There’s nothing like a “bikes vs drivers” story to whip commentators into a frenzy, and this week’s stoush between Shane Warne and a Melbourne cyclist is no exception. Whenever this issue comes up, there are calls for cyclists to be registered – either to “pay their way” or so their behaviour can be monitored. But what difference would registration make?
Resorting to legislation is rarely the best solution to any social problem. It’s easy for Warne to call for “cyclists to be registered” or the Lord Mayor of Melbourne to want to “crack down on hoon cyclists” in pedestrian areas whenever someone on a bicycle breaks a rule. But a legislative response is out of proportion to the size of the problem and creates more problems than it tries to solve.
Who knows what happened with that one cyclist and the spin-master Warne? Did the cyclist break some road rules? Did Warne run over the bike? It’s easy to blame a cyclist: let’s face it, they get lots of bad press, they’re a minority, an “out” group rather than an in-group.
However, we need to look at the underlying issues here. Do cyclists need to be monitored more closely? Do most cyclists break the road rules? The Amy Gillett Foundation, with Monash academic Marilyn Johnson, used a covert video camera to record cyclists at ten sites across metropolitan Melbourne from October 2008 to April 2009. They found that of 4,225 cyclists facing a red light, only 6.9% didn’t stop. The vast majority of those who broke the rules were just turning left.
Would registration reduce this rate? Registering bicycles would create more problems than it fixes. It would cost the state far more than it would collect in revenue. The police resources required to enforce a bicycle registration scheme are simply not worth the ability to able to fine a handful of people behaving badly on bicycles.
When a pedestrian or cyclist breaks safety road rules they are most likely to hurt themselves, not others. The cost to society of pedestrians jaywalking, or cyclists riding too fast on a shared path, are miniscule compared to the damage a two tonne mass of metal, rubber and plastic speeding through a red light or stop sign can do.
Riding too fast on a shared path with lots of pedestrians is a social problem more than a legal problem. It is bad manners, like someone running through a crowded mall. Collectively we need to remind each other that that sort of behaviour is inappropriate and re-establish norms around respect and basic etiquette.
Bicycle registration would be a powerful disincentive to cycling. All levels of government in Australia have plans and targets to increase levels of cycling, because of the significant health, environmental and congestion-reduction benefits. When people shift trips from driving a car to riding a bike, everyone benefits. But bike registration would likely deter even more riders than mandatory helmet legislation (30-40% of riders stopped cycling when that was introduced).
Then there are the myriad problems of establishing a bicycle registration scheme. Do you register the rider (who may own multiple bicycles) or the bicycle? What about children’s bikes, or off-road mountain bikes not used on the road?
If bicycle registration fees were based on the same principal as car registration fees, they would cost almost zero dollars. Vehicle registration used to be based on the weight of a vehicle, and therefore the damage the vehicle did to the road. Trucks pay more than cars, which pay more than motorcycles. Bicycles weigh very little and cause no damage to a road.
At any rate, most bicycle riders (80%) have driver’s licences or pay taxes that in part contribute to road funding (it’s not widely known that registration fees don’t go directly to road funding: like nearly all taxes they go into central revenue and are distributed as needed).
Some argue that bicycle registration would provide insurance for the rider or third party insurance in the case of a crash. In Victoria, at least, state insurance already covers cyclists for any accident with a motor vehicle. Insurance is also available to members of bicycle organisations in Australia, and could easily be incorporated into other types of insurance schemes.
If bicycle registration changed driver behaviour in a way that legitimised cycling then I’d be all for it. However, I can’t see a small metal plate with some numbers on it slowing impatient drivers down, or helping drivers “see” bicycles on the road, or affecting drivers in any meaningful way that made it safer for bicycles.
Rather than pursuing registration, politicians and cycling groups need to do more to promote existing cycling etiquette guides which emphasise respect for all road users. Bike shops should give these out whenever someone buys a bike, to reinforce good behaviour. Campaigns like “Do the right thing” can help support social norms about how all road users need to slow down and be respectful of each other.
Making more laws is rarely the answer to social problems like the interaction between different road users. This is not a question of legality: it’s a matter of manners, awareness, and of mutual respect.
