Although the laws have existed for a while and additional changes are coming soon, police made an example of law-breakers recently.
Just a warning that you might want to get that bell for your bike :)
http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/feb/26/cyclists…
As someone who was walking a footpath and knocked over by a kid aged 12 on a bicycle a number of years ago and now have permanent ligament damage, i can say that anyone any age can do something stupid. Perhaps parents need to be more aware of what their kids are doing and where. Perhaps if he had been fined for riding the footpath before hitting me, he would have taken greater care and learned a valuable lesson and i wouldn't have been on crutches for 3 months and have a permanent disability now.
Unfortunately you don't seem to know the rules, which are that it is not illegal for a child under 12 and accompanying adult to ride on the footpath. So that kid would not have been fined.
http://roadsafety.transport.nsw.gov.au/stayingsafe/bicyclist…
Conversely, have you considered whether it is wise to allow children up to the age of 12 to ride on the roads. A good question to ask yourself is would you allow your own children/grandchildren to ride on the road with cars?.
Cyclist almost hit me the other day. He came out of a side street on the wrong side of the road. Dashcam almost caught his death :D
That :D seems unappropriate
I believe in the afterlife.surely he would be going to a place better suited for his reckless behaviour
At first I was annoyed at hearing about the crackdown, thinking we are in a nanny state. After thinking about it, I changed my mind.
The laws have been around for years. I haven't been stopped by police before. Yet I consistently youths without helmets riding scary fast on footpaths + serving onto the road without head checks.
Overall, I don't want to see these kids in hospital. Its an inconvenience for me but is life and death for others.
Another reason I don't think the crackdown isn't so bad is because cyclists don't have insurance. If an impatient cyclist bowls over an innocent pedestrian then who pays? We all do, more taxes for Medicare costs.
I'll probably think differently if I ever get a fine from the Police. Even then I treat it like a drivers speeding fine or driving unregistered/uninsured. Just think of a bicycle light + bell + helmet as the price of registration.
I don't have a problem with most cyclists, I applaud them in fact for being healthy and being brave enough to ride on the road. I have a few quabbles with the minority though because they do things that put them at unnecessary risk and create a bad name of cyclists in general.
My main issue is with those cyclist who believe they are a hybrid vehicle that is both a car and a person at oncee for example riding up to a red light and then crossing with the pedestrians while turning the corner and then continuing riding. You are either on the road and following the road rules or on the path and following pedestrian rules, you cannot be both as it's illegal. You cannot pick and choose which road rules you follow. I have nearly been taken out by cyclists (generally couriers) more times that I can count.
Another issue I have is when I am driving along a main road with heavy traffic and I pass a cyclist only to pull up to a set of traffic lights to have the cyclist ride to the front of the lights. This means I need to pass them all over again. In QLD there is a 1 metre gap law and on busy arterial roads in peak hour there often isn't much room so passing cyclists can be dangerous and sometimes can't be done safely. I think cyclists should take it upon themselves to wait at lights behind those who have already passed them, it makes it safer for everyone and might put the cyclist a couple of metres behind where they would have been had they continued riding. For motorcycles its different because when they are at the front at the lights they can take off and aren't in the way. For bike riders they are much slower to get going which also creates issues. A few years ago a Danish girl was killed on a busy Brisbane road after she continued riding to the front of the traffic at a red light and waited in front of a big truck who didn't actually see her going around him. When the light went green the girl started peddling and slipped and was tragically killed by the truck. A terrible incident that was easily avoidable.
Further to these laws I believe there should be a rule prohibiting cyclists from using headphones to listen to music or talk on the phone. Hearing is a big part of being safe on the road i.e hearing a big truck behind you, if a cyclist cannot hear that or aren't concentrating on whats around them then theres an accident waiting to happen. Given bike riders can't easily or safely see whats behind them unless they turn their head hearing plays an even bigger part in determining whats behind.
Bike riders need to remember that they are constantly in danger. I used to ride a 150cc scooter and I rode it with the expectation that I would be in an incident (I realised this after I was rear ended once). When you take that approach you're far more careful and take extra precautions to avoid the seemingly inevitable for example I would pay attention to where surrounding drivers were looking and what they were doing with their hands neat the indicator stalks. I would also make it a priority to stay out of blind spots by speeding up or slowing down so the surrounding drivers knew I was there.
