A Metre Matters ....

Every time I see, hear or read a story about someone being knocked off their bike by motor vehicle it provides a reality check that any one of us who rides on the road is a vulnerable road user.  Every time I'm passed closely by a car while cycling my instinctive reaction is to check how much space there was between the car and the line on the road and the distance is usually about a metre.  Whether I'm behind the wheel or behind the handle bars, I believe in the old adage that I need to treat everyone else on the road like they're idiots. Therefore I need to go on the selfrighteouscyclist self-protective  defensive and take on the mindset that I'm invisible to other road users. I put my flashing lights on, wear bright colours and constantly remind myself to be hyper aware of what's going on around me.  However the sobering national road toll statistics from 2013 (see Figure 1 below) remind us that the number of cyclist deaths on roads rose from 33 to 50 or a 51% change.  So what’s happening out there to make cycling safer?

To mark the beginning of the Tour Down Under our rising star Richie Porte was the first person to put his signature to a campaign being run by the Amy Gillett foundation promoting road safety with the message a metre matters. 


The metre matters link will take you off to a petition form you can download and pass it around your fellow riders to sign and forward onto a federal politician.  Check out the merchandise link and you can even send a self addressed envelope and they'll send you this sticker or even buy a few for friends and family. The message is focused on unified federal road laws for
  •        drivers allow a minimum of one metre when overtaking bicycle riders in speed zones up to 60km/hr
  •      drivers allow a minimum of 1.5 metres when overtaking bicycle riders in speed zones over 60km/hr

 It's a simple message that hopefully sticks with us all whether we're in our cars or on our bikes.   You’ve got till the 30th April, so here’s your chance to support a great cause.



Cyclist's safety is a serious topic and humour is a great way to engage an audience as exemplified by these couple of advertisements out of Scotland. 

Nice Way Code Horse
  


Nice Way Code Name


And now if you have 5 minutes to spare some reflections on cycling safety from 5 pro cyclists in the US, a few of whom have come off second best.





Finally a few thoughts to leave you with
·      Take half a second to look over your shoulder to see what's coming
·      Be predictable and show other road users what your intentions are
·     Make eye contact with other road users around you 
·     Stop at the lights rather than running the dark orange
·      Avoid riding through shopping strips with high volumes of motorists getting in and out of their cars
·      Plan your ride to avoid having to mix it with the traffic where you can
·  Be pro-active about cycling safety and download the petition form for a Metre Matters campaign

So what will you do to ensure your next ride is a safe one?

Figure 1. Sourced from http://statistics.infrastructure.gov.au/


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Jack Wood Memorial Handicap 2024 Race Report – A bit of fun!

Image
67 riders from 21 clubs signed up for the Jack Wood Memorial Handicap, with Hawthorn CC being the best represented with 16 riders.   The 6-min and the 19-min groups with 15 riders each, clearly had a numerical advantage over the other bunches, with an average of 7 riders each.   But as every experienced handicap rider will tell you, if you are not working as a unit, you are probably just getting in the way.   With weather as good as you could wish for in the middle of winter in central Victoria, the sun was out, and the wind was a light south westerly.   Starter Rae Lesniowska and chief commissaire David Cutajar, gave the pre-race briefing.   Stay together at your peril.   You are all on the same team until you aren’t and you will know when that will be, or words to that effect. As a member of the 10-minute group sitting in between two large bunches, we had our work cut out for us.   Our goal was to avoid being passed before the three big rolling h...
Read more

Northern Combine - St Kilda Trophy 2024 - Race Report

Image
Welcome to autumn racing in Belgium like conditions, just an hour from Melbourne.   In stark contrast to the 2023 St Kilda Trophy event, most of the pot holes were gone, the field was more than doubled and the temperature was quartered, yes you read that right.   After the season opener at Latrobe Uni, attracted a field of 233 riders across 10 grades,  this race attracted 120 riders from 24 clubs entered across 9 grades.  Compared to the meagre 56 entrants from 17 clubs and this year's event, is it too early to say that road cycling is back? I hope not. As riders gathered in the carpark, the chatter or was it the chattering of teeth, was dominated by wardrobe choices or lack thereof, judging by the few who very visibly shivering in summer kit as they waited for the pre-race briefing.  To quote a former Aussie pro, who rode for a Belgian team, there's no such thing as bad weather, just poor clothing choices. Brunswick rider Andrew Gannon, complete with neck...
Read more

Easter Epic 2024 / Everest Roam

Image
After doing an Everest in late December 2023, I really had no interest in doing anything quite like it again, other than supporting those who supported me on the day in their quest, when and if they were ready.   However, when a window of opportunity opened for the Easter long weekend to do an Everest Roam, I thought let's do it.  An Everest Roam is a ride consisting of climbing 10,000 metres, covering at least 400km, within 36 hours.  Sleep is allowed and you can drive from point to point in between climbs. I put it out to my Everest support crew, Gruppetto Melbourne and Knights of Suburbia, here in Melbourne.  Other than a few laughs at my expense, and don't worry, I laughed at myself too, one brave soul put up his hand to join me on day 2 from Tawonga to Falls Creek.  Thanks to Joel, my brother from another mother.  It was great sharing the time with you. I want to say a special thanks to the guy from Southern Vets (now Masters) who 40 years ago, i...
Read more