Ann Wason Moore opinion: Cyclists at risk of dying along Gold Coast roads with dangerous motorists

I’ll admit I’m no Lycra lover, writes Ann Wason Moore. I’ve long poked fun at the multitude of MAMILs (Middle Aged Men in Lycra), but when it comes down to it, guess who’s worse off in a crash?

THIS is a city divided.

No, it’s not Labor versus Liberal, the true schism in Australia is cyclist versus motorist.

And, far too frequently, it’s a fight to the death.

According to the Australian Automobile Association, 40 cyclists died on Australian roads in the 12 months to September 2018.

Despite the stated intent of the 2011 National Road Safety Strategy to decrease cycling-related fatalities, cycling casualties as a proportion of all road traffic casualties have risen.

Meanwhile, a survey by Ford Australia has found that one in five Australians have acted aggressively towards cyclists.

One way to keep car drivers at bay. Photo: Alfred Botha gapdesign.com.au

Look, I’ll admit I’m no Lycra lover. I’ve long poked fun at the multitude of MAMILs (Middle Aged Men in Lycra), cruising along our roadways, sweaty bums saluting the sun, spare tyre wrapped around their midsection.

But while I’m laughing on the inside, as a driver I’m also carving as wide a berth as possible around them. One metre between bike and car? I prefer one lane.

It’s a fact that I don’t trust my own depth perception … but now that I’m married to a newly-hatched MAMIL, I also realise how terrifying it can be to take to the road.

Two weeks ago, my husband returned home from an early morning bike ride in an Uber. It’s not that he ran out of energy … he ran out of road when a car drove him off it.

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Cyclists on the road. Picture: SUPPLIED

Headed down a one-way street in Kirra, with bike lights blazing at 5am, a vehicle suddenly entered the road from a feeder street, driving directly into my husband (who was travelling at approximately 30km/h) and knocking him across the street to land on a median strip.

Playing the scene over and again in his head, my husband says there was nothing he could have done. There was no room to move, no time to slow down and no ability to speed up. All he could do was prepare for the landing which, thank goodness, was on grass rather than concrete.

One torn rotator cuff muscle and destroyed two-wheeler later, he’s not sure when he will get back on his bike.

The dangerous reality of city cycling has literally been knocked into him.

A cyclist during peak time traffic along Bermuda Street, Gold Coast. Picture: Regi Varghese

It’s a feeling obviously shared by the Brisbane cyclist spotted this week pedalling with a pool noodle strapped to the back of his bike — a deliberate and desperate measure to enforce the one-metre rule.

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Yes, road safety is an obligation for both cyclists and drivers, but cyclists have far more at stake. Data may show that motorists are at fault in 80 per cent of bike-car crashes … but the cyclist is worse off in 100 per cent of those cases.

Awareness is a matter of life and death.

In fact, a UK study showed that road safety would be improved if more motorists also cycled. As a result, some insurers in the UK now offer cyclist-drivers lower premiums due to their safer driving.

But while road safety awareness is obviously a priority, the biggest change we can make is simple: build more — and better — bike lanes.

The most comprehensive study of bicycle and road safety to date, released this week by the University of Colorado, finds that building safe facilities for cyclists is one of the biggest factors in road safety … for everyone.

Bicycling infrastructure — specifically, separated and protected bike lanes — leads to fewer fatalities and better road-safety outcomes for all road users.

It’s no accident (bad pun intended) that one of the worst biking black spots on the Gold Coast is on Hedges Avenue in Mermaid Beach.

A picturesque street, a narrow road reserve, and the high volume of cyclists and walkers equals carnage. Yes, there is a bike lane — but because it’s one of the few, and one of the small, it’s consistently and dangerously overcrowded.

While the Gold Coast City Council is negotiating with the State Government to upgrade bike routes between Broadbeach and Burleigh, including potentially widening the Oceanway path at Miami from 3.5 metres to five and upgrading the on-road cycle lanes on Hedges and Albatross Avenues at Mermaid Beach, is it enough?

Possibly it’s time to close Hedges to nonresident car traffic.

Sure, it would be a loss for motorists. But it would be a lifeline for cyclists.

Despite their division, motorists and cyclists need to work in tandem to promote better bike lanes for both their sakes.

Too many have already died over this traffic turf war.