Newcastle Crash

In aus.bicycle on Tue, 11 Dec 2007 20:59:59 +1100
MikeyOz wrote:

Cars racing on freeways, drivers unable to navigate a vehicle with
enough space to pass cyclists, driving under the influence of
drugs/alcohol yet apparently it is pack cyclists that require a code of
conduct.


Thre's already a code of conduct covering the behaviour you mention.
With fines and all.

Zebee

Jock Wrote:
I don't like to say this but Australia is no place for sharing roads
with motor vehicles.

Bull****. Driving a vehicle, like legally owning firearms, is a
privilege not a right. What is a main concern is how we're allowed
ourselves to get sucked into a chicken little mentality and all the
cringing, ****ty attitudes that come with the territory. The vast
majority of drivers don't jump into their vehicles with the sole
intention of hurting or killing another human being, the real killer is
the lack of personal responsibility, awareness and driver distraction.
Governments and various agencies can only do so much, it's also up to us
in our daily lives to help create a adequate, safe road environment for
everyone else.


--
cfsmtb

Jock Wrote:
I don't like to say this but Australia is no place for sharing roads
with
motor vehicles.Funny, I do it every day. Some may say it's only a matter of time before
my number's up but the numbers suggest otherwise.

Absolute numbers, a cyclist is four times more likely to die on the
roads than a car driver. It's probably less now as there are more
cyclists and that data was from 2000 or so.

Cycling reduces my chance of heart disease, and a whole host of other
inactivity/obesity related diseases, by 40%. I also add about 15 years
of active life, meaning that a non-cycling peer (assuming no diligent
working out to compensate for a car bound lifestyle) will need
residential care far earlier than me.

Deaths attributed to heart disease outstrip deaths attributed to road
deaths by oders of magnitude. I'm willing ot accept the small increase
on the roads for those benefits, it just makes sense.

And one last thing, some of us ride for utility. I'm not going out
there `to get my cycling in', I'm going out there to get from A to B.

You would do well to spend a bit more time researching your position,
you'll find, as I have, that the situation in Australia is nowhere near
as dire as some people like to make out. Yes it could be better and I
believe that it is getting better.


--
EuanB

EuanB wrote:
Jock Wrote:
I don't like to say this but Australia is no place for sharing roads
with
motor vehicles.Funny, I do it every day. Some may say it's only a matter of time before
my number's up but the numbers suggest otherwise.

Absolute numbers, a cyclist is four times more likely to die on the
roads than a car driver. It's probably less now as there are more
cyclists and that data was from 2000 or so.

Cycling reduces my chance of heart disease, and a whole host of other
inactivity/obesity related diseases, by 40%. I also add about 15 years
of active life, meaning that a non-cycling peer (assuming no diligent
working out to compensate for a car bound lifestyle) will need
residential care far earlier than me.

Deaths attributed to heart disease outstrip deaths attributed to road
deaths by oders of magnitude. I'm willing ot accept the small increase
on the roads for those benefits, it just makes sense.

And one last thing, some of us ride for utility. I'm not going out
there `to get my cycling in', I'm going out there to get from A to B.

You would do well to spend a bit more time researching your position,
you'll find, as I have, that the situation in Australia is nowhere near
as dire as some people like to make out. Yes it could be better and I
believe that it is getting better.



Don't sleep, it's bad for you. Nearly 50% of deaths occur during sleep.

Elmo

Zebee Johnstone Wrote:
In aus.bicycle on Tue, 11 Dec 2007 20:59:59 +1100
MikeyOz wrote:

Cars racing on freeways, drivers unable to navigate a vehicle with
enough space to pass cyclists, driving under the influence of
drugs/alcohol yet apparently it is pack cyclists that require a code
of
conduct.


Thre's already a code of conduct covering the behaviour you mention.
With fines and all.

Zebee

You don't say.

And cyclist's are also included in that, so why do we also need a code
of conduct, when apparently drivers don't ??


--
MikeyOz

Elmo wrote:
EuanB wrote:

You would do well to spend a bit more time researching your position,
you'll find, as I have, that the situation in Australia is nowhere
near as dire as some people like to make out. Yes it could be better
and I believe that it is getting better.

Don't sleep, it's bad for you. Nearly 50% of deaths occur during
sleep.

In WA, only one death in a 100 occurs in a car, despite the average person
spending 4% of their time in one. It's obviously the safest place to be.

Theo

MikeyOz wrote:
Zebee Johnstone Wrote:
MikeyO wrote:

Cars racing on freeways, drivers unable to navigate a vehicle with
enough space to pass cyclists, driving under the influence of
drugs/alcohol yet apparently it is pack cyclists that require a
code of conduct.

There's already a code of conduct covering the behaviour you mention.
With fines and all.

You don't say.

She did!

And cyclist's are also included in that, so why do we also need a code
of conduct, when apparently drivers don't ??

What's that whooshing sound?

Theo

cfsmtb wrote:

The vast
majority of drivers don't jump into their vehicles with the sole
intention of hurting or killing another human being, the real killer
is the lack of personal responsibility, awareness and driver
distraction. Governments and various agencies can only do so much,
it's also up to us in our daily lives to help create a adequate, safe
road environment for everyone else.

Aye, but I had a poor unbringing, my dad left us when I was four, my sister
hates me, I was picked on at school.

It's not my fault!

Theo

On Wed, 12 Dec 2007 18:45:44 +0900, "Theo Bekkers"
wrote:

In WA, only one death in a 100 occurs in a car, despite the average person
spending 4% of their time in one. It's obviously the safest place to be.

and most car deaths involve sober drivers. Stats aren't everything.

On Wed, 12 Dec 2007 16:53:28 +1100, EuanB wrote:

Absolute numbers, a cyclist is four times more likely to die on the
roads than a car driver. It's probably less now as there are more
cyclists and that data was from 2000 or so.

Which absolute numbers? Death rate per kilometre travelled? Death rate
per hour on the road? What? Here's one way of looking at it:

fatalities
Activity per million hrs
-------- ---------------
Skydiving 128.71
General Aviation 15.58
On-road Motorcycling 8.80
Scuba Diving 1.98
Living (all causes of death) 1.53
Swimming 1.07
Snowmobiling .88
Passenger cars .47
Water skiing .28
Bicycling .26
Flying (scheduled domestic airlines) .15
Hunting .08
Cosmic Radiation from transcontinental flights .035
Home Living (active) .027
Traveling in a School Bus .022
Passenger Car Post-collision fire .017
Home Living, active & passive (sleeping) .014
Residential Fire .003

Doesn't seem to quite agree with your statement. Source: http://
www.magma.ca/~ocbc/comparat.html.