Join the conversation
Comments (41)
Wheeled Pedestrian
(logged in via Twitter)
Cyclists and motorists need predictability. The lack of suitable infrastructure or policies to protect and support cycling is at the heart of the issue. Cyclists are required to follow the rules of the road and act as though they are motor vehicles. This is clearly not a practical or encouraging environment.
And why is the focus always on the cyclist to take responsibility? The road environment is not designed around the needs of people. It is all focused on the needs of cars. http://cyclingauckland.co.nz/general/2011/04/the-death-star/
Finally, the picture and caption in this article really highlights something that is overlooked. The focus is on sports and recreation cycling. Cycling is much more than that. In cities with successful cycling cultures, people use a bike as an extension of walking. The definiton of cycling needs to be broadened and softened to allow the non-cycling community to see the true value of cycling. This value is being rcognised increasingly in research.
Grendels
(logged in via Twitter)
Police are already empowered to stop cyclists who break the road rules. Fines can be levied and if the cyclist holds a drivers license then demerit points can be applied. I would agree that registration would be a futile exercise. As for insurance, that can be achieved by tying it to a more general funding base than license or registration fees. A National Injury Insurance Scheme is currently under discussion alongside the National Disability Insurance Scheme. This would provide no-fault insurance coverage for cyclists and pedestrians.
Simon Batterbury
(Associate Professor at University of Melbourne)
I don't think in VIC that if you hold a driver's licence but are on you bike when you are fined, that demerit points can be applied. I speak from experience.
Paul Richards
(logged in via Twitter)
Chis, I appreciate the article it is a difficult subject to tackle. I will mention one fact that seems to go unnoticed - the cyclist has a witness who did make a statement verifying his account, the Police chose not to proceed and he didn’t want to press the issue.
This example of human conflict demonstrates a problem we are all responsible for. That of biasing our transport infrastructure toward motor vehicles, while at the same time the road law still gives priority rights to pedestrians and…
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Paul Richards
(logged in via Twitter)
UPDATE - SHEIK of TWEET
being sued by Cyclist he allegedly hit.
http://goo.gl/DIaAG
Paul Richards
(logged in via Twitter)
Adding to my earlier comment -
" ...... the cyclist has - a witness - who did make a statement verifying his account, the Police chose not to proceed and he didn’t want to press the issue".
Our law is actually biased toward the - pedestrian and the cyclist - and any real challenge from either vs a motor vehicle will always win. However, some people are so overtaken with this mindset, they don't even mount challenges in court.
The cyclist vs Shane Warne proves this point, the cyclist failed to challenge Shane Warne in court, he could have won this easily. "Fear of our cultural disproval meant he didn't", and who could blame him?
Paul Richards
(logged in via Twitter)
When someone yells at you from their car.
http://goo.gl/v38UP
Ken Fabian
Mr (logged in via email @westnet.com.au)
My own experience tells me that a great many motorists routinely break the laws of the road. They exceed the speed limit and otherwise make use of a distinct advantage the car has over other forms of transport - it's ability to go fast. Being a country driver who only occasionally drives in major cities I've found myself the object of ire of other drivers for insisting on traveling at or below the signposted speed limit! Oddly enough my speed seemed to coincide much more closely with the timing of…
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Susan Woodward
(logged in via Twitter)
Oh my god, CYCLISTS are the problem? Aussie drivers are more aggressive, inpatient, and abusive than those in any other country I've lived in or travelled to. They seem to have little care or awareness of the difference between the hunk of metal they're driving and the skin of a fellow human being, and what that metal does on impact. How many more cyclists have to die?
Let's a) do better monitoring and ticketing of drivers first, please!
b) make every young Australian have to spend a few hours…
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Paul Richards
(logged in via Facebook)
Susan, your comments hit a cord with most of the socially aware Australian's who read "The Conversation", we could easily agree on the driver attitude nationally.
Unfortunately Australian's are an eclectic mix of cultures and value systems in all stages of evolvement. http://goo.gl/vNKuM
Apart from the fact that our - "Silent Generation" taught our "Baby Boomers" - to accept and worship the motor vehicle. On this issue we appear, from the support of 'Shane Warne' by some 'age specific' media…
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Matthew Thredgold
Software Engineer/Secondary Teacher (logged in via email @xtra.co.nz)
We could always build Warnie his own private road network to keep the cyclists safe:
http://wellingtoncycleways.wordpress.com/2012/01/21/parallel-freeway-system-proposed-for-melbourne/
Paul Richards
(logged in via Twitter)
Thanks Matthew, I posted this link for my cycling mates in Europe and New Zealad.
