(thanks to toto.ummm.net)

So, last night I rocked up in the southwest corner of the intersection in Hindmarch Square. I waited. I waited. I really hoped it would happen tonight, not only was I angry about the recent chain of events but I’ve moved back home so riding into town just to get stood up costs me about forty more minutes and I perceive the ride home is a lot more dangerous.

Things weren’t looking good, but then I saw a group of four cyclists waiting on the lawn behind me. I went over and we waited around for a while, a few more people came. There was talk that about six police on bikes had pre-emptively been waiting for us in Victoria square but unfortunately we were unable to join them. Just as we were preparing to leave another group of cyclist came by, they’d departed from Victoria square minutes before.

A group of a dozen or so cyclist rode down Pulteney street and then Rundle street. When we reached east terrace someone up the front of the pack decided to do a u-turn at the lights. I don’t know of the legalities, it isn’t something I would do but it was safe enough, it was between the light cycles when no traffic was going through the intersection. The cop car behind us also did a quick u-turn and the testosterone filled policeman jumped out and informed us that we couldn’t act like that. It looked really nasty, this cop looked really angry but nothing eventuated and we continued on our way.

As we rode there was a fair bit of bell ringing and one group member in particular yelled various slogans at the public. -”Bikes not cars! Bike logic! Bikes for life, Cars Kill! Your car smells so bad, bikes smell so good! Bikes mean ecologically sustainable transport! You fumes are killing me, I’m in need of some oxygen, turn your car off!”- Some people looked guilty, others moved to rebuke these allegations, a lot of people cheered us.

We circled back on ourselves, down to Hindmarsh again where we turned west onto Grenfell St. We rode down to light square, on the way being educated by one motorist that it was illegal to ride two abreast on the road and that cars have right of way. We went south down Morphett Street till about 100m before Gouger street when we ducked down a back street that runs near the back of MARS. It was nice to get away from the noise pollution for a little bit. Turning east onto Gouger street we waited for the traffic to clear but we would have been there all night. We started weaving through the traffic, riding at about 10kmh-1 which was about 10kmh-1 faster than anyone else on that road. After passing the central market car park we were finally able to accelerate to our preferred speed of about 15kmh-1 and ironically we pissed many motorist off who we’d just overtaken because they couldn’t pass us. We told them to beep if they supported unsustainable transport.

We turned into victoria square, riding past the District courts. Our town crier cyclist yelled loudly that “this is where Eugene McGee was fined $3100 for killing cyclist Ian Humphrey while driving drunk in his SUV.” We continued through the square as commodores and a BMW Z3 beeped and screamed abuse. A young lady also offered her opinion screaming, “Go you hippie cyclists!”

We continued north down King William Street. A few departed and we noticed our numbers had dwindled to six as we embarked on our journey west down Hindley Street. On the footpath a male pedestrian, about 17 years old told us that bikes suck. Another member told him that we were striving for sustainable transport. He told us we were blocking traffic. I told him, “we are traffic!” to which he relied “no you’re not!”

He continued to baffle us with such logic telling us that cars cause less pollution, that they are faster and cheaper than bikes. By the time we lost him the most vocal member of our group admitted that he was only returning comments to egg him on.

At this point we were entering light square again and the group decided it was time to depart. It has been a successful night. I went to the apple store and played with tiger for at least half an hour and then rode home, getting home just after 20:30.

Critical Mass should meet again on the 27th of May at 17:45 near the fountain in Victoria Square or at a city centre near you! Bring your lights and a bell. From experience, I’d recommend something warmer than Lycra.

(from the e-mail list. you may wish to also send a similar letter to Attorney-General Michael Atkinson, who cycles to work regularly)

Dear Vini,

As a fellow cyclist and one of your constituents, I am writing about cyclists’ rights.

I would love some kind of positive initiative towards cycling in SA to emerge from the Ian Humphrey tragedy. Despicable as his behaviour clearly was, it is not entirely Mr McGee’s fault that killing a cyclist with a car and driving on is not regarded as a serious matter in SA. As you would well know, there has been a downward drift in status for cyclists so that new generations do not accept cyclists’ rights to use the road. Mr Rann and Mr Atkinson are in part responsible for allowing this legal and cultural negativity towards cycling to develop. The Government should fix the justice system, but more importantly they should act to support cyclists in tangible ways, presenting and fostering a positive attitude to cycling in the community.

