Some of you have already had my angry ramblings this morning, but for those of you who haven't, here we go!
This last week has been a terrible week for cyclists of the New Zealand Roads, with five killed in five days. There is nothing that will bring those people back, restore their families and erase the grief. My heart goes out to them all.
I'm not going to get into the whole road user/road safety debate. Not because I'm a chicken, or afraid, but because I've already written about it, here Last October
What I am concerned about is, that yet again, we will have an emotional, media fuelled argument, populated with misinformation, and anecdotal evidence that will do little to better the cause of road safety in New Zealand.
The NZ Herald this morning, have in their usual way, already started with misinformation around cycling crash and injury rates. In the online edition they have stated "Last night's accident was between the Kitemoana St and Atkin Ave intersections with Tamaki Drive, which were last year identified as black spots for cycling crashes in Auckland.In 2008 and 2009, there were 24 crashes in that stretch near Bastion Pt involving cyclists, including six that caused serious injuries"
However according to the Maxx (ARTA) crash analysis map which derives it's data from the 200 most recent cycle vs motor vehicle crashes in the central Auckland region as extracted from the MOT's Crash Analysis System in February 2010, there have been four minor injury accidents on that stretch of road (three 2009, one 2008).
The mapsets are a useful resource and can be found here -
A variation of the truth, methinks NZ Herald, this is not good for the cause of cycling, or road safety as a whole.
What concerns me is that this debate, which at the moment has the media on the side of the cyclists, could easily go the other way, and then we will have the sharp end of the pointy stick. Example, would anyone be happy having to ride on the current bike path on Tamaki Drive? I think not, but I'll wager very good money that before the week is out, someone will have made that suggestion in earnest, and that there will be a hue and cry about cyclists riding on the road instead of a congested footpath/cyclepath.
Remember, and it is cold comfort, statistically cycling in NZ is as safe as it's ever been, plan your route well, think defensively. And while these terrible tragedies are a timely reminder, riding on the road was no more dangerous last week, or last year. Don't let this stop you riding, it's your presence and visibility, along with obeying the road rules and riding responsibly and sharing the road that will help with the cause of improving road safety.
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