Shane Warne and New Zealand have a long history of banter, don't they?
Michael O'Reilly
(logged in via Twitter)
Most people who want cyclists registered life in a fantasy world where they think that simply by noting the registration of a vehicle that's breaking the law, they can make a report to the police and the lawbreaker will be charged.
They need to be told they're dreaming.
John Harland
bicycle technician (logged in via email @gmail.com)
It might make sense if all school students were to learn road rules (and etiquette).
Not just "Pre-Driver" BS in late-secondary school, but all the stuff that Dutch students learn about walking and riding as well as driving.
Insisting on testing late-adolescents and adults in order to issue a certificate or registration is risible. Just look at driver licencing in this country.
Few drivers have much idea of the legal rights of pedestrians or cyclists on the road system, and only a dim idea of rules for cars, as well.
What "understanding" they do acquire at such a late stage in their education is largely restricted to a knowledge of the penalties and the risks of being caught for transgression, rather than any appreciation of the risks of hurting other people or themselves.
Is this what we want for cyclists?
Paul Richards
(logged in via Twitter)
John, all points you make are totally valid.
I will add we have more than a schooling problem, the Netherlands and the Danish have a cultural balance toward motor vehicles that allows the education to bed in. Australian's are still suffering from the motor vehicle industry propaganda they rejected.
This video is just one of hundreds of made right down to a recent Japanese one promoting the motor vehicle over cycling and walking; http://youtu.be/2ATFvLejtnU
You are welcome to comment, here is a playlist on humanising cites as a link;
http://goo.gl/njKOC
David Leigh
Writer and Filmmaker (logged in via email @gmail.com)
Registration of cycles is not the answer and as stated in the article, could cause more problems than it saves. I have been a cyclist since childhood and the one thing I had to do, before using my bike for school, was to take my cycling proficiency test. This meant after school instruction and training, by the police, to teach me and other children, the rules of the road. We were put into realistic situations in an artificial environment on the school playground and had to perform correctly. At the…
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Paul Richards
(logged in via Twitter)
David - " As a race, we seem destined to travel", thank you for appreciating this and commenting.
Actually your concept that we are culturally biased toward "Motor Vehicles" is now understood by sociologists, most importantly city planners and architects.
We have infrastructure changes and future designs in place to invert the balance and humanise cites.
You are welcome to comment here or on, my YouTube account.
Playlist on humanising cites; http://goo.gl/njKOC
As for country roads…
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Paul Richards
(logged in via Facebook)
By Crikey they have nailed it;
http://blogs.crikey.com.au/theurbanist/2012/01/22/13244/
terry lockwood
maths teacher (logged in via email @mcmyrtleford.catholic.edu.au)
As a resident of rural Victoria, I encounter very few riders who are saving the environment by leaving their cars at home. They ride their expansive road bikes on the highway about twenty metres from a rail trail too often side by side using the shoulder and part of the lane proper. I guess chatting to your buddy enhances the ride but it comes at a price where the safety of all road users is threatened. I bust my gut to take a wide birth around single riders or those in single file but side by side…
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Paul Regis
Business Analyst (logged in via email @live.com)
Terry, I understand your point. There's definitely a need for cyclists to behave considerately and appropriately to the road conditions. I often see people riding 2 abreast and it is hard to overtake but it is usually on a Sunday morning and not so bad when people are not in a hurry.
As our world gets more crowded we need to understand that the streets are a resource for everyone. We have to share and put up with a bit of inconvenience from time to time. Cycling with friends is important too…
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Paul Richards
(logged in via Facebook)
Paul Regis,
I get your point about two abreast and disagree. We have dehumanised our cites enough.
It must be remembered that if it wasn't for cyclist lobbying for road improvements well before the motor vehicle appeared and right up to the 1940/50s. [gazetted historical fact] No roads would have been as safe as they were when more motor vehicles arrived in the late 1940s and early 50s.
