The Cycling Advocates Network (CAN) has presented a 3,500-signature cycle safety petition to the Ministers of Transport, Police and Road Safety.
The petition was started in response to the tragic deaths of Des Eyre and Steve Fitzgerald on Wellington's roads in July 2008. The petition calls for urgent cycling safety improvements through better planning, funding, roading project criteria, promotion, education and training, speed limits and driver licensing. The petition and other details of CAN's cycle safety campaign can be found at www.can.org.nz/9PointPlan
CAN spokesperson Stephen McKernon says, ‘the petition gained nearly 3,500 signatures in just over a month, a significant response given the amount of time for its circulation. About a third of these people also made comments in support of the petition. They strongly supported a range of improvements for cyclist safety, including driver education, traffic speed, funding, legislation, health benefits and roading improvements’.
McKernon says, 'the Government and many local authorities have cycling strategies and programmes, but actual changes are taking far too long to put in place. These require much greater resources and the will to act on existing commitments.
'If New Zealand is serious about making the most of all the benefits of cycling, then we need immediate action to make our roads safer and more attractive for people to cycle on.’
CAN is also calling for a coroner's review of the two recent cycle fatalities to look for systemic causes behind cycle crashes and to recommend remedies.
The Ministry of Transport's Household Travel Survey 2003 - 2006 shows there are about 1.3 million cyclists in New Zealand (about 30% of the population) making it one of the country's most popular sporting and leisure pursuits.