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From psychotic Lycra clad non rego d and insured cyclists to oversize mining vehicles , shouldn't this be moved to threads that go off topic ?
By the way I never really saw any real argument as to why it is more dangerous on our roads than in any other country , and therefore the need for body armour high vis and all the other measures some call for.
1. Many devout cyclists are insured either as an extension on their house insurance or via their cycling club. When high end road bikes cost more than a good used car you understand the value of insurance against loss and damage to your stuff as well as other vehicles and people.Quote:
Originally Posted by trog
2. Cycling is more dangerous here than in some other countries because of the state of our road network and the attitude of its users. In Europe both motorists and cyclists are more polite and there is vastly more cycling infrastructure. People who cycle holiday in Europe then try the same in the UK remark on the deterioration in safety due to the pommy attitude, which has of course emigrated with the poms to Australia too.
Fair comments.Quote:
Originally Posted by bee utey
My humble opinion is that there is a completely different mind set between Australian & Euro cyclists. Having recently travelled through France, Germany, Italy & several other countries there is a very noticeable lack of the "Lycra & Latte" cyclists that you find throughout Oz.
The big city civilian dressed cyclists, especially in Paris, are downright dangerous[bigsmile1] We were warned by several establishments we stayed at to be very aware of them. I have no beef with that because these people are using the pushies for day to day transport & ride in the city only.
From memory, we would have seen two groups of comp cyclists (Escorted) the whole trip & they were on B type roads.
Where I live, the major roads in the area are extremely hilly, well they go up mountains really, and are always in use by the Lycras, especially weekends. These roads are definitely not bicycle friendly & if any vehicle that doesn't have the oomph for a quick overtake gets behind them well, that's too bad apparently, because the cyclists will not pull over.
I'll pull over in the Disco or 'tilly to let faster vehicles past, especially motorcycles as they have a hoot on these rides, sometimes with bad consequences, sadly.
A bloke I know who works his own earthmoving show quite often has to haul these routes with his truck & dog several times a day & even though he is a soft spoken, layback type he'll tell you how time consuming it can be & very unnerving, in no uncertain terms. I know that one section can cost him nearly 20 mins if there's a big mob, sorry, peleton!
Perhaps a "Suitable for Bicycling" classification could be given to roads that meet certain bicycle safety requirements i.e road shoulder width, carriageway width, line of sight, traffic use to name a few.
I overtook several clumps of escorted comp riders a few weeks ago & each & every one moved over to single file on my approaching. How easy for them & so much safer & easier for all. I responded with a wave to each & got one or two return waves. Why can't the weekend wallies do this?
'nuff said.
Steve
Cyclists also don't seem to be a problem in Japan although they are everywhere. Maybe we Aussies are just too aggressive.
Japan has strict liability laws which means that in the case of an incident, the motor vehicle is liable unless they can prove that they weren't negligent, didn't do it intentionally and their vehicle wasn't unroadworthy. Consequently drivers in Japan drive a lot more carefully around pedestrians & cyclists.Quote:
Originally Posted by DiscoMick
Still to explain the rest of the developed world and how these countries seem to cope ?
Maybe if more kids rode to school , some might develop the mindset that " that could be my kid " .