From Tom Halliburton, CAW rep on Hutt Road Safety Advisory Committee:
Attached the minutes from last week's Hutt Road Safety Advisory Committee
meeting which I attended.
I raised two points:
1/ Education of drivers for a 1.5 metre passing distance
2/ Consideration should be given in the design of cycle lanes to the
strategies cyclists must follow at the end of the lane.
The road transport representative commented that the 1.5 metre passing
distance would create issues for heavy vehicles in some situations, and a
useful discussion followed. I also mentioned my personal dislike of the
Greater Wellington campaign telling cyclists to "just obey the road rules"
and not to hog the road. I thought that both of these points encouraged bad
behaviour by drivers, and discouraged cyclists from owning the lane when
this is the safest option.
The second item I raised is due to the number of Lower Hutt cycle lanes that
end behind a parked car. The engineers stated that they are aware of the
problem, and plan to remove some lanes, with a view to encouraging cyclists
to own the lane at roundabouts.
The roading engineers stated that their road safety improvements budget was
around $600k, so not much can be done.
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