$250 for cycling on the path (The Age)

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taken from http://www.theage.com.au/national/250-fine-for-cycling-on-the-path-20090916-frof.html
MELBOURNE City Council and police have cracked down on cyclists who ride through city parks. More than 100 have been fined $250 each.

The council said its warnings to cyclists not to ride through parks such as Carlton Gardens had been ignored for too long.

In a move that angered cyclists, council park rangers combined with the police bicycle patrol to nab cyclists riding through gardens last week.

By teaming with the police, council rangers - who do not have the power to detain cyclists - were able to hand out fines totalling more than $25,000 to 110 cyclists.

Among the cyclists nabbed was landscape architect Alistair Wenn, who received his fine while riding through the Carlton Gardens. Earlier in the day, his wife, Jackie, was also fined for riding through the gardens.

''On one hand you have a council saying they encourage cycling and on the other you are fined $250 if you ride through a park,'' said an angry Mr Wenn, who argued the garden's 5.5-metre footpaths could be easily shared. ''The alternative is to ride on the footpath, which would be much worse.'' Riding on the footpath attracts a fine of $58.

Lord Mayor Robert Doyle backed the fines. He said the council had clear rules on where people could ride.

''We are happy to entertain arguments about where cyclists can go, and these are some of the areas we've said they can't go. Do you think people [should be allowed to] cycle anywhere?''

The council bans bicycles from the Fitzroy, Carlton, Treasury and Flagstaff gardens, and most of Fawkner Park. Cycling is allowed in the council's other parks.

The council was unable to provide evidence that pedestrians in the city's parks were being endangered by cyclists, although 20 park users have complained to the council in the past six months about cyclists.

Councillor Kevin Louey said cyclists often responded by being rude to pedestrians when challenged. ''All park users should be able to enjoy them free from risks posed by inconsiderate cyclists,'' he said.

Pedestrian groups backed hefty fines, saying cyclists had to realise there were serious consequences if they hit someone. ''If you are a 70-year-old man or a child and you get hit by a bike travelling at 30 km/h, you'll spend the rest of your life in hospital,'' said Pedestrian Council of Australia chairman Harold Scruby.

Cyclists who regularly flout laws banning them from the parks say they do so because the roads are dangerous. ''I've been riding through the city's parks for 35 years. I'll stop doing that when the roads are as safe and as pleasant to ride on as the parks,'' said Nik Dow, a member of the Melbourne Bicycle Users Group.

Roads Minister Tim Pallas declined to comment.
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I realised I posted this on a General MTB thread, but since I'm coming from a MTB background, I figured I'll post it here. apologies if this is the inappropriate thread to do so.
 
Well I suppose riding through populated CBD areas can cause problems, but I ALWAYS ride on the paths on main roads.....Granted thats on a DH'ish bike.


Good way to get some adrenalin.......have a bike chase with the cops :D
 
The council was unable to provide evidence that pedestrians in the city's parks were being endangered by cyclists, although 20 park users have complained to the council in the past six months about cyclists.
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That bit annoys me a lot. Considering the paths are 5.5m wide, being unable to provide evidence for how cyclists endangered ped's is not surprising. And 20 people complaining in 6 months!? Only 20 people for crying out loud.. you also have to take into account some of these people are the cycling "nazi's", that would be angry at cyclists wherever they go. So in the end the only valid complaints would be isolated incidents which are not worth pissing everyone off about.

Perhaps if the Govt ban us from parks and footpaths, and road are too dangerous, we'll have to resort to the mountains where there's less people to piss off...:rolleyes:
 
I just returned from a lunchtime jaunt to my favourite cafe...
On the road I got ignored at a T junction, someone buzzed me, then I got honked at for some reason known only to the driver.
On the footpath I got surly looks and faux surprise as I passed peds (slowly) on the grass beside the path.

I guess the solution is to fit wings to my bike, eh?! Either that or teach everyone in the world how to be tolerant and have mutual respect.
 
it wouldn't be sooo bad if, in addition to the above issues, peds didn't walk two abrest in huge phalanxes on the bike paths with prams and then look at you like "well we are too wide and too many, obviously we can't let you past"
 
$250 is a lot of cash for riding your bike through a park!