Cyclists and pedestrians who opened this country and contributed to building of great Australian roads earned the right to ride two abreast on all roads. That is why it is legal to do so.
Furthermore, there is no legitimate reason to dishonour cyclists contribution by further dehumanising roads.
Paul Richards
(logged in via Facebook)
Eddie we still haven't had a response.
The concept of humanising cites can't be that daunting, your "Baby Boomer" value system was only at risk of progressing.
Surely we can learn something when we get older, can't we?
Please comment, your responses are valued.
Beat Odermatt
Environmental Consultant (logged in via email @gmail.com)
In Switzerland bicycles need to be registered. A small registration fee provides the rider with an insurance cover. The registration fee (about $2.00 a year) and the small insurance fee for third party accident and damage insurance (about $6.00 a year) provide peace of mind for cyclist and some protection for other road users and pedestrians. In many cases very expensive and traumatic accidents may be caused by bicycles without causing injuries to the rider. Registration also helps makes it easier to trace stolen bicycles
Paul Richards
(logged in via Twitter)
Beat, culturally that works.
From a country that is know for timing and "trains running on time", it is easy to see how well it suits the Swiss.
We here in Australia are a completely different, err - animal.
But your comment is valuable and valid.
Eddy Schmid
Retired (logged in via email @westnet.com.au)
Well Paul, if you can off your treadly seat for a minute or two, and consider what your actually saying, you ight actually learn something.
I notice you get a real hard on when speaking of motorists, gives away your view of them completely thus I feel quiet comfortable in stating your quiet biased indeed towards them, the majority of your comments also sustain this.
However, it is ECONOMICAL FACT, that the motor vehicle industry is so entwined into our social order, to remove it even half way…
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Paul Richards
(logged in via Twitter)
"Don’t believe, me prove me wrong?"
I take your silence as agreement that the Era of the Automobile is dying and we are Humanising Cites again.
Melbourne
http://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/ParkingTransportandRoads/Roads/SwanstonStreet/Pages/FAQ.aspx
US
http://www.streetfilms.org/moving-beyond-the-automobile/
Paul Richards
(logged in via Facebook)
You were saying about my perspective, well here is the thing.
I am Australian, not indigenous. But still a late arrival, our family came here in the early 1830s mining. On the patriarchal side my Grandfather made two trips to Kal, pre water all on foot from Esperance and returned. All journeys were on a road pioneered by carts and ‘pedestrians’. He finally left on foot with a stake to build a home he owned in Unley an outer suburb of Adelaide in the 1890s, near his family farm in Brown Hill Creek…
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John Harland
bicycle technician (logged in via email @gmail.com)
Simon, that needs checking. My understanding is that non-car traffic offenses - including when you are on a bicycle - can incur licence demerit points in Victoria.
Eddy Schmid
Retired (logged in via email @westnet.com.au)
Nobody,(and even the cycling fraternity readily admit) can claim the cyclists don't have a problem with sharing the roads with vehicles.
And THAT'S where the problem lies.
They seem to think that whenever there's more then ONE cyclist using the road, they are somehow entitled to fill BOTH lanes and to hell with any vehicles that wish to use the same roads.
Now I haven't any issue with this at all, IF such cyclists belong to a registered Club and are participating in a Registered Cycling Australia…
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Paul Richards
(logged in via Twitter)
Appreciate your comments Eddy. They underline what I am taking about, for sixty years we have been victimising the cyclist.
Your commets mirror the era of the 'automobile' and it's legacy of dehumanising cities. I am pleased the generations coming after us understand this better.
I challenge you to see how the Netherlands took a different path in the 1950s / 60s and succeeded;
http://youtu.be/XuBdf9jYj7o
http://youtu.be/aK-ESyajHLY
How the Shane Warne incident is avoided in the Nertherlands;
http://youtu.be/ki-kUVaPLvc
Any comments are welcome.
Paul Regis
Business Analyst (logged in via email @live.com)
The original article makes the key point - cyclists who ride foolishly usually end up hurting themselves. Perhaps schools have a part to play in running bike weeks, where kids are trained on road etiquette and safe riding?