So glad the Police are on to this, it is such a problem for the community . I don't know what they were thinking trying to tackle violent crime, home invasions and domestic abuse.
In my experience while riding , a bell is pretty useless except to warn pedestrains (who aren't absorbed in earbuds and smartphones)
I find yelling out "Passing" is better since most people would automatically move to the left. A bell usually makes people stop and look around for the source which is generally riskier for both the cyclist and the pedistrian.
Given that a bike bell is generally quite a high pitched tone, I also suspect that a vocal warning may be much easier to hear by the elderly. That being said, I'll be buying one to attach to the bike, but I dont agree that anyone should be fined for not having one.
People! take some time and read this report that the Queensland government commissioned in 2013. There is a list of recommendations, note recommendation 15 which is listed below. http://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/documents/committees/thlgc/…
Recommendation 15
The Committee recommends that the Minister for Transport and Main Roads:
introduce a 24 month trial which exempts cyclists aged 16 years and over from the mandatory helmet road rule when riding in parks, on footpaths and shared/cycle paths and on roads with a speed limit of 60 km/hr or less and
and this extract from the Queensland council for civil liberties
Universal application of the MHL
There is considerable public debate about whether helmet wearing should be regulated by government and about the blanket nature of the laws, which require the wearing of a helmet in almost all circumstances, regardless of the risk. In 2011 the Queensland Council for Civil Liberties considered the issue of whether bicycle helmets should be compulsory and decided they should not.153 The reason for this decision has been reported as being due to there being insufficient
evidence to justify making bicycle helmets compulsory as opposed to seat belts where the evidence is overwhelming.154
I am casual cyclist and have no problem with the new laws.
Fine anyone that runs a red light. Car, bike, truck etc
I always wear a helmet and have a bell as they are common sense useful safety items.
Lucky to live in the area that has literally probably 100km of interconnected dedicated cycling tracks going through the parks and away from the roads.
Finally Sydney has taken over Melbourne as the nanny state. Geez, I thought we were having all the fun, but then Boom! Lockouts, helmets and no fun after 5pm. Great work Sydney.
Cities all around the world embrace cycling as a clean, green and congestion-busting mode of transport, but good old Australia with our love for the car above all, vilifies cyclists like nowhere else.
They were disliked in the past too:
"It is the practice of a number of them, spread out across the road, to rush down at headlong speed, more like a horde of Apaches or Sioux Indians, conches shrieking and bells going; and woe betide the luckless man or aught else coming in their way." ~ anonymous letter to the Times newspaper.
and
"Every cyclist to be presumed in all legal proceedings to be a reckless idiot, and on the wrong side of the road, unless he can bring conclusive evidence to the contrary." ~ The Punch
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/bike-blog/2015/oct/29…
Pretty sure if we scan all of the historical newspaper columns we could find haters for just about anything
because the typical aussie driver these days is a prick….get out of my way im doing MY THING and stuff anyone else
I personally don't have a thing against cycling, I just don't like it when cyclist use up the road at 20km/h when they clearly have enough room on the side of the road or a bike lane.
Also, don't forget that not all the things are within riding distance in Australia, you will have to use a car from time to time, I would prefer the government fix up the public transport than waste time thinking of ways to screw law abiding cyclist and drivers over.
cyclist use up the road at 20km/h when they clearly have enough room on the side of the road or a bike lane.
Uh, they have the right to use the whole lane. The road was not just built for cars.
Are bike riders allowed to occupy a whole traffic lane?
Yes, this may be necessary in narrow traffic lanes where there is not enough space for another vehicle to overtake a bicycle safely within the lane.
Hmm, that I didn't know… still annoying but if it is allowed it can't be helped.
Hey, not trying to defend shitty cyclists, but I'm the same hey. I bike to work each day— I know which is the dangerous parts of the trip, so I either stop completely or take up the full lane for 2minutes of my trip. Puts my mind at ease knowing someone can't/won't try and take a blind corner with my body being the only thing stopping them when they serve back into the lane to avoid a head on.
