Cyclists ride by the rules!

Cyclists are welcome if they ride by the rules
SMH Letters to Editor March 19 2010
I agree with Grant Fraser (Letters, March 17), with the following amendments.

A bike is a legitimate vehicle and has every right to be on the road. With that right comes the legal obligation to observe all rules of the road, such as wearing a helmet, not riding on footpaths or across pedestrian crossings, giving way as appropriate and not running red lights.

The rules for cyclists are perfectly well defined, but poorly observed and even more poorly enforced. Motorists and cyclists have every right to be on the road and it is up to each to accommodate the other.

Phil Kanaley Glebe

Are cycleways the answer?

SMH Letters to the Editor March 16 2010

Keep cyclists apart for all to be happy

As an avid cyclist who has spent many hours riding to and from work in Sydney and Melbourne, I was astounded to read that Sydney's drivers are considered more aggressive than the maniacs in Melbourne (Letters, March 15). Sure, the infrastructure in Sydney is miles behind that of Melbourne, but I believe Sydney's drivers are far less openly aggressive.

But what strikes me every day is that motorists have no idea how dangerous it is to cut off or intimidate a cyclist on a busy road. A simple bump and the person they were trying to scare ends up under a car, and the driver faces serious charges or civil action.

Drivers and cyclists needn't be mortal enemies - a bit of patience and some mutual respect would do us all the world of good.

Lachlan Spark Surry Hills

I am a 58-year-old cyclist. Since arriving in Sydney a little over a year ago I have twice broken my arm in cycling accidents. Both were caused, in part, by the poor road surface. To cycle on King Street, Newtown, is one of the most hair-raisingly dangerous experiences I can describe, with its uneven surface, ruts and potholes.

I have to tell Janese Boots (Letters, March 15) that I cycle on the footpath as often as possible.

I have frequently cycled past police officers, who clearly understand that cyclists do not belong among the cars. I have never been reprimanded by the police for cycling on the footpath.

I do not dislike pedestrians. Nor do I dislike motorists. I like safety.

Kevin Griffith Enmore

I am a motorist, a cyclist and a pedestrian, and when I am one, I dislike the other two. The only solution is to keep us away from one another. The best way to achieve that is for all three groups to come together to pressure the government into providing the solution. Let's work together to keep us apart.

Anthony Johnsen Marrickville

So basically everyone wants the same thing - separated cycleways. If you want bikes off the footpaths and out of the way of cars, give them their own space. Works everywhere else.

Alacoque Dash Ultimo

Do motorists really hate bikes?

Sydney: the city that hates bikes
MATTHEW MOORE
SMH March 13, 2010 For discussion and non-profit use only

Sydney is one of the developed world's most hostile cities for cycling, according to a US academic who spent a sabbatical year researching ways to boost bike-riding levels in the city.

''I did not cycle that often because I almost got killed several times - people cutting me off, squeezing me off the road and not stopping,'' John Pucher said of his efforts to ride to Sydney University from his Stanmore home.

''Whether I was a pedestrian or cyclist I found the level of the hostility of enough Sydney motorists worse than I had seen anywhere in the world.''

For decades Dr Pucher, from Rutgers University in New Jersey, has been riding bikes - from the cycling wonderlands of Amsterdam and Copenhagen to the car-choked streets of many US cities. But he was still stunned by his experience here.

''In Texas or in the south-east of the US it's aggressive but there was an incredible level of aggression from Sydney motorists … It's not every motorist but there were enough of them, whether it was resentment, irritability or just aggression, I don't know.''

In a paper to be published in the Journal of Transport Geography, Dr Pucher and two Australian colleagues explain why Sydney cycling levels lag much of the developed world.

Their paper compares cycling in Sydney and Melbourne and finds twice as many trips are made by bicycle in Melbourne as Sydney with the rate of trips in Melbourne growing at three times that of Sydney.

Dr Pucher says Melbourne's flatter terrain and lower rainfall alone do not explain why in hilly San Francisco the percentage of trips by bike has grown to 2.5 per cent, 3½ times Sydney's rate of 0.7 per cent.

More significant than topography is reducing aggression among motorists. Making cyclists, especially female cyclists, feel safer, is a job Melbourne has done much better than Sydney. Dr Pucher says women are a litmus test for cycling safety as many will ride only if they feel safe. Twenty-five per cent of commuting cyclists in Melbourne are women, but only 17 per cent in Sydney. In Denmark the figure is 45 per cent and in the Netherlands 55 per cent.

Still, he was impressed with the City of Sydney's spending $76 million on a 200-kilometre network of bike lanes. The Premier, Kristina Keneally, says that since she took up riding to work more than a year ago she has never had an incident. ''I see some drivers perhaps not being as aware of cyclists as they could be. That said, there are cyclists who take risks that I wouldn't.''