Boiling Blood of Timboy!
What is this shit!
Police to reward safe cyclists with prizes!!! We don't need trinkets, we need protection.
Full marks for consistency- this morning The Age run an article describing how 9 out of ten accidents involving cyclists and cars occur on a straight stretch of road with the driver inadvertantly turning or parking.
'Nine out of 10 collisions happen on a straight stretch of road with the vehicle hitting the bike by turning or parking. Eighty per cent of crash victims were men.'
And from ATSB safety report:'Deaths of Cyclists in road accidents'
'The most common type of crash in which a cyclist was fatally injured was the cyclist being hit from behind by a motor vehicle travelling in the same lane'
These account for 58% of fatal crashes. Despite this fact- somehow the ATSB manage to find that cyclists were 'responsible' for 60% of accidents- a bit of anti-cylist bias from the police- no way. How does the ATSB explain this 20% credibility gap?
How about some evidence based policing, instead of policing driven by reaction to ACA, Today Tonight and Neil Mitchell.
And what about educating drivers about looking out for cyclists- It's not that hard- they're on you're inside dude. On the side of every bus in the Irish Republic there reads the simple phrase- 'lookout for cyclists passing on your inside'. That would be a good start.
Police to reward safe cyclists with prizes!!! We don't need trinkets, we need protection.
Full marks for consistency- this morning The Age run an article describing how 9 out of ten accidents involving cyclists and cars occur on a straight stretch of road with the driver inadvertantly turning or parking.
'Nine out of 10 collisions happen on a straight stretch of road with the vehicle hitting the bike by turning or parking. Eighty per cent of crash victims were men.'
And from ATSB safety report:'Deaths of Cyclists in road accidents'
'The most common type of crash in which a cyclist was fatally injured was the cyclist being hit from behind by a motor vehicle travelling in the same lane'
These account for 58% of fatal crashes. Despite this fact- somehow the ATSB manage to find that cyclists were 'responsible' for 60% of accidents- a bit of anti-cylist bias from the police- no way. How does the ATSB explain this 20% credibility gap?
How about some evidence based policing, instead of policing driven by reaction to ACA, Today Tonight and Neil Mitchell.
And what about educating drivers about looking out for cyclists- It's not that hard- they're on you're inside dude. On the side of every bus in the Irish Republic there reads the simple phrase- 'lookout for cyclists passing on your inside'. That would be a good start.
posted by timboy at 10:41 PM
3 Comments:
It's crazy.
I tell all my newby customers who are afraid of traffic that the opposite of their perceptions is true.
Traffic is your friend, it's the wide open road that's more likely to get you killed.
Gotta say they have a hard time reconciling that bit of news.
But as you say, it's the education that's key. we've got a long way to go don't we Mr Flugge?
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Unfortunately Kneel from 3AW isw going to do a "Is cycling dangerous" segment on Tuesday. Probably will have a mp3 of it, but at the mo I really can't be bothered taking him/it/them to task.
In case this fact has escaped some folks, it's Ride to Work Day on Wednesday & I'm busy with other more worthwhile stuff.
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