News: November 2010

Take action to make our roads saferWe are distressed at this week's crashes and want to take action.Here's some ideas from the Cycling Advocates Network.1. If you are in Wellington, come to Civic Square at 5pm on Friday 19th, where we'll make a short video. See below for details.2. Keep riding. There's safety in numbers so the more people there are riding, the lower the risk.3. Remember that fatal crashes are rare - down from 27 in 1990.4. Send your thoughts to Minister of Transport Steven Joyce: s.joyce@ministers.govt.nz, asking him to make cycling safety a high, rather than medium priority in our Safer Journeys strategy.5. Join and support you local cycling advocacy group, www.can.org.nz6. Support lower speed zones, funding of cycle skills training, stricter licensing and testing of drivers, better enforcement of road rules, compulsory third party insurance, and...

New Hutt City councillor Lisa Bridson is proving she will walk the talk  or if not, cycle it. Ms Bridson campaigned on environmental sustainability and said she would fight for a better deal for cyclists and pedestrians in the city. A "big fan" of walking and cycling as affordable, convenient and sustainable ways to get around, she arrived at her first official council meeting last week by bike, having also cycled to an earlier gathering to meet senior officers. For her, it was no Celia Wade-Brown copycat action or publicity stunt. She strongly believes that if more people walked or cycled, there would be less traffic congestion and pollution, people would be healthier and they'd save money. "With petrol headed up towards $2 [a litre] again, I predict more people will be pulling their bikes out of the shed and giving it a go." She aims to walk or cycle to most council meetings...

An injured and shaken Auckland cyclist says he was subjected to an angry lecture from the driver who forced him off the road last week.DOC Ranger John McLaren broke his collarbone and shoulder blade when he fell while trying to avoid a grey SUV in east Auckland on Thursday.He was still in shock and recovering on the footpath when the driver came to blame him for the crash.The driver then left without calling an ambulance or giving his name and contact details.Mr McLaren was given morphine and spent two days in Auckland Hospital recovering from his injuries.The incident shows the animosity that still simmers between some cyclists and motorists, he says."I think drivers don't realise they're in this insulated steel box. Cars do have to give cyclists space."It would have been nice to be able to speak to him. If I could talk to the guy now I'd just ask him whether he realises driving that...

Dunedin City Council is making its Southern Cycle Routes option decision at its first Council meeting  with a decision due late today or tomorrow.http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/136324/cycle-options-test-dccThe new Council appears to be favourable to opening up at least the Caversham Tunnel (and considering the Chain Hills Tunnel).  Here is hoping the Council votes for an economically sound cycle (and walking) project.  The feasability report states clearly the tourism dollars that such a project would likely generate.http://www.dunedin.govt.nz/services/cycling-information/southern-cyclewaysOption C is the preferred option for the Dunedin Tunnels Trust (who think it can be done for a lot less than the 7.7 million which is the Rolls Royce Option including paved the whole route) http://www.cavershamtunnel.org.nz/but Option B (combined with Council Staff suggested ongoing dialogue with...

Since CAN presented the 3,500-signature petition and 9-point plan in 2008, have we seen enough action to improve safety?Driver competence is clearly an issue. So let's call for retesting.You can start driving at around 15 or 16, and there's no check to see if you are up to date with road rules, just an eyesight test every 10 years.Let's require drivers to demonstrate their competence evey 10 years. There's a duty of care that goes with operating a vehicle that can kill.What else should we call for?

Attached is a Health and Safety Plan and Ride Briefing Glen wrote up for bus bike awareness workshop. I generalised that Health and Safety Plan however mostly left the wording in Square brackets that Glen wrote, as found the words useful prompts myself. Thanks for this Glen it is really comprehensive.The H & S plan is useful for organisers to think clearly about potential dangers.Although obviously it needs to be filled in by a competent experienced person.The Ride Briefing is almost entirely drafted up by Glen too. I just added a bit more re what to tell participants e.g. about eyeballing traffic crossing in front of you as a cyclist and watching for cars going through the red and crossing your path on a green.Frocks On Bikes and Spokes Canterbury social rides have needed this sort of document to cover ourselves. Something to read out at the start of the ride.Any comments before I...

Does This Match Your Experience? Donald Appleyard (1928-1982) was a Professor of Urban Design at the University of California, Berkeley. In 1981, he published his research on "livable streets" and the impact that our car culture can have on the quality of life of people living near busy streets. He quantified community interactions in similar neighborhoods that had more or less car traffic, and this allowed him to uncover fundamental principles that urban planners should use to make our cities better to live in (and also greener). Our friend at Streetfilms made a beautiful video about this research with very nice infographics. Check it out below.Revisiting Donald Appleyard's Livable Streets from Streetfilms on Vimeo.Revisiting Donald Appleyard's Livable Streets.Via Treehugger.com

A new Swedish invention could spell the end of bad hair days for bike riders.A Swedish design house has created a potentially life-saving fashion accessory for cyclists.The Hovding airbag collar has been designed to provide a safe alternative to the bicycle helmet without the detrimental effect that stack-hats tend to have on one's hairdo.Designed to wrap around the cyclists neck like a scarf, the Hovding (which means Chieftain in Swedish) will deploy an airbag in the form of a hood if its in-built sensors detect a potential head impact.The sensors are able to detect an over-the-handlebars accident, a rear impact, and even if the rider simply falls off the bike sideways.The designers of the Chieftain, Terese Alstin and Anna Haupt, predict that the collar airbag will be a big hit when it goes on sale in Europe next year, priced at about $500.The pair teamed up at Sweden's...

Communal bike hire is great - but do we have to help advertise a bank? James May's not so sure. This column, as I've tried to make perfectly clear in the past, is pro-bicycle and pro-cycling. I love a bicycle and I haven't been without at least one since I was three years old.That's why I don't like being lectured about cycling by sanctimonious reformers who bought one last week and imagine the rest of us haven't discovered them yet.The bicycle might just be the greatest of all inventions. It empowers the human machine, and with no input beyond perhaps a trendy isotonic health drink in a brightly coloured bottle at an inflated price. Bicycles mobilise nations - look at China, India and Germany during its retreat - and lead naturally enough to motorcycles and cars. They are the lever pulled right back on the great derailleur of transport life, and a means of...