Main South Road is no place for a bike ride | Amanda Blair

The video we all saw last week shocked everyone who watched it, writes Amanda Blair.

The video was shocking, a truck filled with livestock was heading down Main South Rd, between Myponga and Yankalilla, at or under the speed limit of 100km/h.

In front of it, a white four-wheel-drive which suddenly brakes while going over a narrow bridge, hemmed in by guard rails.

The truck brakes hard, avoiding rear-ending the 4WD, but crosses into the oncoming traffic and the path of a car which was filming the whole thing on dashcam.

At first watch, I thought it was a case of inattention from the truck driver, that perhaps they’d had one of those notorious “micro naps” and managed to slam on the brakes just before they slammed into innocent people.

More black crosses on the roadside.

I played it to my husband and my kids to show them just how quickly it can go bad on the bitumen when I noticed something I’d initially missed.

In front of the 4WD crossing the bridge was a person riding a recumbent bicycle, one of those bikes where the rider sits in a chair with the pedals in front of them.

They have two wheels at the front which critically makes them as wide as two bikes.

I always think they look comedic, like a plastic school chair on wheels with a dicky little orange bike flag wobbling on the back.

Footage emerged last week of a terrifying close call between a truck carrying live sheep and a car on Main South Road. Picture: Supplied

This section of road is narrow and winding, with a speed limit of 100km/h, and is regularly frequented by trucks and SeaLink buses.

I’m all for bike riding and shared and respectful road usage, but the actions of this rider in thinking this road might be suitable for a leisurely, slow Sunday pedal on a bicycle makes me furious.

Because if the 4WD hadn’t slowed, hadn’t seen the bike which was positioned low to the ground and difficult to spot – and if the truck driver hadn’t shown incredible calmness and skill in pulling up a heavy vehicle – the headlines would have read “cyclist killed by car/truck” and the court of public opinion would be blaming the drivers.

Further fury for cyclists all over the land who would be hot and bothered under their Lycra.

I’m not going to pile on to cyclists here – I genuinely think most are excellent road users who make commonsense decisions about where and how they ride.

Sure, you get the occasional MAMIL (middle-aged man in Lycra) who acts like a tool – mostly at a cafe, post-ride – but most of the time they are responsible, riding to stay alive.

They avoid roads such as Main South Rd, using bike paths wherever possible (the government is spending $34m over the next two years on these – hooray!), they wear an abundance of high-vis, travel in packs and ride at times of the day when road usage is reduced, therefore inherently safer.

But occasionally they become a traffic hazard, like the recumbent rider.

I don’t have the solution here, I’m not going to blame the government for failing to declare dangerous roads off limits and suggest they spend large on flashy signs warning of road usage dangers that seem obvious to me.

If they did, we’d accuse them of creating a “nanny state”, of taking away our “rights”.

Last time I checked, there wasn’t a Minister for Common Sense – we’re on our own here, kids.

So hot tip: A small reminder, perhaps avoid riding/walking/scootering/trotting your horse or miniature BMW pedal car on roads where the chances of dying or causing a catastrophic multi-vehicle crash are enhanced.

Perhaps consider the back roads less travelled …

Unless of course you want a Darwin Award for Christmas.

Originally published as Main South Road is no place for a bike ride | Amanda Blair