Notes from CAN/BikeNZ meeting with Annette King & Harry Duynhoven
Jane Dawson and Robert Ibell from CAN, together with John Willmer from BikeNZ, met Annette King (Minister of Transport & Minister of Police) and Harry Duynhoven (Minister of Transport Safety) on 10 September 2008. The meeting was also attended by staff from the Ministers' offices and staff from MoT and NZTA.
The main focus of the meeting was CAN's Nine-Point Plan for Cycle Safety. The meeting finished with the presentation of the petition (see photo).
The Ministers had prepared a formal response to our nine points. This is available as a separate document.
In the meantime, some of the useful outcomes from the meeting were:
- The Ministers could see the value in a national Share the Road
campaign. They asked that a meeting be set up between CAN/BikeNZ and
NZTA staff to discuss how this could be done.
- Annette King will set up a meeting between CAN/BikeNZ and the Police
regarding reducing the tolerance for speed limit enforcement.
- The Ministers were very interested in the idea of changing the burden
of proof in crashes involving cyclists and motor vehicle drivers and
have asked officials to look into it - if we make progress on this it
will be a very significant step forward.
- We also raised the idea of a Rule change to give cyclists on off-road
cycle paths priority over side roads. They gave no specific commitment
to this. However, we made the Ministers aware of the existence of a
review of legal issues affecting cyclists that had been done by
officials a few years ago (which includes the priority issue). They
asked that this be revisited by officials.
- The Govt is looking at the issue of driver licensing and changes are
afoot. The Ministers accepted the need to increase the 'visibility' of
cyclists in the Road Code and in driver instruction and license
testing. We will need to follow up on this issue.
- Funding levels are largely set now in the Government Policy
Statement. Ministers accepted that new road construction and road
maintenance provided opportunities to improve the environment for
cycling, though no specific commitments were made.
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Comments
Hi...I'm from Kapiti and a
Hi...I'm from Kapiti and a member of the Cycleways, walkways and bridleways group.. am speaking from my personal viewpoint only. As you know there are different groups of cyclists with their own preferences. I'll touch on two groups - experienced 'roadies' and 'everyday cyclists'. Experienced road cyclists prefer to ride on the roadside, smoother the road surface the better - asphaltic concrete is great....with tyre pressures over 100psi you can understand why. They tend to maintain a target cadence rate and keep there for long periods of time...relatively at ease with noisy/fast moving traffic nearby....dislike potholes/getting on and off pathways etc. The second group is the group we want to see out and about more on their bikes. Generally they are the not so experienced cyclists (or young ones with great bike skills but lacking roadsense) who use their bikes for getting about, family outings/commuting/shopping/school and us older ones too that are beginning to venture out on our bikes again seeking exercise/fresh air and like minded company....as well as giving the environment a break from vehicle pollution. This group of cyclists are generally less confident than 'roadies'and are nervous about sharing the road with cars...and who can blame them?. It is this group of cyclists that would very much appreciate the 2.5 minimum wide offroad pathway on railway land you referred to as far away from busy noisy roads as possible; preferrably attractively screened with shrubs/trees...well compacted topcoarse gravel surface perfectly acceptable until chipseal is affordable....(due to lower speeds and lower tyre pressure - mountain bike/commuter tyres). Hope this angle is useful...keep up the good work!
I represent the Pathways
I represent the Pathways Sub-committee of Feilding Promotions (Inc). We have a project to construct a cycleway/pathway between Palmerston North and Feilding using the Railway land where possible. It has been suggested that the desired width of 2.5 meters is an overkill for a dedicated offroad cycleway. It has also been suggested that a 2m wide shoulder on the road is more desirsble. I would be very interested to hear from anyone who has a view on either or both points to email me on strouds [at] inspire [dot] net [dot] nz