Sunday Mail report on nasty prang in Perth

Hi All, the Sunday Mail (Perth Sunday paper,
I need say no more) has a story about an accident
on a bike path in Jan 2005. Read it all at
http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/stor...6-2761,00.html

There's the ability to add comments so feel free
to do so.

I know the section of bike path from the story
quite well, having ridden it hundreds of times,
starting in the late 80's. Back then, it was
a bit treacherous with nasty sharp corners and
poor visibility. It's improved a lot over recent
years but there are still some bad spots.

Thanks to gumby for pointing this out to me.

DeF.

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e-mail: d.farrow@your finger.murdoch.edu.au
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Puts everything into perspective, even when you have had an accident
yourself, you realise how lucky you are.

Then you get all this garbage about safety audits, when it could have
been avoided if the people coming the over way were riding in single
file.

I have worked in Perth a lot this year, in fact thats where I get hit
by a car, but I have run heaps on the shared paths and some of the
cyclists seemed just way out of control, way too fast on a shared bike
path.

I don't run/ride much on bike paths here in Melbourne, but generally I
find its not the bike paths that are un-safe its the people using them
that are un-safe.

I seriously hope he gets all the money he needs, but most of it should
come from the person riding on the wrong side of the bike path.


--
MikeyOz

MikeyOz Wrote:
Puts everything into perspective, even when you have had an accident
yourself, you realise how lucky you are.

Then you get all this garbage about safety audits, when it could have
been avoided if the people coming the over way were riding in single
file.

I have worked in Perth a lot this year, in fact thats where I get hit
by a car, but I have run heaps on the shared paths and some of the
cyclists seemed just way out of control, way too fast on a shared bike
path.

I don't run/ride much on bike paths here in Melbourne, but generally I
find its not the bike paths that are un-safe its the people using them
that are un-safe.

I seriously hope he gets all the money he needs, but most of it should
come from the person riding on the wrong side of the bike path.
thumbs down for the incident and terrible injuries, and big thumbs
down for the riders not in a single file on the shared pathway, but i
have to question why the injured man was training people for triathlon
on a shared pathway? would it not have been better, faster and less
crowded/stop-start if he had picked a loop of local neighbourhood
streets and trained them on that?

its true, with shared paths or bike paths anywhere, its not the path
thats unsafe, its usually the people on it... same way you get selfish
inconsiderate drivers that think they own the road, you get selfish
inconsiderate cyclists/pedestrians that think they own the path...


--
asterope

DeF wrote:
Hi All, the Sunday Mail (Perth Sunday paper,
I need say no more) has a story about an accident
on a bike path in Jan 2005. Read it all at
http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/stor...6-2761,00.html

Something wrong with Perth's sunday paper? It's the Sunday Times, by the
way.

I know the section of bike path from the story
quite well, having ridden it hundreds of times,
starting in the late 80's. Back then, it was
a bit treacherous with nasty sharp corners and
poor visibility. It's improved a lot over recent
years but there are still some bad spots.

The path has some sharp corners, but there's not much excuse for a group of
cyclists hurtling alongat break-neck (oops) speed taking up the whole width
of a busy path with no visibility. The article seemed to hold the WA Gov't
somehow financially responsible, a view I do not share.

Theo

asterope wrote:

thumbs down for the incident and terrible injuries, and big thumbs
down for the riders not in a single file on the shared pathway, but i
have to question why the injured man was training people for triathlon
on a shared pathway?

The group the injured man was in was riding single file and responsibly. The
group coming the other way wasn't. That path runs along the Kwinana Freeway
on the foreshore and is suitable for people riding to work during the week,
and leisure riding and walking on the weekend. You want to race, go find a
race-track. Charges should have been laid.

Theo

In aus.bicycle on Mon, 20 Nov 2006 15:08:31 +1100
asterope wrote:
have to question why the injured man was training people for triathlon
on a shared pathway? would it not have been better, faster and less
crowded/stop-start if he had picked a loop of local neighbourhood
streets and trained them on that?

I also wondered, because the details were scanty, how fast everyone
was going.

If it was a training bunch in single file and a slow group of
recreationalists in a loose group, then who was using the path
irresponsibly?

