

Antagonist said :

It is an economy of numbers. You will find there are equal numbers of retards in the populations of cyclists and cars. It is just that there are more cars on the roads than cyclists.

……or the old education centres that were run by the police complete with little roads, roundabouts, traffic lights, line markings, signs and similar to educate school kids.

+1 to both points. My brother did the little roads thing when he was younger. They give you a paper riding license and you ride around the park on bikes. The teachers et al. run around with markers and give points to people “breaking” the road rules. I think there was a 10 minute sin-bin for those with accumulated points. He certainly enjoyed the day.

Anyway, not sure if it would have any effect on the situations above. Any adult would know most road rules (where or not they choose to follow them is a different story). Just idiots being idiots. :/

As a daily commuter, I am certainly seeing that lately there are a rather large increase of close incidents and drivers attitudes towards cyclists. I am not sure what is causing this by it may be a national problem given the increased national death toll.

Unfortunately, and very sadly nothing will be done in this area without a death or two. Let’s hope it will not be me, father of 2 husband of 1…

tim_c said :

You should ask them to explain:

As for Dudley Street, I used to often ride along there and I would always make a point of picking a gap in the traffic and then moving well out from the edge of the road (ie. about 1 m from the edge line) as I approached the crest, being sure to keep moving at a good rate (so I didn’t delay people unnecessarily) and then to move far over to the left immediately when the view ahead was clear again – usually only a couple of seconds later. This made it clear to even the stupidest drivers that it wasn’t safe to overtake

I usually do this too. I ride in the middle of the lane to stop cars from overtaking coming up to the blind crest. Occasionally get a horn blown at me for doing so. I am, after all, delaying the car by a few seconds. Going around a roundabout, I also take up the entire lane to avoid cars trying to overtake inside the roundabout (I kid you not – they will do this is given a chance!)

The road rules are a little unclear whether or not this is legal. They state that a vehicle must keep as far to the left of the roads as is “practicable” (A.C.T.). I’m sure lawyers would argue for hours the meaning of “practicable” should an incident occur.

You should ask them to explain:
“You don’t pay rego”
“No, I’m not required to – but what’s that got to do with anything?”
Don’t make accusations or statements (even if you are right), ask polite but firm questions and get them to do the explaining.

As for Dudley Street, I used to often ride along there and I would always make a point of picking a gap in the traffic and then moving well out from the edge of the road (ie. about 1 m from the edge line) as I approached the crest, being sure to keep moving at a good rate (so I didn’t delay people unnecessarily) and then to move far over to the left immediately when the view ahead was clear again – usually only a couple of seconds later. This made it clear to even the stupidest drivers that it wasn’t safe to overtake (as well as giving me more ‘buffer’ space), and any people that tried to had to be fully on the wrong side of the road – MOST people were too uncomfortable with this and seemed to understand – the double unbroken lines are there for a reason afterall. I only ever got berated once for this approach, and that was only by a tradie who typically aren’t even half as bright as their low-IQ-warning safety shirts. It seemed it caught him by surprise more than annoying him, but if he’d stopped to argue about it, I’d have said something along the lines of “I knew you weren’t going to overtake when it wasn’t safe anyway”. Granted, it’s about 5 years since I worked in Yarralumla so I don’t travel there anymore and Canberra’s road-users seem to be getting more ignorant and aggressive rather than less.

Whether I was in the car or on my bike, I always found that people travelling into Deakin in the mornings were amongst the most rude, most impatient and most aggressive in South Canberra. I now also try to avoid driving or cycling in/through Barton for much the same reason.

dtc said :

You can get cycling insurance through bike groups (pedal power, for example), but I agree. More easily available cycling insurance would be worthwhile.

I am a member of PedalPower and with that membership I get third party insurance to cover any damage that my bike and riding may do. It is obviously far less than I pay for car third party insurance because the potential for injury is far, far less on a bike than with a car.

dtc said :

In other words, if you confront a driver soon after the incident you are going to get a very defensive (or aggressively defensive) response. It may be guilt, it may be just ignorance. So basing your reaction (rego) on their reaction is using the wrong statistics, as it were.