It's the little things.
THAT SAID, when you're taking up a single-lane road in a congested area, you need to contemplate if there's any better way for you to ride on the road. Maybe there's a better street, or a cycle way nearby. Problem would be solved with more cycle lanes ¯_(ツ)_/¯
What are the laws for motorised scooters? Do you need to wear a helmet?
Care to share the executive summary of that article? Bit too long of a read for Monday morning.
So drivers will need to give a 1 metre clearance if under 60, and 1.5m if over? This worked so well in Adelaide where a bike rider was in the middle lane causing havok on the roads.
I don't understand why some people are making so much noise about the ID part of the fines? Don't you normally have your wallet with you anyway? And in your wallet, you should at least have some form of photo ID right? Whether it be a driver's license or perhaps ever those proof of age cards, you should have it in your wallet?
In what scenario will you be cycling and not have your wallet on you?
Always as I only ride around home and I no need to carry any cash or card. Bring key, water and phone.
So for exercise purposes is fair enough, but the fact that you carry around a phone but complain about a ID card is still weird to me.
To carry an ID card for fining??
Weird does not mean it will not happen.
back to the question you asked " In what scenario will you be cycling and not have your wallet on you?" which I give you a scenario.
back to the question you asked " In what scenario will you be cycling and not have your wallet on you?" which I give you a scenario.
To which I said
So for exercise purposes is fair enough
"To carry an ID card for fining??"
Do you plan on breaking rules when you go cycling? If so, that is your problem. If you don't break rules, you should be fine.
Also, it isn't very hard to keep an ID card with you when cycling right? Especially if you have space to carry a phone?
Actually just an image of your photoID stored on your smartphone is enough. You don't need to bring the Photo ID.
Again, did not know that but all the more reason that people saying this rule is dumb seems strange to me.
@ProjectZero: people are objecting because there is no valid reason to compel carrying ID, other than pandering to noisy cyclist hating motorists and using it as defacto licensing. Police already have enough powers to have you identify yourself, emergency services don't care who you are when they treat you medically in the event of an incident, they treat you no matter what.
It is also another unnessecarg cost for what is the cheapest form of transport. No licence, you need A $50 ID card to go for a ride. Sure, it's not much to most of us here, but for the most disadvantaged it is a big impost for no benefit.
I ride often without ID. Riding with my kids is most often. When I leave from home with them and someone is staying at home all I take is me+bike. No need for anything else. The best example is if you were riding to go for a swim somewhere. Take a combination lock with you so no need for keys and then there is nothing to get lost or stolen while you are in the water.
@Euphemistic: people are objecting because there is no valid reason to compel carrying ID,
makes it easier to identify their broken and bloody body after they ran that red light and became another statistic.
@Davros: if carry ID is for the cyclist safety why are kids exempt? Surely they are just as likely to be involved in incidents.
I regularly cycle to my local beach for a swim, without wallet or phone. Certainly dont want to leave these items or even ID on the beach unattended.
But you leave your bike unattended?
yeah I do, but its a lot easier to spot someone taking off with my bike compared to stealing a wallet from a towel. A wallet or ID is also an easier target for a thief, less noticable by third parties ("Hey did you see someone carrying my wallet?" VS "hey did you see someone ride off on my bike?"
@Gravy: I often leave valuables on my motorbike.
It has this marvelous invention I put on called a locking box, I believe bicycles can have them as well.
@Davros: Its an idea and could perhaps work ok at my local beach which is not that busy, but I'd be interested to know how many people would trust their valuables in a locking box that is attached to a bicycle, even if the bike is chained to something. Its sort of inviting theft, "hey if I cut this chain and grab this bike I get a locking box full of valuables at the same time".
If we can use a paper photocopy of ID then that would overcome most of my worries as I'll tape it into my helmet or inside my seat post perhaps, but I haven't heard that confirmed as yet anywhere, just that a photo of ID on a phone is accepted.
Ironically, almost every cyclist I know carries their DRIVERS licence as ID when they ride their bike! I never take my wallet with me when cycling, I get my drivers licence out of my wallet and take it, a credit card and some $$ for a coffee all in a zip lock bag with my phone. All goes into one of the pockets on the back of the cycling jersey.
