The other morning when I was walking along Wellington's waterfront to work, a cyclist had the grace to ring her bell to let me know she was coming up fairly slowly behind me.
Not so the "boy bike racers", who treat the confines of the waterfront as a training track. Some of them are capable of sprint speeds of 50kmh, which could be very injurious were they to hit a pedestrian.
This likelihood is quite high because you can't hear their bikes coming up behind you, and these cyclists don't slow down when the path width narrows to a couple of metres at Shed 5. Instead, they weave in and out of walkers, presumably on a prayer that a pedestrian won't change his or her direction.
Why should we, enjoying a great bracing walk on the waterfront, far removed from road traffic, have to keep checking behind us? Will it take a serious injury before something is done about these people, or will something be done after my arrest for throwing one of their expensive bikes into the harbour?
NICHOLAS C SAULT
10 Oct 2010
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/42147...
Comments
and a response
Letter to DomPost,12 October 2010
letters@dompost.co.nz
Bells on Wheels
Dear editor,
Is a bell necessary on a bike?
Nicholas Sault (letters 9 Oct) has it right: bells on bikes make sense.
Riding at a sedate speed and a courteous 'ting' when passing walkers is the polite way to cycle on the waterfront.
That's why volunteers from Cycle Aware Wellington gave away 200 bells during our Cruise the Waterfront courtesy campaign in May. You can see our award-winning campaign video at http://can.org.nz/cruise
And it's why Cycle Aware Wellington and Wellington City Council will be back with thousands of bells to give away this summer to celebrate the Great Harbour Way.
If cyclists want to earn respect, the message is pretty simple: follow the rules and show common courtesy.
Ting!
Patrick Morgan
Cycle Aware Wellington