Hopefully your comments to them make some of them think, later on, about their actions and make them aware of the risks – after all, the best way to learn is to make a mistake and then not make it again (hopefully without hurting anyone). But you are rarely going to get a sensible immediate response.

Occasionally when I confront a driver about their bad driving, I get a “Sorry mate”. Most of the time, I get a “F^&* Off”. This week was special in that I got 3 almost identical responses about rego.

they really said that to you? Idiots

I have no idea what that has to do with anything…I own a car (and naturally pay rego) but cycle most places whenever I can (good exercise, better for the environment, no parking needed, and reduces traffic congestion).

Does that mean we can run over pedestrians as well? Sweeeeeeet.

Sadly, as cyclists, we need to be the most cautious of anyone on the roads – we need to watch for moronic cars and hapless pedestrians. Sure keeps us alert but it can be hairy at times.

Glad you’re ok anyway but it sucks it happens so often.

Queen_of_the_Bun said :

I drive very limited kms. Narrabundah to Barton and back for work. Last week alone I had a female cyclist wobbling in and out of the bike lane on Captain Cook Crescent because she was texting, two days in a row one adult and two child cyclists ride into my path at speed across the pedestrian crossing at Captain Cook and Canberra Ave intersection, and a cyclist ride across two lanes of traffic so he could turn right down National Circuit.

I have no desire to hit a cyclist. I think the rego comments go more to the idea that you have take lessons and pass a test to drive a car, whereas anyone can ride a bike anywhere, any time. You can be banned for driving for DUI etc but can still get on a bike and ride anywhere. You can be just as much of a dickhead on two wheels as you can on four – it’s just that there are legal consequences for drivers that don’t seem to apply to cyclists. And that’s why we hate you. You scare the bejesus out of us.

The pedestrian crossing at Captain Cook and Canberra Ave intersection is a strange one. The bike lane on Captain Cook is actually diverted off the road onto the footpath then to the crossing before leading across Canberra Avenue. There’s a big sign at the pedestrian crossing that says watch for bicycles. The whole set up of the bike lane through that interection indicates to me that bikes are allowed to ride through the pedestrian crossing.

The ACT idiotic infatuation with bicycles as part of our anti-capitalist agenda has been noticed by the righties at the Catallaxyfiles. They had this to say on Mr Rattenbury’s Road User Hierarchy:

The wheel led to a major change in the efficiency of transportation of goods and people. It facilitated migration and trade.

Ultimately paved roads were built, especially by the Romans, to allow an increase in the speed and reliability of wheeled transportation.

For that is the principal purpose of a road – to increase the efficiency of wheeled transport, especially large vehicles like cars and trucks.

Yet the ACT Greens want to unwind thousands of years of advances by prioritising pedestrians above wheeled vehicles. Greens MLA Shane Rattenbury wants a ‘road users hierarchy’ with pedestrians number 1 followed by cyclists and so on down to cars and trucks at the bottom (as he is a keen cyclist, isn’t there a conflict of interest in ranking bicycles above cars?)

This is a loony-tunes idea. Can you imagine how pompous pedestrians will behave knowing that they have priority over everything else – why stick to a pedestrian crossing? It would further fuel the culture of entitlement and rights.

How warm and cuddly Canberra will seem after the harsh austerities of Europe. With such priorities, the justification for providing sealed roads to the new suburbs seems dubious – clearly people would flock to suburbs where they could be secure from nasty cars and rely on bicycle paths.

Rattenbury also says that a 40 km/h trial speed limit in town centres has been ‘well received by the public’. Not by me buddy.

If 50 km/h is better than 60 km/h, and 40 km/h is better than 50 km/h, why stop at 40?

