Localish news

Some good and some bad news unfortunately. Young cycling competitor Jobie Dajka has passed away. The story speaks more of the trouble he'd experienced than his gold medal performances at the Commonwealth Games or his potential as an Olympic athlete, which is unfortunate. Dajke was part of a great team in the Manchester games and it's a real shame to lose him.

Other bad news concerns some stats in a study of cyclists turning up in emergency wards. Apparently we're not sure if this means more cyclists are getting hurt or more people are cycling. 26,000 thousand people were treated between 2001 and 2006 and 47 died.

New Jersey is passing laws ruling that car drivers must leave a three foot buffer between themselves and cyclists on the road. Apparently a lot of places are doing this... but isn't that what a bike lane is supposed to be for? I'm not entirely sure this will have much effect, apart from putting some onus on drivers who hit cyclists for crossing the imaginary line. Wouldn't it make more sense to follow the scandinavian idea that makes car drivers automatically liable in any accident with cyclists?

The Age, in some of the most blatant display of News Corp's influence in the buy into Fairfax, has run a "pedal peril" commentary... Needless to say many cyclists have recounted stories of near misses and injuries, and calls for more bike paths and better cycling infrastructure. The comments alone are worth a read if you're interested in road cycling in Melbourne.

I have been hit from behind, had multiple front-on near misses from drivers cutting in/across, and been road raged repeatedly. That I have just spent $500 on lights - which are bright enough to rival a cars tail and headlights, and therefore take the excuse of "we didn't see you" away (I will run these on a flash mode day and night) - shows just how unsafe the average cyclist feels. The only [c]omplaint against a motorist which I have formally lodged with police resulted in a "cautionary phone call" to the driver, despite him having run his car up on the footpath to try and get me, and despite other motorists acting as witnesses to the "he was really trying to run you down" incident. So, what exactly is being done again??

My wife used to ride to work every day. She has recently stopped as she has had far to many close calls with cars not allowing appropriate space or in some cases down right rudeness with profanity being hurled at her along with wolf whistles etc. On a few occasions she has had empty coke cans thrown at here usually by some obese car driver with no manners. Why would you want to cycle with all that going on. We all talk about trying to be greener and healthier yet it is frowned upon by so many. In general we seem to be hell bent on destruction.

This one takes the prize, however:

I don't see what all the fuss is about! Theirs to many cyclists on our roads these days and I for one am sick of there disregard for people who use the roads for there purpose, driving cars. Bikes belong on the footpath and we shouldnt spend our tax dollars on any more unnecessary bike lanes. I understand that people want to get fit but whats wrong with a BIG session on the exercise bike or stepper in front of telly?

Naturally there were also complaints about the behaviour of some cyclists, but since 90% of road laws are knee jerk media driven reactions directed at controlling cars with no reference whatsoever to cycling I'm not going to bother.

I'm inclined to wonder if we need to make some changes in the percieved dominance of cars on the road. Which is hardly a novelty. How about liability laws [Guardian UK] that make car drivers responsible for accidents they're involved in? In many cases where drivers hit cyclists, the cyclist is injured or killed while the driver walks away and only a few scratches on the car. It's hardly motivation to pay attention. Either way, it's infrastructure and an underlying attitude that need work.

Such is covered in the website of the European Federation of Road Traffic Victims.

Sure there's enough tarmac out there for everyone, if we're sensible about sharing. Well, except at peak hour but that's the problem with cars and cities. There simply isn't enough space to make that much road surface and still have a functioning city. Cars are too big and most only carry one person. However, the point I was trying to make is that more bike lanes aren't going to prevent road crashes. (Someone said "please don't call them accidents.")

Oddly enough, just this morning I had an email from someone asking MelBUG about cycling from Melton to Footscray. A person who has a new job here wants to cycle because public transport would leave them stranded in mid afternoon. I felt dreadful having to make the reply that there was pretty much nothing unless she wanted to ride on the side of the freeway, only a couple of feet from V doubles doing 110kph.

So I suppose you're wondering what the good news is? Heinrich Haussler is planning to ride as an Australian in the 2010 pro tour season. Haussler finished second in the Tour of Flanders, in which there were 7 other Aussies and 2 New Zealanders riding.

You'd think that a sports mad nation would embrace such a move and then expand to embrace all others who might follow in those tyre tracks... Ironically this story is carried by News Ltd who are some of the worst proponents of car culture on the planet. You gotta laugh.