It is disgraceful for example that there are virtually no safe routes to commute to school or work in Adelaide. There are no safe East-West or North-South routes across the city. That the North Tce redevelopment has no provision for cyclists exemplifies the general bad treatment of cyclists by planners, the police, rail authorities and motorists. Instead of being protected and encouraged, a culture of negativity towards cyclists exists that includes targetting them for petty infringements. Ironic indeed is the strict enforcement of such laws as those against riding on footpaths (even when we do so for safety reasons). To ride at night in SA is to invite harassment from hoons and suspicion from police.

Even if they don’t ride themselves, every South Australian relies on bicycle transport to perform important journeys for them at some stage of their lives. As there are many benefits from cycling, and Adelaide’s geography is well-suited to cycle journeys, action to ensure the continuation of safe cycling is required.

A positive message to respect bikes should be promoted by the State and the City of Adelaide in word and deed. The previous ‘Share the Road’ campaign failed to acknowledge the inequalities and vulnerabilities in the motorist-cyclist relationship. Cyclists don’t kill motorists. The current promotion of South Australia as a centre for the street-racing of passenger cars requires considerable counter-balance. We could be a ‘Bike Friendly’ community, or the ‘Petrol Head State’. I have outlined some proposals below, and I will send them to the various cycling bodies, the Premier and relevant ministers too.

Yours sincerely,

Andrew Bunney
[snip]
EVANDALE 5069
South Australia

A Positive Campaign for Cycling in Adelaide and SA

A ‘Respect Bikes’ or ‘Thumbs Up for Bikes’ (or even ‘Bikes Rule!’) campaign would promote cycling and cyclist safety. The broadest connotation of such a campaign would be to promote cycling as a desirable form of transport. It would be a timely statement of encouragement from the state to its cyclists.

‘Thumbs Up for Bikes’ (one proposed campaign slogan)
A campaign promoting a positive attitude to cycling in general could also involve popularising a new safety signal for road users; a gesture to symbolise recognition of a cyclist in traffic, the traditional’ thumbs up.’ The idea is to foster general goodwill and positive exchanges between road-users. Presumably cyclists would respond similarly to courtesies shown.

Primary Goal
Increased cyclist safety by increasing awareness and acceptance.

Methods
By Council and road signs, stickers, posters, radio and tv spots, with logo or international road symbol-style ‘bicycle and thumb’. To encourage road-users (motorists, pedestrians and other cyclists) to accept, and acknowledge, where appropriate, a cyclist’s presence in traffic. The campaign should be initiated by the SA Government and/or the City of Adelaide.

Outcomes
Improved status for cyclists. More and safer cycle journeys, with health & environmental benefits. Increased cycle awareness. Fewer cyclist injuries and deaths. Lowered levels of anxiety in traffic generally.

Secondary Effects
The ‘Thumbs Up for Bikes’ campaign promotes cycle-awareness and general goodwill, also opening up a mechanism for positive exchanges between road-users. Presumably cyclists would respond and acknowledge courtesies shown with the same gesture, and even use the ‘thumbs up’ to signal the go-ahead to other road-users in uncertain traffic situations. The broadest connotation of such a campaign is to promote cycling as a desirable form of transport. The campaign could be licensed nationally and internationally

Drawbacks of the proposed gesture:
1. Encouraging the gesture may be criticised as lessening a motorists control of the steering wheel. (But drivers frequently use indicators, change gears, smoke, adjust stereos, drink, etc. The gesture need not even involve the fingers leaving the steering wheel.)
2. It may serve to promote the ‘thumbs-down’. (But cyclists feel that such an attitude is already prevalent. It would be better to have negativity expressed in an open but relatively safe manner. Sometimes cyclists may be deserving of such a judgment, too and it may improve cyclist behaviour.)