I'm the opposite. Don't carry my licence separately from my wallet, and only take wallet when it is necessary. I do however have several small laminated cards with emergency contacts on it in the saddle bag of bikes that have one, and in my backpacks. For emergency ID I have also written I.C.E. and my wife's phone number on my helmets, to save emergency services from having to rummage through my stuff to find ID. I have also since then been lead to believe that emergency services are instructed not to look for ID in most situations.
"Research from the University of Adelaide has found that motorists were responsible for 79% of road accidents with cyclists."
Well I can say cyclists were responsible for 100% of my road accidents with cyclists. My poor car still bears the scars. Of course there is no record of the incident but the cyclist should have been fined for:
Lack of helmet
Riding while drugged out of his mind
Fleeing the scene of an accident
Not stopping at an intersection
A few years ago i was crossing a zebra crossing which was part of the cycle path network in Canberra (legal to ride bike across the path). I stopped and gave way to 2 cars who did not stop to give way. there was a large gap to the next car, maybe 250m so i headed out across the zebra crossing, about 1/2 way across i became aware that the driver wasnt slowing down, I made 2 big pedals before she hit me at 60 km/hr and i was flung down the road. Apparently she had been reaching back to a kid in the back seat for something and hadnt seen me. She told me i had pulled out in front of her but she later admitted to the cops she had been reaching back to one of her kids in the back seat and not watching the road.
Ambulance, cops and eventually my wife all turn up. I lost a bit of skin bouncing down the road but surprisingly I am OK, same cannot be said for the work laptop that was in my backpack!! My new bike has a right angle in the frame and is toast! Eventually after being breath-tested and OK'd by the ambulance and the cops checking that i was wearing a helmet (which at this stage was almost in 2 pieces, certainly destroyed), the cops were great and took me to hospital in a police car (ambulance ahd another call to go to and i was definitely 'walking wounded'.
At the time of being hit i was on a new bike, wearing a helmet and reflective stuff with reflectors, lights and a bell, all the gear. On the way to the hospital the cop points out to me a moron riding on an 80km/hr stretch of road on a bike that was falling apart, wearing thongs, no helmet and a singlet, no lights or reflectors. How ironic, i am trying to do everything right and get poleaxed, this moron is doing everything wrong and getting away with it. All goes to show that there is no blanket rule, I did everything right with all the right gear, following all the laws and was poleaxed on a zebra crossing which was a designated bike crossing as part of the cyclepath network in the ACT, the other guy was chancing his arm breaking all the laws and seemed oblivious to it all. The cop driving me said he had to take me to hospital but he called another cop to come and get the guy.
My point here is that there is no generic 'all cyclists' or 'all motorists', there are responsible people and idiots. Jumping in a car or on a bike doesnt somehow define any of these people, if you are an idiot elsewhere you will probably be an idiot on a bike as well, same with cars. that doesn't mean that the actions of a few define an entire segment of road users, all it proves is that idiots live amongst us.
Reminds me of all those alcoholics I've seen riding home. I suppose swerving does make you more visible :) Good to hear you made it out fine.
Well all theses rules have turned me off from riding a bike and I will probably never ride a bike in Sydney again. I'm going to take the car instead.
^ exactly why these laws are BS
Good call, now you can drive up to the shops to get some wax for your cross…
I just witnessed a cyclist perform an illegal right turn. Shame the police weren't there.
I saw a car change lanes without indicating, pity the cops weren't there.
I do agree the cyclist probably shouldn't have done that, but Other than offending you, did the cyclist cause any real danger to anyone, or disadvantage the traffic flow? The main reason for no right turn is for traffic flow, it stops cars pulling up in the traffic flow to wait for a clear time to turn.
Many people seem to get carried away thinking that cyclists are cheating the system. The system that was designed for big, heavy, fast motor vehicles. Cyclists can take advantage of their size, weight and manouverability to increase the efficiency of transport, like lane splitting and using non road areas to make up for the fact that cycling is slower than driving.
a motorist nearly ran me over because he failed to give way at a clearly marked pedestrian crossing yesterday…
an hour later i encountered a car speed up to a busy intersection & watched him turn thru the intersection even though he had a red arrow…
shame the police weren't there….
