Since returning back to Melbourne I have taken to commuting on my bike, an idea that I seem to share with a growing number of others. This may be a good news story or an advertisement for healthy living or environmental awareness, but its not. While the Victorian government has invested in bike paths (they even go to the lenghts of painting them green), the ability to ride safely in Melbourne has not been realised.
The number of people riding to work in Melbourne has increased exponentially over the last decade, with cyclists making up approximately 8% of peak hour traffic in the CBD. All this, coupled with the increase in the population which has also meant greater numbers of pedestrians and cars.
While I was quite fortunate in that I grew up riding my bike to and from school, or anyplace I wanted to visit before I had a car or could afford to use public transport regularly, most of these new cyclists don't have that experience - as most of the drivers don't have experience in sharing roads with them.
Further, there a number of the obviously 'new' cyclists whom I have observed who display incredibly aggressive behaviour while riding, and often shirk road laws as it suits them. This no doubt adds to the the number of accidents, as well as the bad feeling drivers have towards cyclists.
Some commentators suggest that cyclists should have to pay or be more heavily regulated to have access to roads, though this seems to go against the over-riding (pardon the pun) principles of encouraging healthy living and sustainable transport.
Adopting a different approach, the Metropolitan Police in London have addressed this behaviour by specifically targeting cyclists who break the law. This, to me, makes perfect sense.
Cycling should be encouraged for the reasons mentioned already, but only if its safe and promotes a better society. The aggressive cyclists who endanger themselves and others, while also creating badwill do nothing for a better society and thus need their bad behaviour modified as they display it.
Amen.
