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Idiots on two wheels

Am I alone in my alarm at the increase in reckless riding by bicyclists?
In busy, crowded inner-city streets, confronting behaviour by cyclists is making life hell
for both pedestrians and motorists.

Irresponsible weaving in and out of traffic, mounting the footpath
at speed in shopping centres and barging into pedestrians, riding against
the traffic, pushing through pedestrian crossings and through red lights
are just part of their general bad behaviour.

A huge proportion of the offending riders are in dark clothes, have no
lights, reflectors, warning bells and are usually not wearing helmets. They are
selfish, mean-spirited, dangerous and aggressive.

Far from being good for society, these terrorists of the road have no respect
for anyone. The police and the councils are doing nothing about them, even
though these riders are flouting many laws and are making a nuisance of themselves
everywhere. Why won't they act?

Bicycles should be registered, have all safety equipment fitted and be inspected
like motor vehicles. The cyclists should be licensed, or at least have a competency
certificate issued if they are to use bicycles as commuter transport.

A crackdown on the idiot element is long overdue.
- Jenny Ward, Erskineville.

The replies to the letter, in SMH July 20 and 21 2004:

Cyclists have a right to ride without being abused

I am concerned at the habitual publishing of references to
bicycle users as "terrorists" from the sad serial hate-
mongers such as Jenny Ward of Erskinville (Letters, July
19). In late 2002 the Herald published a call from the same
pedantic car addict for people to deliberately push over
cyclists, alleging the act was accidental, equating bicycle
users with cane toads.

Jenny Ward has chosen to live in a crowded inner-city suburb
near South Sydney, where in places up to 45 per cent of
households have abandonded car ownership as anachronistic
and impractical.

Please allow me to disabuse her of the notion that she can
lawfully encourage morons of her ilk to push over and maim
my wife, my children and my sensible neighbours as they go
about their lawful business.
- Paul Campbell, Marrickville, July 19.

There are nutters on two wheels, but there are also nutters
on four. Let's look at the behaviour of some drivers. I've
had rubbish and abuse hurled at me. I've been tailgated by a
driver, horn blaring, who then swerved around me but turned
left just metres on. A friend waiting at an intersection had
a driver behind him who deliberately nudged forward until
the car hit his rear wheel.

We should just let our blood pressure settle a little
(exercise is great for that) and behave better on the roads.
-Kathryn Topp, Leichhardt, July 19.

I am a car owner, but for the majority of my daily trips, I
choose to ride my bike for the health and environmental
benefits. Some fellow bike riders do flout the law. But
every day, I am faced with car drivers who coast through
stop signs, run red lights, fail to give way, abuse me or
cut me off.

Recently, I was knocked off my bike by a driver who tried to
overtake me in the middle of a roundabout. Even though I was
lying in the middle of road and bleeding, the driver didn't stop.

Law-breaking cyclists are an irritation to you, Jenny, but
law-breaking drivers can be deadly for a cyclist.
- Greg Noonan, Tamarama, July 19.

Drivers' selfish behaviour makes it tough for cyclists July 21, 2004

I am sorry Jenny Ward (Letters, July 19) has had the bad luck to
encounter the very small minority that she labels idiots. The majority
of cyclists do obey road rules and are considerate of pedestrians.

Part of the problem is that cyclists are often forced to use footpaths
for fear of being run off the road by "idiots in tin boxes". There is a
real need for authorities to recognise that even though a cyclist is
obliged to follow road rules, the majority of motorists don't consider
that a bicycle has any place on a public road.

I would invite Ms Ward to meet some cyclists who do care. There are
many local bicycle user groups (BUGs) that promote and run regular social
rides. She would then quickly realise that we are not so bad.
-Paul Gage, Beverly Hills, July 19.

I couldn't agree more with Jenny Ward regarding cyclists' behaviour in the inner city.

I spend about 40 hours a week driving and constantly see cyclists
ignoring road rules, such as going through red lights and stop signs,
going down a one-way street the wrong way, onto the footpath, cycling
between cars waiting at red lights; I have never seen a cyclist pulled
over by police.

A crackdown is long overdue. -Angus Macleod, Manly, July 19.

As a cyclist I have been abused, and once hit by a car, but as I have
been overtaken by more than 150,000 vehicles over the years the
reassuring probability works out at about one incident per 20,000 vehicles.

