Pedaling Click Bait or Serious Issues?

I was fortunate to spend the Easter long weekend with family near Wangaratta in the North-East of Victoria.  Wangaratta is the home town of Olympic 4000m team pursuit gold medalist Dean Woods and is host to several annual road and track cycling events.  In addition to getting out for a ride on some relatively quiet country roads, one of the things I enjoy is reading the local newspaper.  When reading the most recent copy of the Wangaratta Chronicle, I read a letter to the editor in which the author complained about cyclists riding whilst using a mobile phone and the need for cyclists to be registered.  Stopping for a coffee after a ride, I overheard a table of fellow cyclists discussing the same letter. Clearly the feedback was gaining traction in the local community.    

After speaking with the editor of the paper, I found out that the story that prompted this letter was the most recent local cycling fatality back in November 2015 when a cyclist was hit from behind by a car in broad daylight  just metres from a dedicated bike path.  

When I read the letter in the Chronicle, the selfrighteouscyclist in me could neither contain or control my urge to pen a letter to the editor of the local rag. It caused me to think what's going on in this region, this state and this country?  We're a proud cycling nation that punches well above its weight in almost every discipline of competitive cycling. However when is comes to cycling for commuting we're well behind countries with far harsher weather than our own such as the UK, Asian, Scandinavian and European countries.   

What's a cyclist to do?  Stand back and say nothing or stand up for your rights?  Change begins with a conversation, not telling others how to do things, so I hope my little piece to the Wangaratta Chronicle kick starts that from a more positive perspective.

Regarding Margaret Ryan’s letter and the VoxPop responses (Thu 24/3) as a cyclist I agree that the road rules should apply to all road users.  However when it comes to the use of mobile phones I would see 20 motorists using mobile phones for every cyclist doing the same.  A distracted driver is capable of causing far more damage than a distracted cyclist purely through the difference in weight and size of each mode of transport.  Police efforts need to be concentrated on where they have most impact. 

Regarding the comment that cyclists should pay the same registration that motorists, cyclists do not stress the road like a car or truck does, yet we still have the same entitlement to use the road safely.  More needs to be done to encourage people to ride than create obstacles to cycling as an alternative mode of transport.  Australian and overseas research has shown that cyclists are healthier than non-cyclists and are less of a draw on the public health system.  The community needs to accept that the benefits of cycling far outweigh the minor inconvenience of having to share the road with cyclists. 

Cyclists bring an enormous economic benefit to the region and as the development of the local trails has shown the better the cycling infrastructure, the more likely people are to ride a bike and the better the health outcomes of the community creating a win-win outcome.

How can we change the conversation around the outpouring of anti-cyclist sentiment?

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