Road-rager in SUV proof of challenge for cyclists

Troels Andersen (right) and Auckland City councillor Richard Simpson on the Ponsonby Rd leg of their cycling tour. Picture / Martin Sykes

Danish cycling expert Troels Andersen was diplomatic about the behaviour of motorists encountered on a two-wheeled "good, bad and ugly" tour of Auckland.

But he was clearly bemused at a burst of road rage in which a hefty SUV tailgated him and his Cycle Action Auckland hosts along St Lukes Rd, horn blaring, and said such behaviour would not be seen in Denmark.

"We don't have that kind of fight because all motorists are also cyclists," he said after finishing a 20km circuit, which included the waterfront and Northwestern bike path.

"Everyone has a bike in Denmark - we have 5 million people and 5 million bikes - we never stopped cycling after the Second World War, when everyone cycled because there was no petrol."

The incident, although an isolated one in what was relatively relaxed Sunday traffic, annoyed and embarrassed Auckland City Council transport committee chairman Richard Simpson, cycling behind the SUV.

"It was just ridiculous, the guy obviously had his testosterone level raised by the size of his car."

Although the cyclists were riding two-abreast, Mr Simpson said they were an orderly group and the vehicle could have used another lane to overtake them.

Mr Andersen, here to address the fifth biennial cycling conference in Hutt City this Friday and Saturday, said he was surprised at Auckland's high weekend traffic volumes.

He said an import tariff of 180 per cent on cars in Denmark meant most families owned just one, relying heavily on bikes to get to work or school.

His city of Odense, where he is a senior transport planner as well as project manager for a sustainable transport programme of the European Union, is considered one of the continent's leading cycling centres, with more than 350km of bicycle paths.

Just 0.9 per cent of Aucklanders biked to work on the day of the 2001 census, and 1.2 per cent in 1996.

Mr Andersen acknowledged Odense was flatter than Auckland, but said it was also very spread out.

About 80 per cent of children cycled or walked to school there, and city authorities in Denmark were legally obliged to provide off-road facilities for them to avoid busy intersections, or else free buses or taxis.

This followed concern in the late 1970s that Denmark had Europe's highest level of child road deaths.

Mr Andersen said cycling infrastructure was far cheaper than other transport investment, and as basic a requirement for new subdivisions as water and electricity services.

On his Auckland tour he was pleased to come across some limited bicycle lanes and "advance stop boxes" allowing cyclists head starts at traffic lights, but was glad of an assurance by Mr Simpson that he would push for more of these.

Mr Andersen described Britomart as a "beautiful" train station but was dismayed no facilities for cyclists were included in the $211 million building.

The only reference to two-wheeled transport is a no-cycling sign.

He was similarly unimpressed that the Auckland Harbour Bridge was built with no provision for cyclists or walkers.

The tour included Ponsonby Rd, where Cycle Action Auckland has been unable to persuade Mr Simpson's committee to reduce the speed limit to 40 km/h to combat a high crash rate involving pedestrians.

Mr Simpson said the committee was still considering the issue, but its preference was for traffic "calming" measures such as more pedestrian refuges in the middle of the road, while it prepared a city-wide strategy on speed limits.