Cycle Initiatives for the City of Adelaide and suburbs
As well as promoting cycling as a preferred transport choice, simple, cost-effective improvements to the physical environment should be made:

Suburban Bikeways
There are routes that cyclists choose to use through the suburbs to avoid main roads (eg. For the Eastern suburbs, King William St Kent Town, Beulah Rd and William St Norwood). Where appropriate, these roads should be made ‘one-way’ for cars (with car-parking only on that side of the street), and segregated two-way, ‘Bikeways’ on the other side.

Diagonal bike-paths across Parklands
Parks like Rymill Pk & West Parklands have some walking and cycling paths but no useful routes to connect cycling commuters or recreational riders to bike-routes or roads at either side, forcing cyclists to ride on busy motor vehicle routes. The addition of a small number of cheap, appropriate paths (highly obvious to anyone who cares to look) would make a substantial difference.

Dangerous intersections
Bike lanes direct cyclists to busy intersections such as Maid & Magpie Cnr or Britannia Roundabout but then offer no assistance in crossing, often squeezing vehicle traffic into two lanes creating anxiety for cyclists and motorists alike. These junctions need appropriate strategies (markings, detours, bridges, subways) for safe cycling.

City of Adelaide
Streets
The CBD is not safely accessible for cyclists. There is no safe route for cyclists to travel East-West across the city. One bikeway, presumably along either North Tce, Rundle St/Mall or Grenfell St is required. There is no safe route for cyclists to travel North-South across the city. Bikeways that run parallel to, or along some of Frome, Pulteney, King William and Morphett Streets are required.

Footpaths
Cyclists over 12 years of age should also be allowed to ‘ride with care’ on all footpaths with priority given to pedestrians. Some footpaths should be marked into separate cycling and pedestrian domains.

A City of Adelaide and Suburbs Bike Map
A map should be produced showing the new safe ‘Bikeways’ and existing safe routes such as Linear Park and seaside paths.

(from http://cfsmtb.blogspot.com)

Well, surprise, I’ve commenced a new blog, Wheels of Justice.
http://bicyclejustice.blogspot.com/

I’ve kicked this off to assist in collating the vast amounts of information on the Eugene McGee case. As you would know, this Eugene McGee case has gone national. This morning I was considering creating a new blog as a reference point that lists all the news articles and discussions it has provoked.

The main reason why I was considering this is that most online news articles/editorials get archived after a while. And then you have to $$$ to access information that was recently on public record. Most of the McGee case can be found on my cfsmtb blog, but I think it would be
beneficial for the wider debate to have something people can reference in future - even if the topic may seem to be ephemeral. As the South Australia & Victorian government is currently discussing the topic of hit-run drivers I think it would be beneficial to create an online presence.

After this three-coffee effort I’m completely stuffed. All I can ask of you, dear reader, is to help with promoting the Wheels of Justice Rides this weekend with every (relevant*) contact you know. Now get to it. (*no spamming ok!)

(thanks to Active Adelaide and Bicycle SA)

If you are a bike rider, a potential bike rider, or just have friends or family who ride bikes, you have got some interest in the safety of cyclists on our streets. Please come along to this show of unity on Saturday 7th May, and encourage others to do the same.

More South Australians Cycling in Safer, Healthier Communities….

Show of unity on Saturday May 7th

Victoria Square 9:30am

After the incredibly disappointing sentence handed down in the Eugene McGee case on Thursday the 28th of April, the cycling community will be uniting in a silent demonstration in memory of the tragic deaths of cyclists killed on our roads. The demonstration will begin at Victoria Square at 9.30am before riding and walking in silence to Parliament House.

To find out more about this event, visit http://www.bikesa.asn.au and follow the link to the full story.

(thanks to bertus mcqwertus)

YAY!!! we came we saw, we rode around in circles…

wow, at last an actual mass happenned. still confusion exists about where and when we start, half of us were at Hindmarsh Sq, other half at Victoria sq, but we joined up and had a nice ride. We annoyed one member of the constabulary, but other than that everything went pretty smoovely. I lefted early but mass lasted about an hour and covred most of the north end of town.

See everyone next saturday.