I saw a few problems in the utube clip. Riding two abreast when there obviously wansnt enough room to do so safely. Then the guy leaving his footpath and heading in the wrong direction. Something that could have resulted in a fine for a car driver.

Best solution of all is to remove them from the roads. It's also the safest.

What ever happened to user pays!

<< Riding two abreast when there obviously wansnt enough room to do so safely. >>

Yes rehctub. There are many poor cyclists out there when it comes to road safety.

Hopefully cameras will help pull them into line as well as drivers.

There is also a big need for a revision of all road rules concerning cyclists. Lots of them are outdated, redundant, inappropriate or just ignored.

When riding on public roadways it would not matter one iota if you fitted revolving beacons, flashing lights, high intensity strobe lights of yellow/white/red to your bicycle/tricycle. (Some) people simply do not observe, they get in their motor vehicle/truck/4WD...whatever and switch off their brains with the turn of the ignition switch. Mobile phone distraction is a huge concern.

Darwin has a relatively good shared bicycle/pedestrian path network from Palmerston to CBD and a few years ago extended along the old NAR alignment out to Howard Springs Rd...BUT there are areas, particularly in the subdivisions of Rosebery, and around the northern suburbs where the older paths cross busy roads and the orientation of the on/off ramps cause the rider to actually go back onto the roadways. There was an excellent over-bridge built over the Tiger Brennan Rd extension that works well. The maximum speed allowable in the NT on bike path networks is 20 kph.

By far though, is the issue of broken glass on the bike paths - on average I could expect 3 - 8 flat tyres per week if I kept exclusively to the bike paths.

In Perth where I now reside, things are obviously on a larger scale, more hills (whereas Darwin & surrounds are relatively flat), heavier traffic volumes of motorists and cyclists, & a greater frequency of interactions both good and bad.

It is the mindset of Australian motorists generally that cyclists do not pay rego and should have no rights on the roads and therefore should not be taking up valuable spaces on roads with their slower speeds. I refer specifically to commuter cycling - not the lycra clad loonies 3 abreast and 40 metres long that do themselves no favours here, they are another issue entirely.

In most jurisdictions the current laws regarding cycling on public roadways are not adequate, so in contrast to a goodly percentage of fellow riders, I would propose a $5.00 per annum "REGISTRATION" fee, this would enable an insurance levy, Third Party whatever to cover injury/damages.

I hear the civil rights lawyers baying at their briefs already!

Albie I am one of those who want to see this incredibly expensive stupidity of bikeways stopped, & bikes banned from the roads at least during rush hour.

My barber has a shop in a little group of 4 on a minor suburban artery on the outskirts of a moderately large large shopping center. Across the road is a large high school, with no off street parking, So the planners removed the 2 hour parking limit so the teachers can park in front of it all day.

There were 7 angled parking spaces in front of her shop, enough to cater to her trade, the real estate next door, & the other 2 shops.

Some clown planner, no doubt just back from their mandatory trip to Copenhagen for brainwashing on bicycles as urban transport, decided a bike way was needed.

As usual they usurped a part of the existing road paid for by motorists over many years, for this stupidity. They also changed the 7 angle parking spaces to just 3 parallel spaces to fit the bikeway.

Now my barber lives over her shop, & has in over a year, seen just 3 bikes use this bit of stupidity. Meanwhile, with no other parking with in a couple of hundred meters, she has lost 30% of her business, & the real estate agent has to move to other premises, with adequate parking. The owner can't find a new tenant for that shop, & is in financial trouble.

The 100 space bike rack at the school has never had more than 30 bikes in it, so why was this stupidity inflicted on people ?

I think it is time for at least $250 registration fee for any bike, & this stupidity of bikeways be consigned to the trash heap of history, to join other stupidity, such as communism, & the Oz immigration policy.

<< When riding on public roadways it would not matter one iota if you fitted revolving beacons, flashing lights, high intensity strobe lights of yellow/white/red to your bicycle/tricycle. (Some) people simply do not observe… >>

I wouldn’t go that far, Albie. But I agree that bright lights, flashing lights, bright vests and big reflectors are not the be-all and end-all of cycling safety.

They all certainly help. But there will always be situations where a driver is just not going to see a cyclist.

We’ve got to be aware of the false-sense-of-security factor – cyclists thinking they are highly safe because they have all the safety gear, and might therefore do things that they wouldn’t do if they weren’t so well equipped.

Cyclists need to realise that when they are riding along the side of the road, they are pretty much hidden from many drivers’ view a lot of the time. If you’ve got a road curving to the right, or if a driver has a truck in front of them and can’t see over to the left side of the road, if a driver is following the vehicle in front too closely or just at any time when a driver has one or more vehicles in front, his/her view to the side of the road is compromised.

It is this realisation that saw me hang up my bike shoes five years ago. It finally dawned on me after 40 years as an avid cyclist, that I had been very lucky indeed not have been cleaned up from behind.

continued

<< The maximum speed allowable in the NT on bike path networks is 20 kph. >>

That’s ridiculous! There must surely be plenty of situations where a considerably higher speed would be perfectly safe. I am glad that that absurdity doesn’t apply in WA or QLD.

I rode from Canning Bridge to WA Uni for three years. Sticking to 20kmh on the cycleway around the Swan River foreshore would have been intolerable. Likewise with my ride around Rowes Bay to work at Pallarenda in Townsville for many years.

<< By far though, is the issue of broken glass on the bike paths… >>

I never found that to be a problem. Pedestrians who are oblivious to cyclists were a hassle. And their dogs, leashed and unleashed, were a pain in the backside around Rowes Bay, because you never knew what a dog would do, except that when they are walking in a straight line and they hear you coming, they look around and angle out in front of you.