Article: Thousands of cyclists breaking road rules in Queensland

[ozbob]

From the Courier Mail click here!

Thousands of cyclists breaking road rules in Queensland

Thousands of cyclists breaking road rules in Queensland

    * Brooke Baskin
    * From: The Courier-Mail
    * April 13, 2011 12:00AM

BADLY behaved cyclists are flouting Queensland's road rules in their thousands.

New figures obtained by The Courier-Mail show last year more than 6000 cyclists were booked by police for failing to wear a helmet alone, while hundreds of others were nabbed for pedalling through red traffic lights and even for riding a bike while using a mobile phone.

Triathlete Jimmy Seear, who cycles about 500km a week, said a small few were ruining the reputation of cyclists who did the right thing on the state's roads.

"I ride with a group who obey the road rules but we get abused by cars basically just because we are cyclists, not because we've done anything wrong," he said.

"People who ride bikes and who don't obey the road rules are just giving all cyclists a bad name."

The majority of bike riders do the right thing, acting Chief Superintendent Bob Gee said.

He said cyclists had to protect themselves by taking basic safety precautions.

"You've got to wear a helmet, you've got to be visible particularly at night use hand signals, avoid being a hazard for both drivers and pedestrians, and you have to keep at least 2m away from the rear of vehicles," he said.

Princess Alexandra Hospital director of surgery Daryl Wall said on average at least one cyclist a day was admitted to the emergency department with serious injuries. He said older cyclists and elite athletes were the most common.

"More and more people are taking up cycling as part of a shift in our lifestyle and a move to more active forms of transport, which we applaud," Mr Wall said.

"But, of course, it brings about increased exposure to injury and even death."

[ButFli]

How many people were fined for breaking the road rules in a car? Hundreds of thousands, I bet. How many people are admitted to PA hospital with serious injuries from a car accident? More than one a day, I imagine. In fact most of the one-a-day cyclists were probably injurred by cars.

Cyclists aren't the problem.

[Golliwog]

How many people were fined for breaking the road rules in a car? Hundreds of thousands, I bet. How many people are admitted to PA hospital with serious injuries from a car accident? More than one a day, I imagine. In fact most of the one-a-day cyclists were probably injurred by cars.

Cyclists aren't the problem.

But its easy to pick on the more visible minority. I challenge CM to do an article on how many motorists break rules in QLD. How many motorists are admitted to emergency wards each day?

[Jonno]

How many people were fined for breaking the road rules in a car? Hundreds of thousands, I bet. How many people are admitted to PA hospital with serious injuries from a car accident? More than one a day, I imagine. In fact most of the one-a-day cyclists were probably injurred by cars.

Cyclists aren't the problem.

But its easy to pick on the more visible minority. I challenge CM to do an article on how many motorists break rules in QLD. How many motorists are admitted to emergency wards each day?

and risk the withdrawal of a major advertising revenue stream...that article will be buried before it has a headline.