Speed Limits

[Bonnet]

Watching the report on the wheels of justice ride on CH10 news last night (perth edition) i heard a call alledgedly made by cyclist that the speed limit on 'main arterial roads' be lessened to 50km/h.

i think this is useless, what effect does it have on us (commuting cyclist) what speed the passing traffic goes by at? 60kmh is not an unreasonable speed, in most cases passing speed is a mere 20kmh. i can run faster than that. it is a safe enough speed for both motorist and cyclist to negotiate each other. we have to be careful that brash statements like this aren't taken to be a serious consideration by the general public. imagine the outcry if all arterial roads were made 50kmh, considering that at the moment, in perth at least we have these roads at 70kmh.

accidents dont nessarcarily(sp) occur due to driver speed, for instance a customer came in with a trek 5000 (asian model) and had had a low speed crash at a mere 10-15kmh when a car entered a round about without giving way to the cyclist, he subsequently t-boned her and went over the bonnet. drivers fault, she had only moved into the round about, and was not going very fast either.

Of course in the interest of biker safety, it would be nice to see more bike lanes, instead of slower speed limits. if a truck on Leach hwy (70kmh, major truck route) goes past at 50kmh, its still a friggen big truck about 1 meter to my right, its going to have the same effect as if it were going by at 70, which is still bloody scary. however at 70kmh its all over a lot quicker.

just some food for thought i guess. driver education is ultimalety (as in most cases) the best solution, but when will the government pull its finger out and do somethign about it?

ASH

 

[kalem]

i can see ths thread causing stupid arguments and getting to say... 8 pages.

 

[S.]

A lot of cyclists seem to make claims like that, which are just a potshot at motorists rather than an improvement to their own situation. Seems to be along the train of thought of "If we inconvenience them, somehow it's bound to benefit us" which only promotes the "them vs us" mindset.

 

[W2ttsy]

when i took my Ls test the other week, i was upset that there were no questions regarding cyclists. i did mention this to the traffic board (tasmania here) and their response was "cyclists give way to cars, not the other way round"... seems a bit unfair to me...

W2ttsy

 

[Joel O]

if the L's test is anything like the ACT one there are a few hyndred questions which are selected randomly, we have one of the 350 about cyclists which is just whether or not they have the same rights and rules as other road users. i got that one right

 

[naz]

car vs cyclists
no matter who's in the right, someone's always gonna whinge.

sydney esp has the most fucked up road infrastructure, a) it wasnt planned, b) its being oh so greatly maintained with good old tax money, c) 90% of sydney roads dont accomodate cyclists.

ive seen alot lately living and working in the cbd, most cyylists have no idea, like the other day this guy riding up oxford street, decides oh im going right onto anzac parade, looks right crosses 2 lanes of traffic then holds up a right hand lane for 200m while pedalling towards the lights, i mean it was frustrating just to watch.

best just sit back and think, fuck thank god i dont ride like that.

 

[ridemotocross]

roadies are soo weak

it's not even that bad riding in amongst traffic, i usually ride along the freeway, cars often avoid me like go around and give me some room, or i do the same when i have room to move, dropping speed limits is not the way it should be done, bike riders should look out for cars and traffic as the traffic should look out for us

 

[S.]

when i took my Ls test the other week, i was upset that there were no questions regarding cyclists. i did mention this to the traffic board (tasmania here) and their response was "cyclists give way to cars, not the other way round"... seems a bit unfair to me...

W2ttsy

Laws of physics and common sense... give way to a mass of metal that weighs a tonne and a half more than you do

 

[Bonnet]

roadies are soo weak

what was the point of that? i love interweb anononminonity.(sp )

the problem isn't new drivers who are currently, or have recently sat their L's. its the older generation who are more oblivious to the changes and improvement in cyclist rights and laws.

i dont mind traffic when im commuting, i dont commute the CBD, but do take major arterial roads to uni and work. i learnt after being hit the first time to assume no-one can see you. that way your safest. the hardest part is pushing up the big hills on my 44/16 SS, half way up it just burns my legs, this is where i find motorist give me the most grief. simply because i am struggling at 15-20kmh.

ASH