Gold Coast Cycle Forum

Ben Wilson from from Bicycle Queensland was kind enough to let me post this to the forum. I think its worth reading, especially if your from QLD.

cheers!

 

Admin. Its worth reading. I don't know what's worse - riding around Brisbane, Ipswich and the Gold Coast or seeing politicians grappling with issues that are beyond their abilities. The Premier said in Townsville today that he's frightened to ride his bike and thinks cyclists should be registered. He's done all the standard things like show concern, have a summit, ask for a report!

I agree with Ben a hurriedly convened summit won't fix a thing. We need a solution for all of Queensland and not just the Gold Coast or some other part.

 

. why should cyclists be registed?. they whould have to wear a number plate ? now that is dorky.
most adult cyclists have car licences and know all the road rules and registering every kid who has a bike? phhtt
hey why not register all walking pedestrians, skate boarders etc? i agree if a incident with a car is reported nothing is done. unless maybe you where injured a lot.

 

Nicholas you're on the money. So is the Premier if he gets his way. Its a new source of revenue for him. :

With a few exceptions registration has not been successful elsewhere. Introducing a system like this means some form of compliance checking of cyclists. It all adds to the costs. Nice dilemma! Collect a new tax and don't do any checking.

Not too many votes in taxing the kids who must make up the bulk of cyclists. Hey kid pay your tax to ride to school.

Premier dropped his smart state car registration plates. This little episode should go in the same bin. 8)

 

But, as usual, what happened? Bugger all really. All they're really talking about now is banning cyclists from the Pacific Motorway. It all seems a little pointless given that:

a) very few cyclists actually use the motorway in any case

b) none of the recent incidents actually happened on the motorway

c) given that the motorway has 3 metre shoulders, there are probably other, more dangerous roads more worthy of focus (anyone ridden across the Sundale bridge lately?).

My own, rather cynical view is that this whole thing is a bit of a cop-out. Rather than deal with the real issue, let's make laws governing the victim and prevent them from going somewhere that they might be a target for rednecks. What's next? Women being banned from areas with high rape statistics? What a joke.

 

Several weeks after the Gold Coast Forum the Minister has come out and said:

Police, Corrective Services & assisting on the Carpentaria Minerals Province,
Tony McGrady

26/03/02

Public submissions from cyclist safety summit under consideration

A raft of suggestions to improve cyclist safety throughout Queensland are under close scrutiny by the State Government.
Minister for Police and Corrective Services, Tony McGrady, said he was in the process of considering final public submissions from a cyclist safety summit held at the Gold Coast earlier this year.

The summit, which was also attended by the Premier, discussed increasing public concern in relation to the safety of cyclists at the Gold Coast and throughout Queensland.

Mr McGrady said he had recently written to interested parties to forward the minutes of the meeting and request final submissions.

"I have already received back some submissions and I will of course be giving these my full consideration," he said.

"Suggestions range from increased awareness of safety issues to improved cyclist infrastructure.

"I will be collating all the information received with a view to developing a Government policy on the issue.

"All road users have a right to safety and this is why the State Government convened this summit.

"We will continue to work with a range of groups in the interest of improving safety for all road users," Mr McGrady said.

Don't read it too closely you'll find all the gaps. Yes Minister Queensland style. Written by a beaurocrat with the objective of having the Minister seen to be doing something. If this is the best thats on offer God help us.

As one astute judge said today on a totally unrelated matter the Government has taken its eye off the ball. Well you can add this load of hot air to the pile.

 

Yeah. Also saw on ABC news last night that cyclists have been banned from the Pacific Motorway again. Seems to be the way in this country, punish the victim.

 

It just shows that they don't really give a shit. The Premier sed he's scared to ride his bike? Why is he scared huh? Coz his laws are not cutting it?
Maybe he should ride everywhere and when some uneducated rednek hails abuse he can say "I'm the Premier asshole - back off" then maybe people will stop and think "this cyclist i'm about to yell at could be the Premier"
Of course if they didn't vote for him, he's screwed but the awereness fromhim to realise how bloody bad it really is.
All fat pollies should ride so they know what they're dealing with instead of complaining that their tax-paid mashed potato is too peppery. :-[

Now we're off the freeway AGAIN. That's just pathetic. I wouldn't ride on it anyway becoz I know of two people who have been hit (one was in a coma for a week) but if they wanna ride it - why not? There's 4 lanes and a run-off lane. No excuses really. And at the end of the day it's a new freeway - why isn't it modern?? It ran way over budget so what's a few more tonnes of bitumen on a bikeway??

hipocrites

roKeMS

 

The political response is usually to show concern (al la the Ministers media statement) suggest a course of action and sell the positives of taking that action. The action and sale parts will be interesting to watch. Don't hold your breath. ??? ??? ???

 

This is the big problem here, votes. Peter Beattie may well be aware of how bad the situation is, but just remember that cyclists are a minority here. Any action that might upset the majority (i.e. the motorists) probably won't win him too many votes. So even if he does have some useful ideas, some of the other fat cats in the party would put a stop to them. Remember, the Premier is really just a figurehead.

At the southern end of the Gold Coast, there is a very good service road that runs alongside the Gold Coast Highway (from Currumbin to Coolangatta). I use this service road everyday, and I think this is where the solution to this dilemma lies.

I don't ride the motorway for no reason other than the fact that I find it boring. I'd rather look at some scenery than 8 lanes of bitumen. However can anyone else see a precedent here? If cyclist deaths continue (and the majority of them have happened in places other than the motorway), I wonder which other roads will be deemed "too dangerous for cyclists".

It scares me.