Pedalling uphill to get cyclists back on roads

With the atmosphere filling with carcinogenic particles discharged by motor vehicles running on expensive fossil fuels, you might think the bicycle would be an increasingly popular mode of transport.

Bikes are cheap, faster than walking, and sometimes even faster than buses and cars around central cities, and healthier.

But the Land Transport Safety Authority's (LTSA) Travel Survey - the most up-to-date indicator - shows that between 1989/90 and 1997/98, on-road cycling fell by 19 per cent.

Cycling Action Network (CAN) spokeswoman Jane Dawson said her group was well aware of road cycling's declining popularity. She said anecdotal evidence suggested it was due to increased availability of cheap cars, safety concerns and downright laziness.

Wellington doctor Dan Keown recently kicked off some robust debate on the subject by claiming New Zealand's compulsory cycle helmet laws were discouraging people from riding bikes.

He argued many would-be cyclists were discouraged because they didn't want to wear uncomfortable or unsightly helmets.

Consequently they did not enjoy the health benefits of the exercise they would have received, and would suffer from illnesses related to a sedentary lifestyle.

The LTSA has defended helmet laws.

LTSA spokesman Andy Knackstedt said this week Dr Keown's argument could be disproved by looking at Britain, which has no compulsory helmet law but has seen on-road cycling declining at a similar rate to New Zealand.

But Dr Keown's argument is supported by CAN. Ms Dawson said that while the group had members "with strong views on both sides" of the debate, the network's policy was that the law should be reviewed.

"There is evidence that it puts some people off cycling and that may be either directly, as in 'I can't be bothered flattening my hair with a helmet so I won't ride my bike', or it might be a more subtle thing like a parent not wanting a child to ride because it [compulsory helmet laws] has given the impression that cycling is a dangerous thing to do."

Indeed, the LTSA's latest Travel Survey shows the biggest drop in on-road cycling has occurred among school-age children and teenagers.

Mr Knackstedt said this trend had been observed around the world, and anecdotal evidence suggested more parents were driving their children to school because of "stranger danger" and fears their children were going to get injured while cycling on the road.

Ten cyclists were killed on New Zealand's roads in 2001 and in 1998 - the most recent year figures are available for - 1540 cyclists were admitted to hospital.

Those figures are considered an understatement of actual injuries because they exclude bicycle crashes not involving a motor vehicle, and those which occur in off-road locations. It has been estimated that the actual injury rates of cyclists is at least 10 times the reported injury rate.

This would seem to suggest wearing a helmet on a bike is a good idea, but Ms Dawson's opinion is that compulsory helmet laws miss the point.

"It has focused the attention of the safety authorities, particularly the LTSA but also the police, solely on that one aspect of cycling and has taken the attention away from actually preventing those crashes from happening in the first place," she said.

"In terms of other things that are putting people off cycling, probably the most obvious thing is that people feel intimidated by the speed and the volume of motor vehicles on the road, and until that's seriously addressed I can't see that decline reversing.

"You don't want to take your place in the road because quite often a car driver will come up quite aggressively behind you, I guess trying to scare you off onto the edge of the road when that might not be the most appropriate place for you to be."

The Bike Wise website says most cyclists have never been taught how to ride a bicycle as a vehicle.

"Similarly, the majority of non-cyclists have never been taught how to regard cyclists as legitimate road users."

Mr Knackstedt agreed. "Certainly I think in New Zealand motorists have a way to go in terms of treating cyclists as legitimate road users.

"Conversely, cyclists need to obey the road rules and behave in a predictable way so that drivers are able to share the road safely with them."

While Ms Dawson said the onus of care to avoid car versus bicycle collisions fell on the motorist "because they're the ones who impose the greatest risk", CAN saw cyclist training as "a huge area to address".

"We would like to see every child trained in safe cycling - on the road, not just round the playground - as part of the school curriculum."

Ms Dawson said her organisation would like to see "a lot more explicit information for drivers, telling them that you have to give way to cyclists when appropriate and also pointing out that duty of care of the bigger and more damaging vehicle".

CAN had been trying to get the LTSA to run "share the road" campaigns similar to those run in Australia in recent years.

Meanwhile, efforts are continuing to promote a safer and more accessible road environment for cyclists.

Ms Dawson said the National Land Transport Strategy issued at the end of last year "very firmly" recognised both cycling and walking as fundamental parts of the transport system.

- NZPA