Latest News

Final hearing into car dooring bill

Come to the final parliamentary hearing into the dooring bill.

Where: Parliament of Victoria,1 Spring Street, Melbourne
When: Wednesday 23 May at 8.00pm, meeting at 7.30pm outside Parliament. If you get there late just go inside and report to the front desk – they’ll tell you where to go.
Speakers:  Bicycle Victoria, the Road Safety Action Group Inner Melbourne, Amy Gillett Foundation, Andrew Tivendale, the parents of James Cross, and Melbourne Bicycle User Group.

Parliamentary hearings can be a bit stuffy, but we’d like to have a presence there to demonstrate to politicians that the public’s concerned about this issue (if they haven’t already realised!!). It’s also worth hearing what bike advocacy groups, Andrew Tivendale, and James Cross’s parents, have to say about car dooring and cyclist
safety.

More details of the hearing are at
www.parliament.vic.gov.au/standing-committee-on-economy-and-infrastructure/legislation-committee/inquiries/article/1818

Safer speed limits should be introduced in Melbourne CBD

Melbourne City Council has allocated money in its budget to reduce speed limits in the CBD to 40km/h.

But they’re still waiting for Vicroads, and the Minister for Transport, to sign off on the plan.

This would be a safety win for all road users – chances of death and injury decrease significantly between 50 km/h and 40 km/h. It will also make the urban environment a bit more relaxing for everyone.

Ultimately, we’re working towards 30 km/h in the CBD, strip shopping areas, and residential areas. That’s the speed at which it becomes much more feasible for cyclists and drivers to ‘share the road’, because it’s safer and we’re on a bit more of an equal playing field.

30km/h is an evidence-based speed limit that makes pedestrians and cyclists safer. Chances of survival increase rapidly 40km/h down to 30 km/h. According to the World Health Organisation, pedestrians have 90% chance of surviving car crashes at 30 km/h or below, but less than a 50% chance of surviving impacts at 45 km/h or above. It is likely that similar differences exist for cyclists.

Lower speed limits should be combined with traffic calming measures that make it physically difficult to speed, regardless of legal sanctions or ineffective signs. Both are needed: without traffic calming, drivers tend to ignore speed limits, and without speed limits, there are no legal sanctions and speed limits cannot be enforced.

Reducing speeds to 30 km/h will make Melbourne a safer place for pedestrians and a cyclists, and a nicer place to walk and hang out in. Where speed limits are higher than 30km/h, governments should provide safe bike lanes.

Pump It Up – What Are Your Ideas?

In its latest state budget, the Victorian Government slashed funding for the Vicroads Bicycle Program to zero.

This means big projects across Melbourne, including some that have already been started on, like the Federation Trail, are in limbo.

It means that there is no funding for the development of the Principal Bike Network, Melbourne’s network plan.

It means that safety issues we face every day will continue to be unaddressed, and new cyclists will continue to be discouraged.

In coming weeks, the Victorian Bicycle User Groups and Bicycle Victoria will working to reverse this short sighted decision.

We’ve got some actions in the pipeline, including a rally, that we’ll let you know of shortly (if you haven’t already, please follow us on Twitter, ‘like’ us on Facebook, or sign up to our mailing list).

And we also want to know your ideas. We’re particularly interested ideas for events or actions that are a bit more creative, entertaining and fun. Or if you have any special skills you can contribute.

Please let us know in the comments.