News

A Kapiti Coast grandmother, whose drunk driving caused the death of a cyclist, showed no emotion when she was jailed for two years and two months today.

Alison Mary Downer, 71, had earlier admitted causing the death of father-of-two Frank van Kampen on State Highway 1 north of Waikanae last September.

In Palmerston North District Court today, Judge Les Atkins also disqualified her from driving for eight years and ordered her to pay reparation of $30,000 to Mr van Kampen's family.

Mr van Kampen's partner, Jude Pauwels, had told the court she did not want...

Skills Active is currently undertaking consultation on the cyclist skills instructor qualification structure

Skills Active is currently undertaking consultation on the cyclist skills instructor qualification structure

They'd like feedback by 14 February

It looks a very basic document, based on standards for outdoor sports instruction.

Bicycles and cars on Beijing's Chang'an Avenue during rush hour Photograph: Keren Su/Getty Images/China Span RM

After wrestling for years with Beijing's appalling traffic and pollution problems, city planners have come up with a distinctly old-fashioned solution: bicycles.

Municipal officials want to boost the number of cyclists by 25% during the next five-year plan, state media reported today. Twenty years ago, four out of five residents in the Chinese capital pedalled to work through one of the world's best systems of bicycle lanes. But the modern...

Problems caused by ASRs [boy racers] plagued the inner city a few years ago but these had stopped, due to the inner city's 30km speed limit, the thinning of the roads on Queen St and the increase in pedestrian crossings, Mr MacDonald said.

Full article here from NZ Herald.

Media Statement from Cycling Advocates Network (CAN)

Cycling advocates are calling for a ceasefire in the latest skirmish between some drivers and cyclists.

A Christchurch businessman has today issued a statement, apologising for his online remarks in which he said he wanted to "nail'' cyclists with his Hummer.

Cycling is a great way to get around, and an activity enjoyed by more than a
million New Zealanders says Cycling Advocates’ Network (CAN) Chair, Bevan Woodward.

There have been some changes in the team that puts together CAN's "Chainlinks" magazine. The role of main editor has been taken on by Stephen Wood, who up until now has had the role of contributions manager. Claire Pascoe has agreed to take on the role of contributions manager, but as she has a busy month in February on other things, will work up to it slowly.

Miriam Richardson, who has been the Chainlinks editor for a few years, is not leaving the Chainlinks team. She will still do the work to lay out the material and produce final copy to go to the printers. In effect, we've split...

New York City Department of Transportation (DOT) Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan and Department of Buildings (DOB) Commissioner Robert LiMandri today announced the City is prepared to implement the Bicycle Access to Office Buildings Law (Local Law 52), which aims to increase bicycle commuting by helping cyclists gain access to secure parking at their office buildings during the workday.

The legislation was signed into law by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg in August 2009 and was sponsored by Council Member David Yassky...

A Christchurch businessman's online threats to target cyclists in his Hummer has reignited a row between motorists and cyclists.

Sign of the Takahe restaurant co-owner Richard Freeman told an online forum he would "nail" cyclists and challenged "anyone wearing Spandex and shaved legs to get to my front door unharmed".

Freeman, who lives near the narrow, winding Dyers Pass Rd in Cashmere, said he drove "a black H2 Hummer and have put 2 [cyclists] into the curb over the last 6 months".

He later said the comments were tongue-in-cheek.

His comments...

Hi,

My wife and I were dramatically changed when we saw the documentary The Age of Stupid. We are selling our car, bought a vespa. That didn't seem enough, so we decided to purchase 200 used-commuter bicycles from Japan to sell here in Wellington and to some friends in Hamilton. My wife Sarah lived in Japan and Taiwan and had lovely bicycles (notably the mama-chari
model) which are designed for commuting and running errands. We could not find any of these bicycles here, except for very expensives models from USA or Europe and so we found some we could sell for less than $...