(from )
LAUREN NOVAK, TRANSPORT REPORTER
February 26, 2008

GREENHILL Rd is Adelaide’s most dangerous road for cyclists.

Latest Transport Department statistics provided to The Advertiser show the highest incidence of crashes involving cyclists occurred on the major road.

Between 2003 and 2007 there were 54 crashes on the thoroughfare stretching from Keswick, near the city, to Greenhill, in the Adelaide Hills.

Busy South Rd was second with 51 crashes. Third was Marion Rd with 44 crashes. Henley Beach Rd was the only road on the list to record a cyclist fatality.

In 2006, the worst three roads for cyclists were Marion Rd, followed by South Rd and Greenhill Rd, based on figures from 2000 to 2005.

Department director road safety Martin Small said there were no cycling safety funds specifically for the top three roads this financial year. He said the statistics would be considered in the next budget. Cycling safety funding was generally allocated in the context of the Safety in Numbers strategy developed by the Government in 2006.

Bicycle Institute of South Australia chairman Sam Powrie said SA had the lowest per capita spending on cycling safety in Australia and urged the Government to commit up to $8 million a year. He said establishing off-road cycling “boulevards” or “highways” was a solution to providing safer environments for cyclists.

RAA traffic and safety manager Rita Excell urged the Government to continue to improve cycling infrastructure on less congested routes parallel to main roads.

Road Safety Minister Carmel Zollo identified “dangerous behaviours” by cyclists, including riding more than two abreast, and weaving in and out of traffic.

In turn, motorists cut cyclists off when turning left.

(Victoria Police)

Police are concerned by a report of the deliberate use of road tacks in Mentone on Saturday.

A large number of tacks, similar to a drawing pin, were placed along Beach Road during an organised bike ride.

Police say it is lucky no-one was injured considering the tacks have the potential to cause a cyclist to lose control and swerve into the path of an oncoming vehicle or another rider, potentially causing serious injury or a fatality.

The act of placing tacks on the road is an offence and Senior Sergeant Hans Harms of the Kingston Traffic Management Unit warns anyone caught doing so will be dealt with accordingly.

“This stupid act does not assist anyone. I, along with other organisations such as the Amy Gillett Foundation, are trying to work together with bicycle riders to ensure all road users are safe including vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists.

“The person who decided to do such an act has more than likely assisted in creating a bigger problem, and must realise the danger he is putting the bike riders in.

“I can’t stress enough that it is hard to make progress and go forward to try and satisfy all road users, without people putting more stumbling blocks in our way”, Sen Sgt Harms said.

Anyone with information is encouraged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or visit www.crimestoppers.com.au on the Internet.

Constable Kate Lawson

Strip down and ride on for the environment this March. The next World Naked Bike Ride (WNBR) will commence at 2pm at the junction of Barton Terrace and Jeffcott Street, North Adelaide, on Saturday the 8th of March 2008.

The ride will be the first of 6 rides occurring in Australia on the same weekend, including Sydney, Byron Bay, Brisbane, Newcastle and Melbourne. Other cities across the world will also host rides as part of the southern hemisphere leg of WNBR’s global movement, including Lima (Peru), Golden Bay (New Zealand) Pretoria (South Africa) and Buenos Aires (Argentina).

The WNBR is an annual clothing-optional protest ride for naturism, environmentalism, peace and the rights of cyclists to use the road safely. It promotes environmental consciousness and practices at every level of society in attempt to save the planet.

The ride is not a race and goes at an easy recreational pace. The only competition is how creatively bizarre participants can get with decorating their bodies using paint, slogans and bits of costume.

Though the dress code for the ride is “Go as bare as you dare!”, nudity is not compulsory. It is not a ride promoting overtly sexual behaviour in public.

Many people still struggle to distinguish between concepts of non-sexual nudity and pornography. The WNBR encourages society’s need for a body-positive mentality, and protests against environmental damage caused by motorised vehicles.

Excessive burning of fossil fuels has instigated environmental damage in the forms of climate change, air pollution, acid rain and water pollution.

From the onset of pollution and cancer, to obesity – the burning of fossil fuels and car-addicted lifestyles are causing serious health problems, many of which are affecting humans on a widespread scale.

Violence stemming from wars fought over oil and road rage results in the deaths and injuries to innocent civilians from the former, and pedestrians and cyclists from the latter.

The WNBR is an active social movement for a peaceful and gentler world, which includes our roads.

“We face automobile traffic with our naked bodies as the best way of defending our dignity and exposing the unique dangers faced by cyclists and pedestrians plus all the negative effects of oil, cars, war, consumerism and non-renewable energy”, reads the WNBR mission statement.

The WNBR group was created by Conrad Schmidt (of Vancouver, Canada) in 2004 to help coordinate a large international naked bike ride between many different activist groups across the World. Since then, the WNBR has spread to over 50 cites in about 20 countries with the participation of thousands of riders.

visit the WNBR Adelaide website for more info about the ride.