Give the disabled, pedestrians and cyclists priority

I came across this article from a Facebook wall which could help keep the awareness. It's good that our mainstream newspaper have a coverage like this. KOSMO reported as well, but sadly misleading readers with their highlights about the victim's bike price. What are they thinking? I guess it's about time that motorists have a 101 lesson about road ethics.

20 March 2012

Road rules must protect cyclists

By Fauziah Ismail |fauziah@nst.com.my

Give the disabled, pedestrians and cyclists priority

Cyclists are entitled to share the roads with other motorists.
My kids' friends cycle to school.
There's no dedicated bike lanes. God have a mercy on them

ON a fellowship at Cambridge University in the United Kingdom back in 1998, I was given a bicycle. It helped me a lot as Norton House at Wolfson College, where I was staying, was quite a distance from the university library or my supervisor's office in the city.

But I stopped cycling after a near brush with death. I was cycling to the university library when a van, to avoid a collision with another vehicle, swerved onto the bicycle lane I was on. I managed to get off the bicycle and jumped aside in time to avoid the van.

Cyclists do not pay road tax and are not licensed, but they have the right, like other vehicle users, to use the road and be shown courtesy and care by other road users.

There are now about one billion bicycles worldwide, twice as many as cars. The global bicycle market was US$60 billion (RM183 billion) last year. Some 130 million bicycles are sold every year globally.

A study has shown that bicycles are an efficient and effective mode of transportation that provides numerous benefits compared with motor vehicles. Besides exercise, it is an alternative to the use of fossil fuels, with no air or noise pollution, much reduced traffic congestion, easier parking, greater manoeuvrability, and access to both roads and paths.

The advantages are less financial cost to the user as well as society as there is negligible damage to roads. However, a cyclist is not protected in crashes, particularly with motor vehicles, and there is longer travel time (except in densely populated areas), vulnerability to weather conditions, difficulty in transporting passengers, and skill and fitness are required.

That notwithstanding, there is a growing interest in cycling in Malaysia the past year or so. Azizulhasni "Pocketman" Awang brought the sport into the limelight last year after winning World Championship medals in cycling.

The advent of the foldable bicycle also saw an increase in the number of people taking to the roads. On weekends, you can find residents' associations or cycling groups organising events and rides. I have friends living in Taman Tun Dr Ismail going for rides in Putrajaya on Saturday mornings.

But is it safe to cycle on our roads? Last January, national cyclist Mariana Mohamad suffered multiple fractures to her ribs and forearm after a Perodua Kancil swerved into her and other cyclists during their simulation exercise.

On Sunday, cyclist Rafizi Hamdan was killed in a hit-and-run accident involving a Proton Saga. He was among the thousands of cycling enthusiasts who frequent the back roads heading out of the city on weekends.

And they are at the mercy of the motorists while on the road.

In Malaysia, there are no regulations protecting cyclists, unlike, for example, in the UK and Australia. In the UK, there is a highway code which covers bicycles while in Australia, there are special road rules for cyclists. In California, there is a section in the Department of Motor Vehicles' driver handbook on sharing the road.

In Amsterdam, cyclists and pedestrians have legal priority over cars in many urban areas. It was in the 1970s, when confronted with spiralling oil prices, that the Dutch government invested 10 per cent of its budget on cycling -- a massive amount of money at that time but one that has reaped dividends as it has since established the Netherlands as the cycling capital of the world.

There must be a comprehensive campaign to make cycling safe here. The authorities may want to consider a road user hierarchy here, where the disabled, pedestrians and cyclists are given priority. We may need to change the culture of our roads by ensuring that vehicles give way to cyclists and pedestrians at all times. They are part of the normal traffic flow and are entitled to share the road with other drivers.

Or, the authorities may want to look into designating areas where people would feel safe and happy to cycle.

I may just take up an offer by my Taman Tun Dr Ismail friend to cycle again, but only when I am convinced that the roads are safe for cyclists.