Rider down on the Monaro Highway

From what I remember there has been a car parked/abandoned in the bike lane at about that point on the Monaro for a few weeks now. So maybe the bike was having to go near/on the car lanes to get past. I remember it because I remember thinking about how it looked like a getaway car left for someone who was planning an escape from the prison….

Aeek said :

Solidarity said :

Well if it was an off-road lane, the guy wouldn’t be in hospital, would he

The advantage of on road lanes is traffic, someone will see it.

Ok, so you see an advantage to on-road lanes is that when someone is struck be a vehicle that people are likely to witness it.

I see the advantage of an off-road lane is that they won’t be struck by the vehicle in the first place.

Postalgeek @ 14.

‘I’ve noticed a marked increase in police presence on Monaro Highway since the accident, which is great, but short term.’

Pity there were none just south of Gull about 4.15 this afternoon, when 3 cars (A Holden Statesman, an Evo, and another) decided to have a bit of a race through the traffic. Went past me at about 120-130K’s.

Too quick to get rego numbers.

I’ve noticed a marked increase in police presence on Monaro Highway since the accident, which is great, but short term.

It’s interesting to watch the on-road/off-road debate. People get defensive about the suggestion of separate cycle lanes, but if the cycleways are direct and share the right-of-way of the parallel trunk road, most cyclists would agree the route would be a vast improvement. I think there is a tendency to lump calls for separate lanes in high traffic areas with the unconstructive rants that cyclists shouldn’t be on roads at all. Part of the cyclists’ preference for roads comes down to right-of-way. Commuting cyclists appreciate the right-of-way that a road offers and drivers enjoy, which is denied to them if they ride on uneven footpaths dissected by side streets.

The problem with cycle paths running parallel and outside a road, even if there is a physical barrier (which is definitely better than nothing) is that the cycleway is still dissected by side streets and cyclists are put at risk.

To my mind, with large trunk roads like Northbourne or Monaro, cycle paths would be ideally located in the middle on the median strip, accessed through traffic light intersections. Cyclists would then share the same right-of-way as the flow of traffic, and be protected from vehicles pulling in and out of side roads, which is one of the leading causes of accidents for cyclists.

Failing physical barriers, flexible lane dividers like the ones that often line road works would be a comfort. Cars can still cross over them, but they make a far more imposing visual barrier, as well as audible barrier for drivers, and any cyclist in the immediate vicinity will be immediately aware of someone drifting behind them.

Anyway, whatever the government decides, let’s hope it’s an improvement on a strip of paint.

Aeek said :

The advantage of on road lanes is traffic, someone will see it.

So, in a thread about a bike being hit by a car, you claim the advantage of these lanes is traffic? I got a great idea, why dont we go and run some bike lanes alongside train tracks.. all we need is a little 3″ white line painted between the bike track and the rails.. That might provide more natural selection than simply encouraging cyclists to use the road.

Solidarity said :

Well if it was an off-road lane, the guy wouldn’t be in hospital, would he

The advantage of on road lanes is traffic, someone will see it.

Sgt.Bungers said :

Seriously?

If the idiot swerving in and out of traffic had collected a yellow car, would you be questioning why we allow yellow cars on the road?

If we had any sort of serious police presense on our roads, the number of morons weaving in and out of traffic in motor vehicles would diminish considerably.

Your argument just doesn’t hold up in the real world, though.

The end-game of what you’re saying seems to be the expectation that ALL drivers will be perfect ALL of the time. No mistakes, no accidents, no dickheads.. ever.

Reality check – It’s never going to happen, regardless of how many police you have.

Therefore it makes sense that cycle lanes *should* be separate from the road. It’s no consolation that it was the driver’s fault. We’re talking about a small margin of error – people intentionally driving like idiots aren’t the only ones that can potentially hit you.

puggy said :

Postalgeek said :

Gungahlin Al is quite correct, and it’s a fair bet the same half-arsed mentality will be applied to the Fyshwick overpass and Majura revamp.

Well, we should be doing something about it and it’s not smart arse comment. Maybe I’m getting old, but I’m writing to TAMS etc more and more and things actually happen when I complain. Sure it takes a while and the solution is a bit odd, but something happens.

Rest assured the over-reliance of TAMS on on-road cycle lanes in almost every new road project is a theme I prosecute every single chance I get. It’s a hard road though, and I need other people saying the same things you’ve been saying above to their MLAs. Yes they’ll respond to direct corro, but they’ll not likely attach weight to venting here I’m sorry.

Postalgeek said :

Gungahlin Al is quite correct, and it’s a fair bet the same half-arsed mentality will be applied to the Fyshwick overpass and Majura revamp.

Well, we should be doing something about it and it’s not smart arse comment. Maybe I’m getting old, but I’m writing to TAMS etc more and more and things actually happen when I complain. Sure it takes a while and the solution is a bit odd, but something happens.

amarooresident3 said :

From the report how is the fault of the cycle lane? Sounds like the driver was being a dick

There’s no doubt that the driver was at fault, and will be prosecuted if he comes forward. Risks like this need to be removed for the cyclist on high speed high volume roads with physically separated lanes or in this case a bicycle super highway completely separated from the road or like the M7 in Sydney.
I was traveling to brand depot the other day on the same road but the other way and and saw a family riding on the shoulder near the railway overpass, just plain silly to take that risk with children.