I suspect that this might just be one of those "ain't as
straightforward as the paper says" accounts. After all if it had been
a social cyclist in say a birthday party with small kids who was hurt,
how would they ahve slanted the story?

Zebee

In aus.bicycle on Mon, 20 Nov 2006 12:36:07 +0800
Theo Bekkers wrote:

The group the injured man was in was riding single file and responsibly. The
group coming the other way wasn't. That path runs along the Kwinana Freeway
on the foreshore and is suitable for people riding to work during the week,
and leisure riding and walking on the weekend. You want to race, go find a
race-track. Charges should have been laid.

Theo, it isn't clear who was doing what speed.

He was "training people for triathlon". How fast was his group likely
to be going?

There was mention in the article of groups of racers, but nothing that
said the group he met was one such. For all we know it was a family
group cycling in a slow disorganised cyclepath sort of way.

Zebee

Zebee Johnstone wrote:
Theo Bekkers wrote:

The group the injured man was in was riding single file and
responsibly. The group coming the other way wasn't. That path runs
along the Kwinana Freeway on the foreshore and is suitable for
people riding to work during the week, and leisure riding and
walking on the weekend. You want to race, go find a race-track.
Charges should have been laid.

Theo, it isn't clear who was doing what speed.

He was "training people for triathlon". How fast was his group likely
to be going?

There was mention in the article of groups of racers, but nothing that
said the group he met was one such. For all we know it was a family
group cycling in a slow disorganised cyclepath sort of way.

No, not clear from that article. I do have the advantage of having gleaned a
lot more of the story from previous editions. :-)

Theo

DeF wrote:
Hi All, the Sunday Mail (Perth Sunday paper,
I need say no more) has a story about an accident
on a bike path in Jan 2005. Read it all at
http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/stor...6-2761,00.html

There's the ability to add comments so feel free
to do so.

And don't forget, NO DAYLIGHT SAVINGS! It fades your curtains, causes
baldness, impotence, cracked bottom bracket shells and cramps.(hint:
read the readers comments ....)

Theo Bekkers wrote:

DeF wrote:

Hi All, the Sunday Mail (Perth Sunday paper,
I need say no more) has a story about an accident
on a bike path in Jan 2005. Read it all at
http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/stor...6-2761,00.html


Something wrong with Perth's sunday paper? It's the Sunday Times, by the
way.

Whoops, correct. Sunday Mail is the Adelaide version of the same
wrapping of the profit making Readers Mart. I reckon any further
discussion probably belongs on aus.media-watch :-).


I know the section of bike path from the story
quite well, having ridden it hundreds of times,
starting in the late 80's. Back then, it was
a bit treacherous with nasty sharp corners and
poor visibility. It's improved a lot over recent
years but there are still some bad spots.


The path has some sharp corners, but there's not much excuse for a group of
cyclists hurtling alongat break-neck (oops) speed taking up the whole width
of a busy path with no visibility. The article seemed to hold the WA Gov't
somehow financially responsible, a view I do not share.

Theo


I agree that large groups should not be using that path for fast, close
bunch riding. I also think that bike path (and road) design can
contribute to accidents. This bike path has a dashed line down the
middle for most of it's length. Peds tend to keep left but are often
walking on and over it. Another poster suggested making parts of this
dashed line solid, as happens on the road and I reckon that's a good
idea. It gives riders a warning that the conditions are about to
change. On the road, there are ample warning signs for intersections,
bendy bits, crests etc. Nothing on the bike path. People are people
and will not behave perfectly. Giving out strong signals on how they
should behave ameliorates that somewhat.

This bike path is one of the busiest in Perth. It could do with some
upgrades including:
* Differential line marking (dashed and solid)
* Edge marking (solid lines on outside edges of path)
* Signage and/or rumble strips for intersections and other
changes of conditions
* Widening the bendy bits.
If it looked a bit more like a road, maybe people would treat it like a
road and pay closer attention to road rules and courtesies (if courtesy
on the road is not an oxymoron).

DeF.


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e-mail: d.farrow@your finger.murdoch.edu.au
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