From: brisbane1@peg.pegasus.oz.au
Newsgroups: aus.bicycle
Subject: Give Cyclists one metre
Date: 28 Jul 92 23:29:00 GMT
Nf-ID: #N:peg:490100013:000:5577
Nf-From: peg.UUCP!brisbane1    Jul 28 18:29:00 1992


GIVE BIKES A METRE

(REprinted from the Qld Cyclist)

I suppose most bike riders have been scared by a car zooming past
at 80km/h on a main road in heavy traffic.  I certainly have had
it happen to me on many occasions.  When it happens I usually get
very angry.  Having been hit and almost killed by a car doing
something like that many years ago I really think that it is one
of the most irresponsible things a driver can do.  When I first
started riding a bike I used to accept that this was an every day
part of life on the road.  I didn't think there was anything I
could do about it.  But a year of near-misses changed my attitude.
Armed with knowledge provided by the Bicycle Institute, I started
confronting drivers who endangered my life.  The peculiar thing
about drivers who drive aggressively is that they more often than
not do it in heavy traffic and get caught at lights a little way
down the road.  This often provided me with the perfect
opportunity to rebuke the driver about their dangerous behaviour.
Sometimes they turned out to be unaware that they had passed me
closely.  This was really frightening.  If they hadn't seen me,
then it must have been only through luck that they hadn't hit me.
Many other drivers had definitely seen me.  It seems they like to
use their cars as a tool to intimidate cyclists (and anyone else
who gets in their way, I suppose).  The discussion in these cases
often became heated and on one occasion the driver threatened to
get out of his car and hit me.  Well, discretion being the better
part of valour, I declined to accept his invitation to a fist
fight.  More often than not, these crazy individuals use logic
like "you don't pay for the roads so you don't belong here" to
justify their actions.  They seem to think that roads are some
sort of private property belonging to them alone.  Twelve years on
I still get harassed by motorists who take no notice of the needs
of cyclists.  So, along with a couple of other BIQ members I feel
that it is time to introduce a new campaign that should go a long
way to making the life of bike riders a lot more pleasant.  We see
the problems that lead to bicycle-car conflicts as being:  a lack
of driver awareness; no legislation on the matter; and poor road
design.  Bicycles and other two wheeled vehicles are by their
nature unstable.  Even if you don't realise it you are constantly
rebalancing the machine while you ride.  And bikes don't have
suspension.  This requires cyclists to swerve around rocks and
other obstacles on the road.  So a cyclist cannot ride as steadily
as a person in a four wheeled vehicle can drive.  Engineers have
found that while bikes are on average only 0.75 meters wide,
cyclists ride in a space 1.15 metres wide.  This is known as the
operating space of a bicycle.  If a driver passing you has to put
his/her car inside your operating space to do so then the car is
too close.  The driver, and you, have no idea whether your bike
will swerve slightly into the car.  On busy arterial roads this
happens all too often.  It can be prevented if drivers are made
aware that what they are doing is wrong and they are willing to
rectify their behaviour.  So we want to launch a campaign using
the slogan "give cyclists a metre" to help make cycling safer.
This slogan has been used in Europe for a number of years and has
had an impact on the attitudes of drivers there.  A public
education campaign will be enough to convince some drivers to act
more responsibly.  Others, like the hostile drivers I talked about
before will need a little more convincing.  In NSW at present the
push is on for legislation to make a minimum passing distance of
one metre between motor vehicles and bicycles.  Legislation might
be enough to convince drivers of the need to respect cyclists.  We
should therefore follow the NSW lead and try to get the same sort
of legislation into the Queensland Traffic Act.  The final and
probably the hardest task in this campaign is to have roads
redesigned so that bikes and cars are not brought into conflict.
Studies have shown that roads that have lanes that are too narrow
or too wide encourage drivers to move close to cyclists.  We need
to start engineers thinking "give cyclists a metre" when they are
at their computers and drawing boards designing roads.  An extra
metre in the left lane of roads (or a bike lane where appropriate)
would be enough to enable drivers to pass cyclists comfortably.
It often means no more than shifting a few lanes around, or
putting a little more bitumen down on the ground, to acheive this
result.  This campaign would be most effective if it had
government support.  A lot of effort will have to be made to
convince the state government of the need for such a campaign.
Data will have to be collected, submissions written, meetings
attended, letters written, etc.  If you'd like to get involved
please call me on 844 3420(ah).  Peter McCallum
*  *  *  *  * *  *  *  *  * *  *  *  *  * *  *  *  *  * *  *  *  *
* *  *  *  *  * *  *  *  *  * *  *  *  *  * Queensland Cyclist is
the newsletter of the Bicycle Institute of Queensland Inc.  Postal
address: PO Box 5753 West End Qld 4101 Office: The Web Shared
Workspace, 142 Agnew St (Cnr Bennetts Rd) Norman Park Phone:
(07)899 2988 Editor: Peter McCallum Contributions from readers are
welcomed.  Photo's will be returned as soon as possible after use.
Please include day and evening phone numbers to assist in editing
articles.

*  *  *  *  * *  *  *  *  * *  *  *  *  * *  *  *  *  * *  *  *  *
* *  *  *  *  * *  *  *  *  * *  *  *  *  *
Newsgroups: aus.bicycle