How safe is cycling? - 05 Mar 2007 - Opinion, Editorial and reader views - New Zealand Herald

I stumbled across this post on a New Zealand story on cycling and saftedy and was fascinated by two points: 1. that the author things drivers in the US "always wait behind you until it is safe to pass." which isn't true, and 2. that the collission, for lack of a better word, between cyclists and motorists seems to be a global issue.

I will say that I have ridden in New Zealand and feared for my life because of the relatively smaller roads with no bike lanes and the speeds at which motorists generally drive: Kiwis drive like Italians.

Either way, perhaps the continued increase in the price of oil will motivate more people to use bikes for transportation, which will undoubtedly and unfortunately increase the number of accidents until enough attention is raised to implement changes to make it safer for us.


Your Views: How safe is cycling? - 05 Mar 2007 - Opinion, Editorial and reader views - New Zealand Herald: "Your Views: How safe is cycling?
Email this storyPrint this story 12:00PM Monday March 05, 2007
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Two cyclists are dead and three others are in hospital after a spate of accidents in what was supposed to be a week of awareness-raising for safe biking on roads.

Cycling Advocates Network spokesman Stephen McKernon said it was a great tragedy that two people had died in what had been an otherwise successful Bikewise week.

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Here is the latest selection of your views on cycling:

Simon
I drive about 50,000kms a year, but also regularly ride a bike for recreation. There seem to me to be two main factors that make riding in NZ dangerous. Firstly, the attitude of the small percentage of motorists who lack courtesy and patience to adjust their driving to safely share the road. It adds only moments to a journey to slow down and wait until it is safe to pass a cyclist safely. I have riden extensively in places li"