ABC Stateline Victoria

Well, well, Bless the ABC!

Tonights Stateline saw a fair and balanced appraisal of issues facing
cyclists when riding on the road. Sounds like roadies and recreational
cyclists have finally realised we're encountering the same road issues.
(shock horror!) And bridges are being built!

Interviewees included Rod Katz, Inspector Alan Carlisle, Harry Barber
and a cast of commuter cyclists. All who were asked INTELLIGENT
QUESTIONS and gave, unsurprisingly, INTELLIGENT RESPONSES.

Totally unlike that crap we were subjected to last nights Ch 7 load of
****e.

So please try to see the programme tomorrow when its re-broadcast on
ABC2
3:30pm on Saturday and 5:30pm on Sunday. Or ask a friend nicely (who
gets ABC2) to tape it for you. Transcripts will hopefully be up on the
Stateline site soon.
http://www.abc.net.au/stateline/vic/

Aunty's definately worth at least 10 cents a day, or more with
inflation. I'd also suggest, if you see the programme, to write to
Stateline and thank them for broadcasting such a excellently produced
segment.

Stateline Victoria:
Phone: (03) 9626 1409
Fax: 9626 1449
Email:
Mail: GPO Box 9994, Melbourne, Vic. 3001.


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cfsmtb

PS: Also re-broadcast on 'normal' ABC, Saturday at Noon.


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cfsmtb

cfsmtb Wrote:
PS: Also re-broadcast on 'normal' ABC, Saturday at Noon.
thanks for the notice of this... I read it just in time to see the ca
overtaking over the crest of the hill

cheers
al

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alison_b

alison_b Wrote:
thanks for the notice of this... I read it just in time to see the ca
overtaking over the crest of the hill

cheers,
ali

Transcript up now:
http://www.abc.net.au/stateline/vic/...5/s1425871.htm


Calls for increased safety for cyclists on our roads
Broadcast: 29/07/2005

Reporter: Kathy Bowlen

KATHY BOWLEN, PRESENTER: For committed cyclists, bike riding is th
perfect mode of transport. It's cheap, simple, beats getting stuck i
the traffic and it's healthy; that is, as long as you don't get hit.

CYCLIST: At least once a month someone will open a door in front of yo
or a car will cut you off despite seeing you.

SPEAKER: I don't think a lot of drivers respect riders on the roads
I'd say riders are probably, like, careful enough.

CYCLIST: I've been hit by a car in the elbow, been swerved at a coupl
of times, yelled at. I've seen a couple of guys being pulled off bike
or tried to be pulled off.

KATHY BOWLEN: But, for every war story from cyclists, motorists have
tale of their own and, while cyclists jostle with cars in the bus
inner-city roads, it seems there's one road which is worse than all th
others in the state: Beach Road, which runs along Melbourne's baysid
suburbs. Police estimate that more than 10,000 cyclists ride Beach Roa
each weekend.

INSPECTOR ALAN CARLISLE, VICTORIA POLICE: There's consistent trainin
people who ride every day. There's Olympians who ride that road. Robbi
Crowe says that road is the best cycling venue on the planet, not jus
Australia, on the planet. Some people say Beach Road was created by Go
for cyclists. It's very popular.

KATHY BOWLEN: Inspector Alan Carlisle runs the district which include
Beach Road and has sent his officers to secretly film one group o
riders who use the road every Saturday. Known as the 'hell ride', it'
a tradition going back decades, with dozens and even hundreds settin
off at 7 o'clock every Saturday morning.

INSPECTOR ALAN CARLISLE: It's a great tradition, but unfortunately it'
becoming a bicycle race, a peloton just like the Tour de France, an
they're taking up all the lanes. Consequently, cars can't pass at al
and we're getting a lot of friction.

