Editorial: Cyclists must be protected on roads

New Zealand is starting to get a bad record for cycling deaths.

In recent years there have been far too many and each incident has often prompted a war of words between motorists and cyclists, each blaming the other.

The closer to home such fatalities are the harder they hit if you happen to be a cyclist and the latest fatality, which has seen the death of a 50-year-old cyclist after he was struck by a car while out cycling with his wife, was near Pyes Pa at Tauranga. It happened on a new bypass which many people in our region will use.

Police have said weather and road conditions did not appear to have played a part.

Cycle Action Tauranga secretary Phil Browne says the highway is busy and many cyclists avoid it but some use it regularly and it's a route many touring cyclists use.

A photograph of the man's bicycle in our sister publication in Tauranga was a sobering sight indeed - but let's not get carried away with the blame game this time.

Let's instead take time to reflect on the need for both motorists and cyclists to always be on alert and take extra care when sharing our region's roads.

This latest accident should also prompt those in charge of our roads to take stock and perhaps review areas where they could be made safer for cyclists so that those on two wheels do not have to encroach on the roadway at any time. Many roads need a lot of work before this is the case in our so-called cycle-friendly region.

The new cycle path being constructed between Waipa and Tumunui on the outskirts of Rotorua is a good example of how this can be achieved.

Neither cyclists nor motorists are going away. The roads must cater for both.