Few leave the legislated one metre gap, but 99.99 per cent of motorists
could still generally be described as good people, just like 99.99 per
cent of cyclists.

Do not fuel potentially deadly anger, Ms Ward, by promoting the careless
actions of the minority to the status of norm, as after all more
motorists have killed cyclists than vice versa.

Licensing of cyclists will not solve the problem (people still speed in cars).

Would you like to see pedestrians wear number plates so the police
could catch the occasional jaywalker?

No regulation needed, just more dedicated cycleways, more bells, helmets
and reflectors and more Sydney love. -David Hyde, Roseville, July 19.

When I read Jenny Ward's letter I felt like I was sent to a parallel
universe where callowness had the right of way and and freedom was a V8
four-wheel-drive. She has the idea that city cyclists are a danger to
the community calling them "terrorists", "selfish, mean-spirited,
dangerous and aggressive". Here are a few points for you to consider
before you become judge, jury and executioner.

Many cyclists cannot afford a taxi, or drive their own car and actually
care enough about the environment to give up driving. The
cyclist-to-pedestrian fatality accidents in Sydney are non-existent -
quite the opposite of the car-to-pedestrian fatality rate.

The registration and licensing you mention would be out of the financial
reach for many cyclists who must ride bicycles to and from low-paying
jobs, or even as a low-paying job.

Finally, where should a four-year-old wear their new "L" plates, and
should they keep their licence on them at all times?

I suggest you relax and accept that the road isn't just for cars, and
the city would be a cleaner, quieter and happier place.
-Douglas Prewer, McGraths Hill, July 19.

I believe that these bike riders are practising for the day they can afford a 4WD.
-Peter Hindrup, Bondi Junction, July 19.

Cyclists exercise, saving tax dollars in health services. They don't
cause air pollution, noise pollution or use fossil fuels. They don't
damage road surfaces. Most importantly, they don't take my preferred
parking place at work or the supermarket.
-S.F. Jamieson, Garran (ACCT), July 20.

More letters were published on the 22nd and 23rd:

Two-wheel envy

I can't help but think that car drivers who complain about the bad
manners of cyclists are jealous (Letters, July 21). My journey to work,
a 15-minute bicycle commute, takes about 30 minutes by bus, and
probably longer by car (including finding a parking spot some distance
from my office).

It must be frustrating for my fellow commuters to sit in a traffic jam,
thinking about the relative costs of our choice of transport, and
seeing me get about my business that little bit faster.
It might even make you angry and aggressive, and in search of
someone else to blame.
-David Tickle, Redfern, July 21.

When cyclists start paying registration and insurance, I'll start paying
more attention to them on the roads.
-Louise Taylor, Braddon (ACT), July 21.

Let's get our facts straight. Last year more than 1600 people were
killed on Australia's roads. Very few of these deaths were caused by
cyclists.

The overwhelming majority were caused by motorists. Every road user is
obliged to take due care and follow the rules.
However, as a motorist, you are in charge of a machine that can be at
least as deadly as a firearm.
Bear that in mind every time you put your key in the ignition.
-Geoff Saunders, Marrickville, July 21.

I ride a bicycle and drive a 4WD - does that make me fair game?
-Sandra K.Eckersley, Marrickville, July 21.

Cyclists more than pay their way to use the roads.

Cyclists do not pay registration and insurance, says Louise Taylor
(Letters, July 22). But they pay income tax and GST, used to provide
huge subsidies (roads, costs of pollution, hospitals, etc) to the motor
industries.
-Kim Sanders, Dulwich Hill, July 22.

Someone has to burst the bubble of Louise Taylor's righteous
indignation. As a cyclist, I also own a car and pay registration and
insurance. Come to think of it, so do all the adult cyclists I know.

I choose to ride my bike for pleasure and fitness and would really
appreciate it if Louise could just make that tiny bit of an effort to
look out for me and my friends. My triathlon club has had two of our
members die in bike-car accidents and every year there are numerous
injuries.
-Eva Brundell, Castle Hill , July 22.

Vehicle registration and petrol taxes do not pay for roads, income tax
does. I pay tax at the highest rate and I pay insurance, yet my choice
of transport (bike) has almost no cost to our community. That includes
road maintenance and environmental, set-up and health costs. As a
cyclist, my contribution is proportionally far more than any motorist.
-Rob Harper, Centennial Park, July 22.

