Beach Rd’s long history of cycling accidents and injuries
The mowing down of two riders on Beach Rd is the latest in a history of grim cyclist injuries and even deaths on the popular riding route, that on weekends still plays host to the “hell ride”.
Victoria
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The mowing down of two bike riders on Melbourne’s Beach Rd this week is the latest in a long history of grim cyclist injuries and even deaths on the popular riding route.
In what chief executive of Bicycle Network Alison McCormack described as an “appalling, violent attack” that “used a car as a weapon”, a driver mowed down two riders in a stolen car on Beach Rd, with the shocking footage captured and posted online.
The two attacks, that unfolded just minutes apart from one another on Tuesday morning, left a 51-year-old and a 72-year-old man in hospital with serious injuries.
“We should all be clear that this is a criminal act, not a traffic offence,” Ms McCormack said on Wednesday afternoon.
Described as “the Mecca” of Melbourne cycling routes — despite truck curfews, bike lanes and awareness campaigns being rolled out over the years to make Beach Rd safer for cyclists — injuries as a result of crashes with cars, pedestrians, or with other bikes within a group of riders, have marred the road’s reputation.
Beach Rd runs between Port Melbourne and Frankston, with the majority of bike riders concentrated on the popular Saint Kilda, Black Rock and Mordialloc stretch.
National and even international cycling websites spruik Beach Rd as one of the busiest routes for both serious and recreational bike riders, particularly on weekends.
The famous, informal Saturday morning “Hell Ride” — from Blackrock Beach Rd and travelling south towards Mount Eliza along Beach Road — regularly attracts up to 100 cyclists, travelling at speed.
“Ask any road cyclist, any real road cyclist (in Australia) and they’ll have heard of Melbourne’s famous – or infamous – Beach Rd. On any morning of the year, if you took a satellite image of the entire Beach Rd stretch, you’d probably be able to count well over 1000 cyclists,” the Tempo Cyclist website notes.
But while bringing much pleasure to many, the road has been the scene of many grave injuries and also deaths.
Among them was much loved Department of Education employee Deborah Locco, 60, who was tragically hit and killed by a car while riding along Beach Rd near Wells Rd in Beaumaris in May 2020.
Hit-run driver Christopher Hyslop, 37, was jailed for nine years, after a court ruled he had fallen asleep at the wheel and drifted into the bike lane, while on a days-long meth bender.
Ms Loco suffered multiple traumatic injuries and despite bystanders attempting CPR, died at the scene.
Five years earlier police probed a crash involving the notorious “Hell Ride” cyclists on Beach Rd that left one person with a fractured skull and two others in hospital.
Irish national Anne-Marie Cooke, 31, was riding with triathlon group Tri Alliance when she was knocked off her bike at Mentone just after 7am on a Saturday morning.
On Christmas Eve 2008 two brothers were seriously injured in a horrific cycling smash, also on Beach Rd in Mentone.
The cyclists in their early 30s were catapulted off their bikes and into the windscreen of a Toyota hatchback, with the driver continuing 600m on in his badly damaged car before finally stopping.
And in August 2006 77-year-old James Gould was crossing Beach Rd in Mentone when he was struck and killed by a cyclist on the “hell ride”.
Over the years police have launched blitzes on Beach Rd, cracking down on both rogue cyclists and bad driver behaviour — after identifying the thoroughfare as a high-risk area for bike crashes.
A 2017 police campaign followed 211 reported cycling crashes between 2012 and 2017 that resulted in serious injuries or fatalities in the Kingston, Glen Eira and Bayside areas.
However, despite the scores more cyclists on Victorian roads in recent years, serious bike riding injuries have, perhaps surprisingly, reduced significantly across the state, TAC data reveals.
In 2022, 349 Victorian cyclists were hospitalised, compared to 522 in 2018.
The Bicycle Network’s Ms McCormack said over the last 20 years there had been a massive increase in the number of people riding bikes in Victoria, and along with that had come a more friendly attitude from drivers, “probably because many of them ride a bike now, or know someone who does”.
“Bike facilities are much better now with better bike lanes and intersections and improvements to road rules,” she said.
“Over the last five years we have averaged 11 deaths, which is steady, but of course we like to see that zero. Across all Australia, bike deaths have been decreasing since 1990.
“Riders are still very conscious of the risks they face. Cars are larger and faster, and you see so many drivers with their phones in their hands, not paying attention to the road. So, riders have good reason to be wary and careful.”
Incidents like the one that occurred this week on Beach Rd were exceptionally rare and did not reflect on the majority of driver attitudes towards cyclists, Ms McCormack said.
“We should all be clear that this is a criminal act, not a traffic offence,” she said.
“Those responsible have used the car as a weapon and we would expect that all road users in Victoria, no matter what their mode of transport, would condemn this behaviour.
“We would expect the community to give the police all possible assistance in tracking the offenders down and bringing them to justice.”
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