HOWEVER, anyone familiar with that park will tell you there are no bike signs all over the place and have been for as long as I can remember.

You actually have to ride past a big sign with bike on it with a red cross through it, you then have to ride over the no riding symbols on the path.....People cant exactly complain they didnt realise.
 
Sic said:
$250 is a lot of cash for riding your bike through a park!

HOWEVER, anyone familiar with that park will tell you there are no bike signs all over the place and have been for as long as I can remember.

You actually have to ride past a big sign with bike on it with a red cross through it, you then have to ride over the no riding symbols on the path.....People cant exactly complain they didnt realise.
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very true.

but in the grand scheme of things, $250 for a fine is MASSIVE! here are some of the other fines extrapolated from other sources (with regards to naughty things that can be given a fine for, namely for vehicular offences)

Riding through a RECREATIONAL PARK - $250
Faild to stop and remain stationary at childrens crossing - $193
Drive on wrong side of divided road - $193
Excess speed limit by 15km/h or more but less than 25km/h - $234
Pass to right or left of tram - $193
Fail to give way to a pedestrian - $193

I suppose I better get back to driving then. at least if I brake the law, my wallet doesn't get raped.
 
Sic said:
You actually have to ride past a big sign with bike on it with a red cross through it, you then have to ride over the no riding symbols on the path.....People cant exactly complain they didnt realise.
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+1

I don't agree with the law or the fact that the signs are there, but they are there. Riding on the paths even though they know this, then getting fined, and then bitching to the newspapers about it isn't going to make the signs, or the law, go away.

Like most things though - it's news. And news sells.
 
The council was unable to provide evidence that pedestrians in the city's parks were being endangered by cyclists, although 20 park users have complained to the council in the past six months about cyclists.
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I'm not commenting on the validity of the fines.
However, never has demonstrating why something is against the law/bylaws/regulations been a necessary part of enforcing them.
 
nuclear_powered said:
Riding on the paths even though they know this, then getting fined, and then bitching to the newspapers about it isn't going to make the signs, or the law, go away.
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I disagree, it might agitate some into taking action to get the Council to change the law.

I think their should be more enforcement of these inane laws, then people may get an understanding of the amount of this crap law we are drowning in.

Riding anywhere should be legal, if you hurt someone, then you get fined (say $1000) for not riding with due care and attention and that should be it, no need for the rest of the crap.
 
This is so bullshit, I agree with not riding on footpaths but now this, just stupid. Riding on footpaths is dangerous because of their size and the people walking there, but when I ride through Carlton Gardens there's always plenty of space to pass people easily.
So some people have a bitch when cyclists pass them, does that mean that they're going to ban people from bike paths because sometimes fatties or people with dogs/prams walk side by side and cyclists have to ride around them on the grass and we complain about them?....I don't think so......
Anyway though, even if you do get caught, ride away, what are to rangers going to do?, sit their fat asses in their 4X4 little quad-ute things that can only go 30km and try and chase you? Even if they can be bothered to just ride down a little lane-way or something were they can't fit with their over-sized quadbike, they won't be bothered to actually use their legs and run after you :rolleyes:....and I doubt cops would actaully bother to enforce a law that stupid, they should be doing better things shouldn't they?
I'm not paying $250 not riding on the road.....
BTW I'm not saying you should always boot when getting fined, just for shit "laws" like this
 
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Jaybies_Can_Crash said:
it wouldn't be sooo bad if, in addition to the above issues, peds didn't walk two abrest in huge phalanxes on the bike paths with prams and then look at you like "well we are too wide and too many, obviously we can't let you past"
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I went for a lunchtime ride on Tuesday. 3 seperate times I had to pass people walking on bike paths/shared paths (slowly, which I yeld and annonced what side I was passing, then said thankyou) only to be abused. These people funny enough were pushing prams and walking 3 abreast on a bike path/shared path.:mad:
terryansimon said:
very true.