I agree with Louise Taylor's sentiment towards those cyclists (Letters,
July 22). Like her, I'll start paying more attention to the safety of
my three-year-old when he starts paying registration and insurance
- not just for his bike, but for the home and car as well.
-Darren Waters, Dural, July 22.

In the debate over selfish road users it would be criminal to overlook
one particular group: joggers. I am regularly shoulder charged by
trainer-clad folk seemingly unable to slow down, manoeuvre or travel in
single file. One even clapped his hands at me, presumably so I would
notice him hurtling in front of me on a zebra crossing.

I am not blind, I simply had right of way. Add the profuse sweating and
those repulsive high-split shorts (thighs in action ought to be
concealed, not revealed) and joggers deserve recognition for raising
the heart rate of others as well as their own.
-M. Paroz, Elizabeth Bay, July 22.

--------------------------------------

My reply (unpublished) to her letter of 19 July 2004 with the word "cyclist"
replaced by "motorist".

Am I alone in my alarm at the increase in reckless driving by motorists? In
busy, crowded inner-city streets, confronting behaviour by motorists is
making life hell for both pedestrians and cyclists.

Irresponsible weaving in and out of traffic, parking on the footpath in
shopping centres, running red lights, pushing through pedestrian crossings
are just part of their general bad behaviour.

A huge proportion of the offending drivers are speeding, have large
unnecessary bullbars, dark-tinted windows, don't use seat belts and are
speaking on their mobiles. They are selfish, mean-spirited, dangerous and
aggressive.

Far from being good for society, these terrorists of the road have no
respect for anyone. The police and the councils are doing nothing about
them, even though these drivers are flouting many laws and are making a
nuisance of themselves everywhere. Why won't they act?

Many drivers have unregistered vehicles, are uninsured and often drive after
drinking. These motorists should be delicensed, or at least have a
competency certificate issued if they are to use cars as commuter transport.
A crackdown on the idiot element is long overdue.

Original Jenny Ward letter in 2002- Cane Toads of the Modern Era.

I'm sick to death of self-righteous cyclists wobbling all over the roads and
footpaths (mostly unilluminated, unhelmeted and in dark clothing at night).
Fed up with having to dodge the idiots jostling and clipping people on
footpaths in busy shopping areas.

And most of all, I'm livid with having to hear all the sanctimonious
clap-trap from the cyclists' lobby groups and others about the "evil
motorists" who cause accidents.

It has now become unsafe to walk anywhere because of cyclists who silently -
and sometimes at speed - come up behind you, anywhere you go. Young, old or
disabled have to look to it or they will be clipped or bowled over.

Will we have to resort to self-defence? ("Oops! Terribly sorry old chap,
didn't mean to push your bike over!")
Why do the authorities turn a blind eye to these dangerous practices? Are
they overwhelmed by the vacuous propaganda that passes for public comment on
the alleged benefits of bicycles in cities? Or don't they care?

The cyclists who plague Sydney's streets have about the same effect on
traffic as the cane toad did on the sugar cane beetle. Then the toads were
foisted onto an unsuspecting public "for their own good", too.
-Jenny Ward, Erskineville, August 9. (2002)

Comment:

The letter above ranks with a piece by Paddy McGuinness about ten years ago where he called
cyclists "lycra lizards" and incited action against them by motorists.

Jenny Ward has a point that many cyclists are reckless and or incompetent, but so are many
drivers. And who does the most damage? We will have a stand-off between motorists and
cyclists until cycling is seen as legitimate and mainstream transport, not something indulged
in by young men in beanies, a few anti-car greenies (although many Greens dont
ride bicycles) or racing types. This wont happen until the RTA and authorities give "us" (existing
and potential cyclists") more recognition and encouragement to ride. It probably also won't
happen until the general community decides that we will have to change to a more sustainable
transport system, with much less emphasis on private car use. And that wont happen until
politicians see the way the wind is blowing and start following the community to the
inevitable transition to alternative energies and more sensible transport methods, sometime
in the next few years if we are lucky, or decades if current trends continue.

In the meantime it wouldnt hurt to see messages from the authorities and bicycle groups about how to ride safely and competently
and the occasional crackdown on problem areas like footpath riding in busy shopping centres -
so long as there is also some evidence of the authorities actually trying to address the
needs of cyclists in these problem areas through slower speed limits, bike lanes and other beneficial
road and street works for bicycles.

(cyclists are reluctant to agree to accept any blame whilst conditions and attitudes on our public roads are often against them)

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