KATHY BOWLEN: On police figures, the 'hell riders' make up two per cen
of cyclists using Beach Road on the weekends, but they have an impac
far beyond their numbers. As the police video shows, they ride throug
red lights, infuriate drivers by taking up both lanes and, thoug
riding at breakneck speed, are still far slower than the cars want t
travel. But the motorists don't come out of it looking too good either
with some foolish, illegal and dangerous antics behind the wheel. No
surprisingly, there's road rage on both sides. But change is in th
wind. Improving relations between motorists and cyclists is one of th
stated aims of the newly created Amy Gillett Foundation. Long-ter
friend of the Gilletts, Rod Katz, is one of the people behind th
foundation.

ROD KATZ, GILLETT FAMILY FRIEND: To try and make sure these sorts o
tragedies don't happen again. That's, I think, of even greate
importance than anything else in setting up this foundation: to see i
we can get some of the best brains in the country really focusing o
this question of how do we get people to realise that they are i
control of lethal machines on the roads. We need to get that messag
across.

KATHY BOWLEN: The foundation is already attracting support fro
Australia's racing cyclists, a community which has historically hel
itself aloof from recreational riders. Now their interests ar
coinciding.

HARRY BARBER, BICYCLE VICTORIA: A moving motor vehicle can be a deadl
instrument, as we've seen in this story in Germany. Really, th
critical speed is 40 kilometres an hour. If a pedestrian or a cyclis
is hit and the motor vehicle is going faster than 40 kilometres a
hour, then there's an 80 per cent chance that they will die. If th
motor vehicle is going slower than 40 kilometres an hour, there's an 8
per cent chance that they will live. So that's the pivot speed, an
that's why bringing down the speed limits is a very sensible thing as
far as pedestrians and cyclists are concerned.

KATHY BOWLEN: The Transport Accident Commission records show that 32
cyclists have been killed on Victorian roads in the past six years. In
that same period, almost 1,500 cyclists have suffered serious injuries.
But all experts agree the statistics are only the tip of the iceberg
because many cyclists don't bother to report accidents, even if they
require medical attention.

ROD KATZ: In many places in Europe motorists will give you a couple of
friendly toots coming up behind you to let you know that they're there
and that they're applauding your effort. In fact, that's one of the
ideas that we're tossing around as a project for the foundation: to
have two hoots for Amy.

KATHY BOWLEN: Police this week floated the idea of taking points off a
cyclist's drivers licence if they break the road rules while riding
their bike. It's a radical plan which has sparked concerns about the
potential use of licence demerits for other non-driving offences, and
so far the state government has not supported the idea. However, police
say there is growing support for giving cyclists better access to Beach
Road on the weekends by banning parked cars.

INSPECTOR ALAN CARLISLE: Give the cyclists a window of four hours, say
6 o'clock to 10 o'clock in the morning. We get all the cyclists who
know it will be safe to ride completely in the lane uninterrupted by
motorists. Cars can pass on the right. There'll be no road rage, and
it's safe.

KATHY BOWLEN: Bicycle Victoria wants a wider campaign of car-free zones
on Sundays to encourage bike riding.

HARRY BARBER: In Paris there's a road that's busy during the week
alongside the Seine, but on the weekend it's not busy and so they close
it off and people ride their bikes and they rollerblade and they walk
the dog and have a good time along the banks of the river. So we are
saying to people around Melbourne, "Well, what if we closed off Albert
Park? What if on the first Sunday of the month you could ride on the
boulevard and there weren't cars there? So what if we had these Sunday
circuits where people could train?" That's often why the elite riders
are out on the roads riding and training, getting ready. But I think if
Albert Park was traffic free on a Sunday morning you'd find a lot more
than the elite riders down there. Half of Melbourne would go down and
do a few laps.

KATHY BOWLEN: Both ideas are on the drawing board and may well be
trialed after the Commonwealth Games. In the meantime, riders say there
are lessons to be learnt from the overseas experience.

SPEAKER: In Europe cycling is a lot more common for commuters, so
there's a lot more sort of - I guess the government looks out for
cyclists a lot better over there.

SPEAKER: It'd be nice if there was a bit more respect for cyclists.

CYCLIST: I saw an article in the paper. They're talking about taking
demerit points off cyclists who run red lights. I reckon it's a great
idea.

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For more information on the Amy Gillett-Safe Cycling Foundation see the
website at: www.cycling.org.au


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cfsmtb