but in the grand scheme of things, $250 for a fine is MASSIVE! here are some of the other fines extrapolated from other sources (with regards to naughty things that can be given a fine for, namely for vehicular offences)

Riding through a RECREATIONAL PARK - $250
Faild to stop and remain stationary at childrens crossing - $193
Drive on wrong side of divided road - $193
Excess speed limit by 15km/h or more but less than 25km/h - $234
Pass to right or left of tram - $193
Fail to give way to a pedestrian - $193

I suppose I better get back to driving then. at least if I brake the law, my wallet doesn't get raped.
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Agreed! When listed like this, makes it look like a revenue collection process.
 
Whilst I'm not a fan of the excessive fines imposed I actually think the no bikes rule in the parks is a pretty fair one. taking Carlton gardens as en example, sure the 5.5m wide path can easily accommodate a couple of bikes and pedestrians together but it's in a prime place for a cheeky shortcut when heading to/from the city from Carlton/fitzroy etc. and we all know how many people ride on that route! Carlton gardens would soon find that commuters have taken over which isn't really fair on the other users.
It doesn't take that much longer to ride round anyway so I don't see why everyone's complaining.
 
and who the hell is 'Harold Scruby'? I bet he'd complain if his peas were too cold or his hot water bottle wasn't positioned evenly over both his left and right feet whilst watching an ABC doco on british truffle pigs.
What exectly is a pedestrian's group? They get together once a month to eat scones and drink tea and talk about all things walking?
Seriously, the majority of riders would use common sense and courtesy when riding through parks, as anywhere else. I'm sure there are people who walk around in their own little bubble and piss more people off than cyclists too, what do we do about them?
And finally, $250 is ridiculous, especially when compare to other fines as previously posted.. REVENUE. Guess Brumby needs to come up with ever more shitty ways to raise funds to cover the disgraceful amount of pointless overspending he is guilty of, like the public transport ticketing debacle, the empty pipeline that runs from an empty basin, the giant ferris wheel, need I go on..:confused:
 
dunndog said:
and who the hell is 'Harold Scruby'? I bet he'd complain if his peas were too cold or his hot water bottle wasn't positioned evenly over both his left and right feet whilst watching an ABC doco on british truffle pigs.
What exectly is a pedestrian's group? They get together once a month to eat scones and drink tea and talk about all things walking?
Seriously, the majority of riders would use common sense and courtesy when riding through parks, as anywhere else. I'm sure there are people who walk around in their own little bubble and piss more people off than cyclists too, what do we do about them?
And finally, $250 is ridiculous, especially when compare to other fines as previously posted.. REVENUE. Guess Brumby needs to come up with ever more shitty ways to raise funds to cover the disgraceful amount of pointless overspending he is guilty of, like the public transport ticketing debacle, the empty pipeline that runs from an empty basin, the giant ferris wheel, need I go on..:confused:
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Dunny for PM.
 
Trevor_S said:
I disagree, it might agitate some into taking action to get the Council to change the law.

I think their should be more enforcement of these inane laws, then people may get an understanding of the amount of this crap law we are drowning in.

Riding anywhere should be legal, if you hurt someone, then you get fined (say $1000) for not riding with due care and attention and that should be it, no need for the rest of the crap.
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agreed 100000%. that is all
 
my issue with the whole... issue is this.

yes, I agree that if it's a law, it's probably better of for you to observe it rather than to go against it, even if it's ridiculous. I said probably because I'm sure some exception will crop up along the way to prove a rigid adherence isn't the smartest thing to do.

and in this case, this is a prime example. for pete's sake, it's 5.5m across. the last I check, that's about three average males lying head to toe across the path, and then having enough space to drive a freight truck through.

let's put it this way. an accident is going to happen because one (or more parties) was careless. hence it's an accident. it's not like Joe Bloggs decides to plough into a walking pedestrian and go "that'd be a fun thing to do, I'll try that!" all this governing resembles my home country, in which almost everything that you do is policed. to ride on the pavement is illegal, but to ride on the road is also questionable. so what the hell am I suppose to do.
 
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