So… photo of ID on phone is ok apparantly… how about a photocopy? That would be the most convenient for me as I could tape it inside my helmet permanently so its never forgotten.
To the commentators claiming that cyclists relieve traffic congestion I am not so sure.
Why is it whenever I see cyclists on the road there is usually always traffic banked up behind them because of the slow speed they travel and the 1.5m clearance car drivers need to give them, they cant just magic a clear space in another lane to go into so traffic banks up.
Motorcycles on the other hand are a viable alternative.
They dont slow traffic, they take up less space than a car on the road and parking and they use less fuel.
road space required to transport 60 people….
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/31/bb/f8/31bbf82c5…
Muenster Bicycle Study * Bicycle: 72 people are transported on 72 bikes, which requires 90 square meters. * Car: Based on an average occupancy of 1.2 people per car, 60 cars are needed to transport 72 people, which takes 1,000 square meters. * Bus: 72 people can be transported on 1 bus, which only requires 30 square meters of space and no permanent parking space, since it can be parked elsewhere
Meaningless image unless we see how they hold up traffic given the fact that they
A) travel at less than speed limit so hold up traffic and
B) require 1.5m clearance to pass so hold up traffic.
If you had used the same image with motorcycles it would have had some validity.
the issue is single occupant trips in vehicles i.e the majority of cars on the road…thats whats holding up traffic mate
@franco cozzo: and when free flowing traffic gets to a cyclist, more often than not they are held up even more.
The same cant be said for motorcycles
@Davros: whats with you & motorcycles?
motorbikes are irrelevant to the majority of the population…eg vic 4% of registered vehicles….
not to mention the stats:
Of the 243 people killed on Victoria's roads in 2013, 41 were riders and passengers of motorcycles, representing 17% of the 2013 road toll.
…so yeh it seems like the majority of people arent really interested mate. cycling on the other hand is growing faster than ever …..
@Davros: motorbikes are great but the petrol savings (60%) don't really cover the reduced weight. Bicycles are quieter and much more energy efficient, if they all had motors above a certain power range they'd be probably a lot faster but.. Can't be over a certain size engine without registration in nsw
@franco cozzo: I reply logically.
1 vehicle type holds up traffic(bicycles), another type does not (motorcycles).
Both take up less space on the road and less space parking
Given the distances travelled to work for the vast majority of Australia bicycles are hardly an option, they may be for a minority but not everyone lives within a few km of the CBD.
Logically the type of vehicle that ticks all the boxes is one that should be pushed.
@Davros: 1 vehicle holds up traffic to the next traffic light anyway…
Get on a bus or train then… no need to get yourself stuck in traffic…
@franco cozzo: "motorbikes are irrelevant to the majority of the population…eg vic 4% of registered vehicles…."
Using your own logic bicycles are irrelevant to ALL of the population…eg Aust 0% of registered vehicles
@franco cozzo: cycling on the other hand is growing faster than ever …..
Is that right.
"The states cumulatively had a net reduction of 307,403 fewer cyclists from 2011 to 2013
http://www.cycle-helmets.com/cycling-1985-2013.html
"These figures suggest that 950,257 fewer Australians cycled at any time in the year to April 2015 than in the year to April 2011."
http://www.cycle-helmets.com/cycling-1985-2015.html
@Davros: yes davros yes….4 million & counting, mate…..
As anyone who drives a car would have noticed, the number of cyclists on Australian roads has sky-rocketed in the past decade. Whereas 13% of the population (or 2.1 million people) cycled regularly or occasionally in 2005, the latest findings from Roy Morgan Research show that this has now reached 19% (or 3.7 million people)….
http://www.roymorgan.com/findings/6237-cycling-participation…
In July 2015 the Australian Bicycle Council released the results of the National Cycling Participation Survey 2015. The survey shows that around 4 million people in Australia ride a bicycle for recreation and transport in a typical week…
http://www.bicyclecouncil.com.au/publication/national-cyclin…
Australians buying more bikes than cars…
http://www.smh.com.au/national/australians-buying-more-bikes…
@Davros: 4 million bicycle riders….
