Mayor Rattenbury has penned a plea for motorists and cyclists to leave off all the hating:
There is a rumbling debate in Canberra about the rights and responsibilities of cyclists, pedestrians and car drivers. Many people take sides with one of these groups, depending on their personal perspective. As someone who drives, rides and walks around our town, it’s clear to me that that unfortunately there are irresponsible road users in all of these groups.
We need to come out of the trenches. This shouldn’t be a war between cyclists and car drivers. It should be a discussion about how we can have safe roads and paths for everyone in the community, because the truth is that neither car drivers or cyclists want to see or be involved in accidents.
“Vulnerable road users” is a term used for people who are most at risk in traffic, and who are the weaker party in any collision: pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists.
Weekly Newsletter
Every Thursday afternoon, we package up the most-read and trending RiotACT stories of the past seven days and deliver straight to your inbox..Last year there were 4 pedestrians, 3 motorcyclists and 1 cyclist killed on ACT roads, compared to 3 car drivers. While only 8% of all motor vehicle crashes involved injury, 57% of crashes involving bicycles were injury crashes.
I’d like to see the concept of “vulnerable road users” become well recognised in Canberra, and entrenched in our road transport laws. We need to recognise vulnerability in the way we plan and design our city, and road users need to recognise it in the way they interact. The reality is that car drivers have a special onus to be aware of the more vulnerable people around them. Cyclists and pedestrians need to behave in a way that is safe and respectful. Cyclists need to ensure they are visible, consider pedestrians, and show respect for road rules.
This week I will call on the ACT Legislative Assembly to establish a Committee inquiry to investigate the ACT’s approach to vulnerable road users. There are interesting and successful advancements being made all over the world and the Committee will be able to harness these new ideas and recommend improvements for the ACT.
There will, no doubt, be many trips required to Amsterdam and Copenhagen, so not a bad secretariat to get onto.
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What’s Your opinion?
Shane pleads for peace in our times. And calls for a committee on cyclists
Oldest to Newst
Aeek said :
The Tuggeranong Parkway has a concrete barrier all the way along it until Hindmarsh Dve where there is a large bank separating the lanes as they are aligned differently.
KB1971 said :
Don’t know about the parkway, but the wire rope barriers on the GDE have metal posts and, bonus, 2/3 are uncapped (how many cents does that save?). Easy to get a close look when I cycle that way.
jase! said :
I attended a motorcycle safety summit a few years ago and there has been a lot of testing done on these barriers and it concluded that they were safer than the steel girder types. The reason being is that when a rider comes into contact with the guard rail they are usually sliding along the ground and hit the posts which causes injury. The wire rope type barriers have fibreglass posts that break when hit causing less or no injury.
If I think of it tomorrow I will post a link.
dpm said :
well I’d trade 1 skywhale for safer barriers
jase! said :
$?
Safer barriers probably cost about $300k more…..
yes it is important to look after vulnerable road users Shane.
so why has the government that you have been a part of for 2 terms just built a road (Parks Way) using Briffen Wire Rope fencing?
Just in one trip yesterday evening.
Saw a close call between a car not paying enough attention or perhaps not anticipating all possibilities, and a cyclist slowly wobbling along a footpath talking on a mobile phone and turning onto a crossing.
Then I saw a cyclist in dark clothing and with no functioning lights on a fairly dark road in the rain.
Then I saw a dark-coloured four wheel drive well after dark with no lights on, perhaps the driver didn’t notice because it was a well-lit street and there were other cars around but I hope the driver caught on before someone failed to see their vehicle.
Btw, was it pegs in the spokes, or did the pegs hold a playing card or something? Long time since I’ve seen it.
tim_c said :
Hipster Ninja single speeders……..
bd84 said :
I walk, ride a bike and drive a car. I hate myself six ways.