Cycling in Melbourne Australia
Fines fail to deter cyclists running red lights
From todays Age
http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/fines-fail-to-deter-cyclists-runn...
Unfortuantly I see this every morning down Royal Parade and Swanston St.
"
Fines fail to deter cyclists running red lights
MELBOURNE cyclists are running red lights at an alarming rate, with hundreds detected in a covert operation; at one intersection more than one in 10 cyclists ignored the red light.
Hidden cameras placed at 10 Melbourne intersections by the Monash University Accident Research Centre caught 6.9 per cent of the 4225 cyclists observed ignoring red lights.
At one intersection, 13 per cent of cyclists ran the red light.
Colour blind? Cyclists observed by Age photographers in Melbourne city streets over recent days. Photo: Penny Stephens, Wayne Taylor
Cyclists turning left were 28 times more likely to ignore the light than cyclists going straight, and male cyclists were the worst offenders. Female bike riders were 40 per cent less likely than males to run red lights.
If other vehicles including bikes were present, cyclists were deterred from disobeying red lights, the study found.
Cyclists face a $299 fine for running a red light; driver demerit points are not affected.
''Riding through red lights is frequently cited as the cyclist behaviour that most annoys drivers and is perceived as typical behaviour,'' the report notes.
''Unpredictability is a key concern of drivers when interacting with cyclists on the road and cyclist red light non-compliance is likely to increase driver perceptions of unpredictability.''
Report co-author Dr Stuart Newstead said he did not think licensing cyclists or registering bikes would help.
''Cyclists really need their own space on the road now rather than trying to share it with very heavy fast-moving vehicles that may not give them the attention that they need,'' he said.
He called for ''bicycle paths off-road or dedicated areas on road''.
Sergeant Arty Lavos from Victoria Police's state bicycle co-ordination unit said he believed cyclist behaviour was improving. But he said cyclists should think of their own safety.
He said police regularly blitzed busy intersections to monitor cyclists' behaviour and those caught would be fined.
Sergeant Lavos said registering bikes and licensing cyclists would be a ''logistical nightmare'' that would not work.
Garry Brennan from Bicycle Victoria said: ''It is really important that bike riders are predictable in their behaviour.
''We rely for our safety on drivers understanding how and where we ride on the road,'' he said. ''Running red lights upsets the patterns of expectancy.''
Mr Brennan also said there was no evidence that registering bikes was beneficial.
The study, Riding through Red Lights, appeared in the Accident Analysis & Prevention journal.rom todays Age"
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by Cory on -
Fines fail to deter pedestrons from jaywalking
Fines fail to deter drivers from speeding
Nothing to see here... move along.
Also, a longer (and better) response from Garry Brennan - http://media.theage.com.au /melbournes-seeing-red-over-cyclists-2299437.html?from=newsbox
-
Permalink Reply by Adrian Wal on -
It's a slow news week. All the Fairfax papers online have some sort of story about cyclist fines.
-
Permalink Reply by John E. on -
Maybe we should post photos of cars running red lights, drivers talking on phones etc.
Nothing special here, but we all accept it as normal practice & it is only when we all realise that it will reduce the image of cycling as a legitimate form of transport that we will consider it not normal.
I usually say something to riders who run red lights ie "you do it & we all get blamed".
You can save a few seconds doing it, I used to regularly run reds but in recent years recognise that it is detrimental to cycling in general, & still get where I'm going. Why piss people off and tarnish our image?
-
Permalink Reply by Adrian Wal on
-
In Prahran, there are all these pedestrian traffic lights where I always witness cars running the red lights to save 30 seconds. Or going over the stop line on a red light to turn right on a cross intersection set of lights. Definitely way more cars than bike riders running the red light.
At pedestrian lights at Malvern Rd and another at High St, I walk my bike across the road. It's funny when I see a car try to zoom thru the red (not sure if on purpose), if I see they're going slow enough to stop safely I'll wheel the bike in front of me, to watch the driver skid slightly over the stop line. Not a safe thing to do though!
Never approach a driver doing the wrong thing. They will always deny it with a "f*** off". Tried once or twice so not going to try again.
© 2013 Created by DamianM.