700K motorbike riders…
bicycles outnumber motorbikes by about 6x
@franco cozzo: yeah , 'cause kids on tricycles count.
I guarantee that when I ride into the city today I will see a shitload more motorbikes on the road than bicycles but hey, you keep living the delusion.
@Davros: 4 million+ bicyle riders….~20% of the population
…i think youre the one thats delusional?
over a million bikes sold every year! thats more than total motorbike riders!
@franco cozzo: there is a significant proportion of bicycles that get bought, ridden a few times then parked in the garage. Bicycle sales are not a good indication of how many cyclists there are.
@Davros: cycling is growing fast, but we still aren't cycling at a level of that before mandatory helmet laws came in, cars got cheap and half the riders got scared off the roads by the cars.
@Euphemistic:there is a significant proportion of bicycles that get bought, ridden a few times then parked in the garage
I have 4 under my house, haven't been ridden in years.
@Davros: no use hoarding bikes….theyre made to be ridden.
4 million+ bicycle riders are in relation to current participation levels…this will only increase over time.
@Euphemistic: cycling is growing fast, but we still aren't cycling at a level of that before mandatory helmet laws came in
As my figures show above.
950,257 fewer Australians cycled at any time in the year to April 2015 than in the year to April 2011."
http://www.cycle-helmets.com/cycling-1985-2015.html
@franco cozzo: Going on the amount of bikes I see on the footpath on council throw out days I would disagree.
@Davros: whatever.
its kinda liking hitting your head against a brick wall trying to have a conversation with you so i'll leave it here for now mate…..
@Davros: 4under the house not ridden? There'd be plenty of households like you. There are also plenty like me. I ride regularly and have a fleet of 6 to choose from depending on the circumstances, and then there are the rest o ft he families bikes and the ones my sons will grow into and …
@pitiek: I rarely ever get held up by traffic as I ride a motorcycle and traffic filtering, which is legal, allows me to easily get to the front of the pack at each change of the lights or whenever traffic slows to a crawl .
Throw a bicycle into that mix and I am brought to a standstill as the space I had for filtering is now closed off by cars trying to overtake and change lanes to get past a slow moving bicycle giving them their 1.5m space.
@Davros: Good to hear that you rarely get help up by traffic…
Since you can legally filter between cars now, you must have realised that most cars going into the CBD only have one person in a 5 seater vehicle right?
Commuting on a pedal powered vehicle such as push bike is one of the solutions to reduce congestion by the number of motorist commuter in a car, it is not the only solution. More accessible public transport is also another solution.
Should the number of cars reduced from the road during commuting hours, you will get more space to filter and also reducing the travel time for most since congestion is reduced as well.
On another note, the number of adults who can ride a pushbike is more that the ones who can ride a motorbike. Not to mention the licensing, risk of high speed accident and ongoing cost which can add up. Cycling is a lot more appealing to majority of the gen pop due to the ease of entry, not too much hassle bar the Mandatory Helmet Laws…
I hope you get this logic.
@pitiek: I live 20km out of the CBD, I and the MILLIONS of other people who also live further than a few km from the CBD cant ride pushbikes to work.
I hope you get this logic.
@pitiek: Since you can legally filter between cars now, you must have realised that most cars going into the CBD only have one person in a 5 seater vehicle right?
Yes, I have always been a fan of making it mandatory to have more than 1 in a vehicle or pay a large price for driving on roads during peak periods in and around the city.
I have also been a fan of footpath parking and cheaper rego for motorcycles and scooters as a way of steering people in this direction Vs Cars.
Just about anyone can ride a motorbike, look at any asian city for example of this.
They can be riden larger distances than the few km that a bike can be ridden by the majority and I dont turn up at the office looking and smelling like a sweaty beast in desperate need of a shower.
Make sense to you now? Probably not.