In 1865 the UK Parliament passed the Locomotives on Highways Act. The Act provided that all mechanically powered road vehicles must:
?Have three drivers
?Not exceed 4 mph (6.4 kph) on the open road and 2 mph (3.2 kph) in towns; and
?Be preceded by a man on foot waving a red flag to warn the public.

Is this the objective Rattenbury has in mind?

Couldn’ put it better myself.

Link: http://catallaxyfiles.com/2013/11/09/roads-and-the-wheel/

My bike is registered.

La_Tour_Maubourg said :

If a cyclist were to collide with a vehicle/pedestrian/other cyclist, how does the cyclist arrange repairs/medical treatment? Perhaps a cyclist insurance program could be added with registration.

You can get cycling insurance through bike groups (pedal power, for example), but I agree. More easily available cycling insurance would be worthwhile.

That said, for the OP, remember that if you confront a driver then you have to deal with:

1. no one likes being told they are wrong at any time
2. drivers feel they are the power in the relationship (faster, bigger, heavier than you) and people in power like being told they are wrong even less than the rest of us
3. 95% of people think they are above average drivers.

In other words, if you confront a driver soon after the incident you are going to get a very defensive (or aggressively defensive) response. It may be guilt, it may be just ignorance. So basing your reaction (rego) on their reaction is using the wrong statistics, as it were.

Hopefully your comments to them make some of them think, later on, about their actions and make them aware of the risks – after all, the best way to learn is to make a mistake and then not make it again (hopefully without hurting anyone). But you are rarely going to get a sensible immediate response.

La_Tour_Maubourg9:20 am 18 Nov 13

If a cyclist were to collide with a vehicle/pedestrian/other cyclist, how does the cyclist arrange repairs/medical treatment? Perhaps a cyclist insurance program could be added with registration.

BimboGeek said :

Don’t they still teach road rules and bike safety in primary school?

If they taught the road rules in primary school, more people would know that a turning driver must give way to pedestrians who are crossing the road the driver is entering.

Don’t they still teach road rules and bike safety in primary school?

Having rego on a vehicle doesn’t stop people from being farktards, effective policing does.

Queen_of_the_Bun7:24 pm 17 Nov 13

I drive very limited kms. Narrabundah to Barton and back for work. Last week alone I had a female cyclist wobbling in and out of the bike lane on Captain Cook Crescent because she was texting, two days in a row one adult and two child cyclists ride into my path at speed across the pedestrian crossing at Captain Cook and Canberra Ave intersection, and a cyclist ride across two lanes of traffic so he could turn right down National Circuit.

I have no desire to hit a cyclist. I think the rego comments go more to the idea that you have take lessons and pass a test to drive a car, whereas anyone can ride a bike anywhere, any time. You can be banned for driving for DUI etc but can still get on a bike and ride anywhere. You can be just as much of a dickhead on two wheels as you can on four – it’s just that there are legal consequences for drivers that don’t seem to apply to cyclists. And that’s why we hate you. You scare the bejesus out of us.

Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd said :

Far too many retards around. The majority of them are driving cars.

It is an economy of numbers. You will find there are equal numbers of retards in the populations of cyclists and cars. It is just that there are more cars on the roads than cyclists.

I do not see any benefit in making cyclists pay rego, but cyclists should be have to demonstrate that they know the road rules before being allowed on the road. Similar to the motorcycle ‘Stay Upright’ courses, or the old education centres that were run by the police complete with little roads, roundabouts, traffic lights, line markings, signs and similar to educate school kids.

In most instances, I think cyclists are their own worst enemies. The indignant ‘I have right of way’ or ‘I have as much right to be here as you’ attitude will not mean d!ck if your dead mangled corpse is being scraped off the road. Kudos to the OP who seems to have enough brains to keep themselves alive by being aware that some drivers are just ignorant pricks.

Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd said :

Far too many retards around. The majority of them are driving cars.

Are these POS or non POS retards?

Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd6:11 pm 17 Nov 13

Far too many retards around. The majority of them are driving cars.

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