Petition: "Enforce" Minimum Safe Passing Distance in Australia
Posted: Wed Aug 29, 2018 9:44 pm
Bicycles Network Australia is supporting and promoting a petition initiated by David Maywald of the Dulwich Hill Bicycle Club.
If you know the details and want to support straight away, this is the petition:
Protect your Family and Friends with Safe Passing Distance
Overview - Enforcing Minimum Passing Distance
Across Australia, the state Governments (excl. Victoria) have put the Minimum Safe Passing Distance into law. What should have been common-sense is now a law to both educate drivers to leave enough space when passing a bike rider and also to provide a legal foundation if a motorist does not pass safely.
Like other road users, bike riders are legally allowed to use roads to travel but unlike most other road users, a bike ride has a much high risk in a collision. The safe passing laws should have a useful role as one of a series of safety measures (e.g. education and cycling infrastructure) to reduce the safety risks to bike riders.
Following the adoption of laws, unfortunately actual enforcement has been largely absent. The number of convictions or infringements issued reveals that the police forces are not actively enforcing the laws while bike riders who attempt to get police action on infringements are largely unsuccessful. This isn't solely an issue of police enforcement, but also involves the governments of each Australian state and their level of interest in prioritising bike rider safety and ensuring that the police enforce these.
The petition has gained the support of cycling bodies across Australia and Bicycles Network Australia has joined the ranks as an active supporter.
The first and easiest step is to sign the petition (link above). If you have family, friends and colleague who also feel that bike rider safety is important, ask them to support this petition. Action doesn't have to end there as you can contact your local MPs and ministers and become more active reporting the close passes to the police. The Australian Cycling Forums welcome continued discussion on this topic and your positive action.
Christopher Jones
Bicycles Network Australia
If you know the details and want to support straight away, this is the petition:
Protect your Family and Friends with Safe Passing Distance
Overview - Enforcing Minimum Passing Distance
Across Australia, the state Governments (excl. Victoria) have put the Minimum Safe Passing Distance into law. What should have been common-sense is now a law to both educate drivers to leave enough space when passing a bike rider and also to provide a legal foundation if a motorist does not pass safely.
Like other road users, bike riders are legally allowed to use roads to travel but unlike most other road users, a bike ride has a much high risk in a collision. The safe passing laws should have a useful role as one of a series of safety measures (e.g. education and cycling infrastructure) to reduce the safety risks to bike riders.
Following the adoption of laws, unfortunately actual enforcement has been largely absent. The number of convictions or infringements issued reveals that the police forces are not actively enforcing the laws while bike riders who attempt to get police action on infringements are largely unsuccessful. This isn't solely an issue of police enforcement, but also involves the governments of each Australian state and their level of interest in prioritising bike rider safety and ensuring that the police enforce these.
The petition has gained the support of cycling bodies across Australia and Bicycles Network Australia has joined the ranks as an active supporter.
The first and easiest step is to sign the petition (link above). If you have family, friends and colleague who also feel that bike rider safety is important, ask them to support this petition. Action doesn't have to end there as you can contact your local MPs and ministers and become more active reporting the close passes to the police. The Australian Cycling Forums welcome continued discussion on this topic and your positive action.
Christopher Jones
Bicycles Network Australia