@Davros: 20km…? you can ride that in 45min - 1 hour on just about any pushbike…and possibly even quicker than the morning peak hour traffic. that is a very common commute distance for a cyclist…
@Davros: With the right infrastructure planning this can be address effectively. Dedicated bikeway from the southside of Brisbane which would be around 15-16km from the CBD will be completed this year and the western bikeway in Brisbane has just been opened. This will definitely increase the commuter frequency especially from adult female since based on several surveys, the one major thing that caused them to not ride their push bike to work is the unsafe feeling of riding on the road which will be reduced/eliminated by a dedicated bikeway.
I used to ride a scooter and I get your mentality. I grew up in South East Asia and you cannot really compare it with here. The traffic jam in most capital cities in South East Asia is also caused by the number scooter and motorcycle on the road. Do you really want it replicated here?
I commute 20km each way on a really poor infrastructure in QLD and I do this as part of my exercise and also doing my bit for the environment. Takes me 45 minutes each way (door-to-door) whilst train takes me 10 min walk plus 30 min train ride.
The office building that I work now have a proper end of trip facility with bike parking which is a blessing.
I am not picking a fight with you, I was just laying down fact and also experiences that I have.
Please don't feel attacked since I have no intention to…
@franco cozzo: You can. The majority of the population can not and if you think they can you are an even greater fool than I take you to be at present.
@pitiek: The traffic jam in most capital cities in South East Asia is also caused by the number scooter and motorcycle on the road. Do you really want it replicated here?
I cant believe you actually said that.
Take off every car and replace with a scooter, has the traffic got better or worse?
@Davros: It's not that the majority of the population CAN NOT, but that they have easier alternatives such as car, bus, train so choose not.
@franco cozzo: yet your brilliant idea is get everyone on motorbikes….whos the fool?
You quite clearly.
No where did I mention getting everyone on motorcycle but even if we did, there would be a considerable reduction in traffic.
If you cant see this you really are confirming my opinion of you.
@Euphemistic: It's not that the majority of the population CAN NOT,
Where do they all shower and change into corporate attire when they get to work?
How do mothers carry their kids and associated $hit?
How do the elderly, those that are unfit, those that have injuries that prohibit them, those that have more serious issues do it?
@Davros: i get it ….youre just anti bicycle because you cant filter as easily anymore.
join the queue like the rest of the traffic…no more creating your own 'lanes'
@Davros: more and more businesses are installing end of trip facilities to enable showering prior to work. This is also useful for those that like to do their exercise in a gym. When I was riding 5 days a week I took a pack of shirts in on one day, left my shoes, trousers, jacket at work took lunch everyday. It's possible, just needs planning.
Mothers can carry kids in cargo bikes. I can take my sons to school, putting the littlest in a trailer, with three backpacks while the other two are on their bikes.
Elderly can ride bikes, people do it well into their eighties, but generally they don't need to commute, and don't add to congestion.
The unfit can get fit. It doesn't take very long to get to a stage where you a can ride a bike at 20km/h if you put your mind to it and some effort in.
Sure, there are plenty of people who cannot do it, but there are plenty that could if they tried, but just don't try. I try to ride frequently but at the moment other commitments mean I'm stuck at 2days per week. I'd rather ride to work, it clears my head in the morning at gets me a good start to the day.
@Euphemistic: "more and more businesses are installing end of trip facilities to enable showering prior to work."
Sure, last brand new office I worked at had 2 showers
What a shame it had over 70 staff in that office
If we all rode bikes we could be showered and ready for work just in time to go home (actually the last person to shower would still be there after hours)
"It's possible, just needs planning."
Many things are possible, but reality and sensibility usually show them to be stupid ideas, like lugging the kids around in a trailer.
What next, take the Vietnam approach of 8 on a motorcscooter?
@Davros: You are obviously one who thinks "Can't do that" rather than "How can I?"
Lugging kids around in a trailer is a perfectly suitable option for short trips. I've done it many times over the years, many others do it too. Carting two kids around and enough supplies for them is doable in many situations (hills are hard work though). It is not a stupid idea. In countries where cycling is the normal way to get around hooking up a trailer is a great option.
@slewis69au: can't remember where it was, but the vast majority of injuries received from cycle incidents are not head injuries, particularly in low speed incidents. It tends to be arm injuries, so we should wear arm protectors.