Cycle Sense

Having been in Canberra for close to a year now, which let's be honest, is getting close to the average given the national capital's highly transient population, I feel I am now in a position to start making rash, unfair generalisations. So here it goes..

Canberra is full of crazy drivers!

It is truly astonishing just how badly people can drive in this town. Sure, everyone (with the possible exception of Aff) speeds at times, and we all get a little frustrated when traffic doesn't move as fast as we would like, but Canberra is something else, particularly given the luxuriously wide, well made roads, and the relatively free-flowing traffic conditions.

Tail-gating is probably the worst of it. It is almost an accepted norm when driving along one of Canberra's many excessively wide roads, particularly if you're in the right lane and not traveling at least 10km over the speed limit, to have the car behind jammed almost half way up your arse. All it takes is one kangaroo to jump out from the road side, and its all over.

My other major gripe about Canberra driving is the apparent anti-cycling culture that pervades the mentality of many Canberra drivers. Despite the width of Canberra's streets, some drivers appear to enjoy driving as close as possible to the cyclist, often accelerating as they come up next to, as some sort of gesture of their territorial rights to this road. I estimate that about once every two weeks, a car will honk its horn at me as it passes. I assume this is not because I am in their way, because I am riding on the shoulder of the road, which is also a designated bike lane, and am therefore no hindrance to them. Its pure intimidation, and its bloody dangerous (though admittedly, not as dangerous as Canberra's swooping magpies).

And then I read this! Three cyclist accidents within 24 hours! In a city of 300,000 people, sparsely spread out over thousands of square kilometres, this is just ridiculous. And apparently its the cyclists that need to change their ways. What a load of crap. The fact is, the number of people riding bikes has increased dramatically over the last few years. To cope with this, most major roads now have cycling lanes, thanks to lobbying by cycling groups like Pedal Power in the ACT, and Bicycle Victoria, of which I am, and have been a member respectively. Riders, on the overwhelming whole, ride in these lanes, equip their bikes with night lights, wear bright clothing, and generally do everything they can to make themselves visible. The onus is thererfore on the drivers of the ACT to accept that they are sharing the road with cyclists, and that they have a responsibility to look out for riders, just like they have a responsibility look out for any potential hazards on the road. Basically, all it takes is common sense driving - but I get the feeling that for some of these drivers, this might be asking a bit too much.