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Taking care of our two-wheeled friendsBy Dr Roger Kalla*The safety of vulnerable road users on two wheels is a hot topic in the media. Blame is directed at different groups of road users and tempers are rising on our congested roads. The problem is going to get worse as more cars take to the roads of our rapidly growing cities and more people discover the bicycle as a convenient and fast mode of transport. Building more roads for cars or adding extra lanes to clogged freeways is only a short term fix. It will not cure decades of lack of investment in upgrading public transport and off and on-road bicycle paths. These alternative modes of transportation will no doubt rise in importance when in the near future petrol prices rise and we have to constrain our carbon emissions. On 3 January 2010 the Full Montes Bicycle Club, of which I am a member, participated in Amy's Ride Victoria 2010. Amy Gillette was a member of the national road racing cycling team and died in a training accident on the roads of Germany in July 2005. Amy was killed by a motorist that ploughed into the squad. The accident also left a number of severely injured bike riders. The message from those of us who participated in the ride is for motorists to remember to provide enough space on the road for cyclists. Recent research from the Federal Department of Transport revealed in 2005-06 4,370 cyclists were seriously injured on our roads. The proportion of these accidents that involved cars was large - about 1,500 accidents. The accuracy of these figures has been challenged in a recent radio program on Radio National which found the official reported figures are only the tip of the iceberg. Many of the accidents involving cars and bikes are due to motorists not providing enough space on the road for cyclists. Some high profile cyclists who ride professionally on roads, like Cadel Evans, the reigning World Road Racing Champion, are on the record as saying the worst places for road cyclists are in the ‘land down under’ and America because of the attitudes of motorists. I believe the design of our roads is partly to blame for these accidents, as they are generally not designed for commuter cyclists. Another factor is the ‘cult of the motor car’ that is spread in the media. This message is further amplified by State Governments that, until recently, were advocating for large Australian-made cars that were designed with the safety of the driver in mind. At the same time they neglected to provide safe and convenient road infrastructure for bike riders. There is some sobering statistical and reliable anecdotal evidence to support this supposition. First, the NRMA-ACT Road Safety Trust recently released a report challenging the official reporting of bike accidents. It found the number of reported bike accidents was only 2 per cent of the actual number of accidents. The accidents reported tended to be the more severe ones with fatalities and bad injuries. This shows we urgently need education campaigns for motorists and upgrades to bike lanes. Another interesting statistic was that 40 to 49-year-old white collar workers were over-represented in the true bike accident statistic. This has a large economical impact on society. Finally, the ACT figures revealed that bike crashes actually account for 10 to 20 per cent of all road trauma injuries in terms of hospital bed days. As a comparison, car drivers involved in crashes were responsible for less than 10 per cent of hospital bed days. The picture painted by the blood of injured cyclists is verified in a statement by Dr James Taylor, head of Sandringham Hospital Emergency. In his statement Dr Taylor said, “Cycling injuries has all the hallmarks of an epidemic” and “this epidemic of trauma injuries chiefly affects adults of a productive age”. The promotion of the car culture in Victoria is revving up at this time of the year as the Formula 1 Grand Prix comes to town and takes over one of Melbourne’s finest parks that is ideal for cycling. The supercars racing on the track pollute the atmosphere with noise and CO2 emissions. To top it off the super cars arrive on special giant cargo planes that also pollute the air on their way across the globe. However, there are some positive media stories being released in advance of the 2010 F1 race in Melbourne. Among other eye catching headlines it was recently revealed that the Schu, Michael Schumaker, the Ferrari driver who retired from the sport a couple of years ago, has announced he is back for the Melbourne F1 GP. But the question remains - if the Schu is heading our way for the F1 racing who is footing the increasing hospital bills that the car culture is contributing to here in Australia? Police talk about the explosion of cyclists spilling over from the badly maintained bike paths onto the roads. Health and traffic experts agree that there are obvious positives for public health and the health of our urban environment. Cycling friendly Victoria has a $38 billion transport blueprint for the next decade. Some of the big ticket items are the lane duplications of the Monash and the Western Ring Road which will reportedly cost $2 billion each. While cars and roads receive plenty of taxpayers’ money, less than one-third of a per cent is earmarked for the upgrade of bicycle paths. The goal for all thinking people is to convert car commuters to bicycle commuting. But to do so we have to make it safer to ride bicycles on our roads. The Amy Gillett foundation is working to make our roads safer for its most vulnerable users. The forgotten fact is that most bike riders also drive a car and do taxi runs with the kids, go shopping after work etc. * Dr Roger Kalla is the Director of Korn Technologies and a proud member of the Full Montes bike riding club of Ivanhoe East. This article first appeared at www.onlineopinion.com.au |
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