Posts by Russell Brown
-
Good on Michael Barnett and the Auckland Chamber of Commerce for speaking up:
"Part of Auckland being an international city is how efficiently and safely we move people, goods and services around the city.
"Over the past five years there have been too many cycle deaths, showing a need for a change of attitudes and behaviour by cyclists and other road users and reinforcing the case for faster progress to build a safe and efficient transport network - a network that is safe for cyclists and protects other road users.''
-
Hard News: Lowering the Stakes, in reply to Tristan,
If you switch the view of the Stanley St intersection around you can see a concrete truck make its way up Stanley…fuck being a cyclist on that road!
Currently having a conversation with a pedant on Twitter, pursuant to that picture. Money quote: “If you can’t ride safety and legally, don’t ride.”
-
This Lance Wiggs post on the 'Why do cyclists run red lights?' report that has been completely ignored is an absolute must-read.
-
Hard News: Lowering the Stakes, in reply to Sol K,
I also want to balance that tho. There is a small element in the cycling community who don’t do us any favour and I have had many many many occasions to think “hey thanks for being so considerate” and have had no trouble with buses during a recent year of sharing the symonds street and dominion road bus lanes at peak time.
The closest I've come to a collision is a bus coming inside my 1.5m going up College Hill, thereby spooking me into clipping the wing mirror on a parked van. Creditably, the driver stopped to make sure I was okay. He'd been squeezed on the other side and there just wasn't quite enough room for all of us.
I think the key to survival today is making smart and DEFENSIVE decisions; being clear, predictable, and positive in your maneuvers; and avoiding obvious trouble spots.
Agreed. Defensive riding is important.
-
Another Herald story (they've been covering this quite well): the 10,000 cyclists fined annually for not wearing helmets, even though the efficacy of the helmet law is a matter of debate.
However, the Cycling Advocates' Network of NZ is calling for a review of the helmet law.
"It was expected to deliver a reduction in the rate of head injuries but it appears not to have done that," said the organisation's spokesman, Patrick Morgan.
Mandatory helmet-wearing laws could discourage some from cycling by making it seem more dangerous than it really was, whereas cycling had "massive health benefits and anything reducing the number of people cycling is a bad idea", Mr Morgan said.
"It appears that the more people cycling more often, the risk reduces for everyone, not just people on bikes. The crash rate goes down for pedestrians and cars as well."
-
Hard News: Lowering the Stakes, in reply to Bart Janssen,
Stranger still is the anger (blind rage?) that some people feel because a cyclist is able to travel quicker through traffic, whether it be through illegal queue jumping or through dedicated cycle lanes.
Queue-jumping isn't illegal per se. That's why stop-boxes are there at intersections -- you're supposed to get yourself up the front to the stop-box. It's safer than staying in the traffic.
-
Via the Wheeled Pedestrian Twitter account.
-
-
Thanks guys! There's a bit of the Camera+ HDR effect (about 45% intensity) in the picnic table shot, but I try not to over-use that
It's a nice ride out from Pt Chevalier. If I go right round the peninsula it works out about 20km.
-
And some more from the same location.