The idea of registering bikes/riders is foolish because it wouldn't solve the problem. Has drunk-driving stopped with driver registration? Has speeding stopped? Have drivers stopped running red lights *every single time* at the junction of Broadway and Harris Street in Sydney? No. All registration might do is remove law abiding cyclists off the road. Is that a success? I doubt it. The only possible benefit is that the extra congestion from increased car journeys may persuade Warne to use public transport.
And why not mention driver training in respect of giving cyclists enough room on the street?
Paul Richards
(logged in via Facebook)
Paul Regis, your thinking is appreciated and valid.
The question is, are cyclists and pedestrians scapegoated and made victims?
Responsible for their own safety.
The celebrity rant should call into question everyones thinking on this issue. Just ask ourselves, "is this guy a role model for managing our lives". The answer is obvious.
Think about it - when it comes to the "sharing" and making children responsible for one tonne or more of metal hitting them, is this logical?
In Europe…
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Paul Richards
(logged in via Twitter)
Eddie, disappointed that we didn't hear from you about humanising cites. The challenge was harmless, your value system was only at risk of progressing.
Donncha Redmond
Software Developer (logged in via email @donncha.com)
Another issue that car drivers do not realise that there are a few things which are illegal in cars that are perfectly legal for a cyclist, e.g: Eddy's comments about filtering to the front in traffic. This is explicitly allowed in the NSW Road Rules. Cyclists are also legally allowed to ride in Bus Lanes and Transit Lanes, with the exception of lanes marked "Bus Only".
http://www.bicycleinfo.nsw.gov.au/get_riding/nsw_road_rules.html
This is not to claim that all cyclists are law-abiding. Clearly they are not, and nor are all car drivers. However, sometimes car drivers see something as illegal when it actually isn't.
Paul Richards
(logged in via Twitter)
Donncha - good points. Some cyclists believe it is legal to ride on a pedestrian footpath.
It's called cognitive bias and we can all suffer from it. Particularly if our value system is un-evolved and unfortunately a lot of the pro-motor vehicle crowd are. Because they are either "Baby Boomers" or Silent Generation" and still believe the utopian dream of the "automobile". Most of them can't change, "can't teach an old ........."
But then there are those wonderful few : )
Eddy Schmid
Retired (logged in via email @westnet.com.au)
Actually, in W.A. it's perfectly legal for cyclists to ride on footpaths which are no longer called fotpaths but dual use paths.
Paul Richards
(logged in via Twitter)
Eddie actually, you are wrong in law.
Link - "Cycling and the law - sub heading > "Shared Paths and Footpath" - http://www.transport.wa.gov.au/mediaFiles/cycling_cycling_and_the_law.pdf
"Children under 12 years of age may ride on any footpath unless
a no bicycles sign has been erected. Riders 12 years of age and
over are not permitted to ride on a footpath."
That is the law in WA. "...not permitted to ride on a footpath"
Thank you for your comments your mindset illustrates my point in earlier comments about cognitive bias.
David Glover
Communicator (logged in via email @gmail.com)
Paul, some cyclists (like me) sometimes ride on a footpath knowing it's not legal, but deeming it the only safe place to be on roads that aren't built for cyclists (with way too many motorists who don't drive appropriately for cyclists).
For me, the risk of a fine is acceptable. The risk of being hit by a car or truck isn't.
Cognitive bias or rational choice?
I think the important thing is consideration for other users. So I won't ride on a busy footpath and will only move at a very slow pace on a lightly used one. There are plenty of legal "shared paths" that demonstrate pedestrians and bikes can travel safely together.
Paul Richards
(logged in via Facebook)
Hey David,
I need to do exactly the same at times. You are missing the point I made, some cyclist do it and act like it is their right in law, as do car drivers about the road.
My point was that there can be a bad attitude used by both motor vehicle user and cyclist.
As for our rights as pedestrians and cyclists, the key issue is the way Australian road law evolved. Pedestrians came first, horses and carts second. When bikes came on the scene they fitted in between pedestrians and horses…
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Paul Richards
(logged in via Twitter)
The Automobile Bias is dying slowly but surely : )
http://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/ParkingTransportandRoads/Roads/SwanstonStreet/Pages/FAQ.aspx
Paul Richards
(logged in via Twitter)
Documenting Livable Streets Worldwide
More video on US Humanising of Cities
http://www.streetfilms.org/moving-beyond-the-automobile/