Pic: Rob Walls: http://robertwalls.wordpress.com/
Dear Editor, Mercury
Good on you Lynda Hove! (Mercury 22/4) Regular cycling is a valuable individual contribution to reducing greenhouse gas pollution and vehicular congestion that nearly all of us can make.
Cycling should also be a positive choice that we can each make to help safeguard our health. I say ‘should be’ because of the dangers that bike riders are daily exposed to as a result of inadequate, unsafe infrastructure.
Lynda Hove is right in stating that what is required to make cycling a safer, and more popular mode of transport and exercise, is cycle lanes separated from motor vehicles.
An ever present hazard for cyclists is the parked car. Dooring, whereby a car door is inadvertently opened into the path of a cyclist, is a potentially fatal event. A young Melbourne man died as a result of such an accident in recent years.
There are relatively few cars parked on the Eastern (river) side of Sandy Bay road at any time. Typically there are less than 30 cars parked between Marieville Esplanade and the bottom of Wayne Avenue, often many less. If motorists were able to find an alternative parking spot then a huge increase in cycling safety would immediately occur, even without any other action.
What is urgently required is segregated lanes and heightened motorist awareness and appreciation of cyclists. It will be worth it for motorists and cyclists alike.
