New laws to protect cyclists on Tasmanian roads win support of community

THE  State Government will legislate for a series of road rule changes to make cycling safer on Tasmanian roads.

THE  State Government will legislate for a series of road rule changes to make cycling safer on Tasmanian roads.

Infrastructure Minister Rene Hidding said the main change was to enforce a mandatory distance when passing cyclists.

“The road rules will be changed to require motorists to maintain a minimum distance of 1m when overtaking cyclists in 60km/h or lower speed zones and at least 1.5m when overtaking cyclists in speed zones greater than 60km/h,” Mr Hidding said.

The minister said a public education campaign would be ramped up to support the intro­duction of the new laws.

He said a strong foundation had been laid for the new laws through advisory signs and Distance Makes the Difference awareness campaign.

“Signs have been already been installed on popular cycling routes indicating a minimum passing distance of one or 1.5m when passing cyclists,” Mr Hidding said.

“Road rules were also changed to allow motorists to cross solid centre lines in order to overtake cyclists, if safe to do so.”

Bicycle Network Tasmania adviser Garry Bailey said many cyclists were noticing changed driver behaviour as a result of the signage and education campaigns.

“A big question is how will these laws be enforced, ­although there have been a couple of cases where GoPro footage by cyclists has been used in court as evidence that drivers have gone too close,” Mr Bailey said.

He said Tasmanian drivers were generally excellent, ­especially professional heavy vehicle drivers.

“We commend the Gov­ernment for what it has done but cyclists are looking for more in terms of verges on the edge of roads and upgrading of popular cycle routes,” Mr Bailey said.

“We would like to see a stand-alone infrastructure fund in the State Budget.”

RACT general manager, roadside and technical services Darren Moody said the organisation supported anything that protected vulnerable road users.

“We just hope that a mandatory passing distance of 1m does not open up other problems in heavy traffic,” Mr Moody said.

Mr Hidding said a Government survey of 600 Tas­manians had shown strong support for minimum passing distances.

The results of a Queensland trial assisted the Government in making these decisions, he said.

The new laws will be introduced to the House of ­Assembly next year.

“This fulfils our 2014 election commitment to better protect cyclists,” he said

“And it comes after the A Metre Matters successful trial work on the mainland.”

Originally published as New laws to protect cyclists on Tasmanian roads win support of community