Cycling is a sport/leisure activity that is rapidly growing in popularity. More than 1.27 million bikes were sold in Australia in 2006. For the past seven years bike sales have exceeded car sales with in excess of 1.1 million bikes sold per year.
It concerns me that I know 3 riders who in recent times have been badly hurt when they had collusions with cars whilst cycling.
The Amy Gillett Foundation (Amy was tragically killed in Germany when a car careered into the Australia female team on a training ride) note on their website, www.amygillett.org.au, that each year an average of 35 cyclists are killed and over 2,500 are seriously injured on our roads.
Cycling is a growing sport or leisure activity and we need to do something about making cycling safer.
Many people argue that the growth and popularity of golf has peaked and cycling is about to enter a growth phase, similar to what previously happened with golf.
Emily Ross has recently published an article where she says,
"Cycling is the new golf, bring people together"
"The country’s favourite cycling race, Around the Bay in a Day, which goes around Melbourne’s Port Phillip Bay last year attracted 16,000 cyclists, up from 10,000 the previous year. Of them, 40 per cent were aged between 40 and 60 years."
Emily’s article is very interesting reading and if you would like a copy, email me on
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and I will forward you a copy of same.
Cycling is being pursued by all sections of the community, from corporate executives to school children. From 3 years old to retirees. I know of a chap who is 94 that rides every day.
Whilst cycling is rapidly increasing in popularity, efforts must be made to make it a safer sport. On average 3 cyclists die and 208 cyclists are seriously injured each month.
The costs for the community and the pain that occurs for a cyclist and the cyclist’s family when a cyclist is killed or badly injured is severe. As an example I detail below 3 incidents where cyclists known to me have been knocked off their bikes by cars.
Jeff Skinner an Accountant at Lismore was training on his bike Easter, 2006 and a car hit him from behind which resulted in Jeff breaking his shoulder and collar bone. Jeff took six weeks to recovery from these injuries.
Dr Steve O’Mara was riding with a group of cyclists at Lake Macquarie on the Saturday morning before Christmas 2006 when a car crossed the road and took out 6 of the riders. As a result of the accident Steve has had to endure many operations and there are many more to come. Unbelievably no one was killed. The last of the 6 riders to get out of hospital was Noel Davies who returned home on 9 April 2007. Noel Davies family set up a website to keep all his friends informed on his progress. It provides interesting reading on the crash and the struggles that followed, www.noeldavies.com .
Kevin Bartlett, who has years of cycling and racing behind him including coming second in the Grafton to Inverell cycling classic was badly injured in an accident at dusk whilst riding home from work on his bike.
We all need to become more aware of cyclists and ‘watch out for cyclists’ whilst we are driving our cars.
Cycling has significant benefits for the community. For example, it helps to decrease obesity, reduce the incidence of secondary diabetes, lower blood pressure and improve cardiovascular fitness. Cycling is a sport to be encouraged and is a sport that all members of the family can enjoy.
With the number of bikes being sold each year exceeding car sales and cycling increasing in popularity, something needs to be done to improve the safety of cycling. I would be interested to receive any suggestion you may have.
I suggest a possible answer could be that cycling centres be established, similar to golf courses, there could also be cycling courses established in all major cities and country towns that would include a road for cyclists only, a criterium racing circuit, a BMX track, a low profile racing track for track bikes and a leisure track with grasslands etc.
Further, cyclists should be required to wear bright yellow clothing when riding on the roads to make them more readily visible for car drivers. Cycling has the potential to help create healthier Australians. If we can get cyclists off the roads and dramatically reduce the number of deaths and accidents it would be in everyones best interest.
If you have any suggestions or comments, I would appreciate your advice as I believe we have to encourage cycling and make it a much safer sport. I can be contacted on:
Email:
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