In the news this morning, which I do usually read while drinking my coffee, I noticed yet another tragic accidental death in Melbourne involving a car and a pedestrian which in turn reminded me of the Miranda troll earlier in the week about cars and bike riders. Now I ride my bikes, have done for most of my life and hope to do so for a while yet. I reckon they are a great form of transport in the modern city and given a reasonable level of ability most people can hop on a bike and get from a to b. Cheap, non-polluting and good exercise.
I also confess I am one of those bike riders who give bike riders a bad name on the road, I go through red lights, cut across the road, dodging traffic and nicking onto the footpath when the road is blocked. Frankly I must drive some drivers into fits of rage and I have received plenty of abuse for it. The best trick is the bogan in the holden ute who winds down his window to shout abuse at me just before he passes me on the road and makes sure he get uncomfortably close as he passes. Which is fine except for one thing.
As today’s news indicates, when it comes to people versus car moving, physics intrude. Quite simply the mass of even a small car moving at 40 or 50 kilometres an hour is pretty much a death sentence to a human being, be they a pedestrian or a cyclist. Cars are lethal weapons.
As a bike rider you instinctively understand that your life on the road is very much in your hands, those that don’t soon learn. Which brings me to road rules. Frankly they suck as far as riding is concerned. Traffic lights are for cars. Roundabouts, of which Canberra has more than its fair share, are diabolical when there’s traffic. And the nice little bike lanes on the side of the road that sometimes appear are great for collecting all the broken bits of glass that are guaranteed to give you a puncture on the way home when its raining and not so good when you have to pull out into the traffic to go around a stationary vehicle whose driver just decided to stop and consult their gps.
Bottom line, its not my fault that driving is such a stressful part of everyday life, in fact I’m doing my bit to try and help the problem of traffic congestion so the next time you see a bike rider do something that pisses you off just remember its their skin and you are sitting inside Oz’s number one killing machine.
First cars and trains across Sydney Harbour Bridge, March 1932 / Sam Hood
Originally uploaded by State Library of New South Wales collection
