Article: 'Panic buttons' for Brisbane bikeway

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From the Brisbanetimes click here!

'Panic buttons' for Brisbane bikeway

'Panic buttons' for Brisbane bikeway
Marissa Calligeros
December 16, 2010 - 5:46AM

Eight panic buttons will be installed on the bikeway between the Victoria and Goodwill bridges.

Panic buttons will be placed along an isolated stretch of Brisbane's Bicentennial Bikeway in a bid to make it safer for pedestrians and cyclists.

The state government will install eight panic buttons on the bikeway between the Victoria and Goodwill bridges, as part of an upgrade of the area in the wake of the proposed North Bank development's axing.

Premier Anna Bligh announced in October 2008 the bikeway would be upgraded to make it safer for walkers, runners and cyclists after the proposed development was scrapped due to major public backlash.

The panic buttons, formally known as "duress points", will be located every 100 to 150 metres along the stretch of bikeway beneath the Riverside Expressway.

They will operate as two-way intercoms and can each be viewed by two CCTV cameras.

When activated, the device will place a call to a monitoring centre and images from two CCTV cameras will appear on a screen at the centre.

The buttons, due to be installed by next June, will also be fitted with a siren and a flashing beacon.

The introduction of the buttons follows a review by the government of safety along the bikeway.

"The review identified a priority to address safety and security as an interim measure until a long-term vision can be implemented after works on the Riverside Expressway are completed in 2014," the Department of Transport said in a statement.

Bicycle Queensland manager Ben Wilson said he hoped the buttons would encourage more people to use the bikeway at night without fear for their safety.

"Our bikeways become fairly isolated at night and this might be the measure that gives people the sense of security they need to cycle, or run or walk there at night," he said.

Ten years ago, a university student nearly drowned after he was attacked by a group of people on the bikeway at North Quay as he was cycling home from a party with his girlfriend.

The student suffered severe brain damage after he was left lying face down in the water, while his girlfriend ran for help, only to be turned away at police headquarters in Roma Street.

The panic buttons will be similar to those already installed at major busways and train stations across Brisbane.

There are panic buttons at 290 train stations across the CityTrain network.

Police were approached to comment about the initiative, but a spokesman said they would not want to be seen to endorse the manufacturer of the alarms.