Long suffering motorists must have gained a degree of satisfaction this week as the police carried out Operation " Pedro " and launched a blitz on cyclists ignoring road rules. While the police are quick to hand out a ticket that imposes both a heavy fine and the loss of demerit points to motorists for the slightest law infringement, they see cyclists riding through red lights and disobeying every rule in the book - and being completely ignored - by both traffic police and the Highway Patrol.
In a single day the cops handed out three hundred fines in the Sydney CBD for red light running, failing to wear a safety helmet, and riding on footpaths - and another three hundred cycling related infringement notices. The problem with such traffic blitzes is that they run to a strict timetable - and once they are over the cyclists will revert to again breaking the law with impunity.
The police only book cyclists when there is pressure from above to make an example of a few culprits to burnish their policing image. It is not a job they enjoy. The fines are paltry - compared to those inflicted on motorists and then there is the identification problem. It is an offence for a car driver not to be able to produce his or her license on demand, but cyclists have no number plate on their cycle, not do they have a need to provide any sort of valid identification. If they give a false name and address, that fine will remain uncollected in the police archives forever.
It is an unquestionable fact that many motorists resent sharing the road with bicycles and often ignore their right to be on the same road. Cyclists do have a valid complaint that uncaring car drivers often expose them to needless danger, but common sense dictates that mixing very slow moving traffic on moderate to high speed limit roads is a recipe for disaster. What really irks motorists is to drive on an 80 kph road which has a separate bike track running alongside it - and find cyclists in a bunch hogging what should be a road reserved for motoring traffic only. Common sense dictates that where a bike track exists, that should be the only option available to cyclists.
For a long time, cyclists were barred from high speed arterial roads in New South Wales and then this law was incomprehensibly changed to allow cyclists to ride in a one metre wide bike lane beside traffic travelling at a legal 110 kph. It is perfectly legal for family groups that include small children on their bikes to share the danger of cars and buses just an arm's length away. This supposed "bike lane " is really the road shoulder and as such is often strewn with rocks and tree matter that can cause a bike to swerve wildly. Fortunately, most cyclists have enough common sense to keep well clear of this arterial network.
The biggest danger is bikes in suburbia. They are an ideal conveyance for a quick trip to the shops or to take a breadwinner to the railway station and of necessity they have to share the roads with cars. In winter, those who commute to their jobs and cycle from the railway station to their homes often travel after dark - and few bikes seem to have any sort of lighting. We do not tolerate cars without lights at night. Surely the same conformity should apply to cycling.
The most widely encountered danger on suburban roads is the mix of kids on bikes. Strict age limits apply to driving cars, but absolutely no such law applies to bikes and kids are incredible risk takers. It is not unusual see a bunch of kids on bikes weaving in and out of traffic in the school holidays. A bike is a "must have " for most children and these days very low cost models are flowing out of China - and becoming a favourite gift for Christmas or a birthday.
Operation "Pedro " is welcome in bringing bike users into line with the law by issuing a few fines for bad behaviour, but what is needed is consistent law enforcement to drive home the message that safety is important - whatever means of transport is involved. That will not occur until law breaches by cyclists results in the same police response as applies to motorists.
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