BY CHRISTOPHER HARRIS
A new suite of cycling measures introduced by the NSW Government on Monday this week has proved controversial.
Cyclists will now have to carry a form of identification, and the fines for riding without a helmet will increase from $67 to $319.
Greens MP Mehreen Faruqi said the increased fines for not wearing a helmet were “ridiculous”.
“It’s ridiculous that the new $319 fine for not wearing a helmet is almost double the fine for driving in a bike lane, which is $177.
She described these measures as regressive and punitive, and said it the government’s news laws were consistent with its ongoing hostility to cyclists.
Ms Faruqi said that forcing people to carry identification would discourage people from cycling at all.
“What will actually make riders safer is installing good cycling infrastructure. Sadly, but not surprisingly, it doesn’t seem the government has any interest in the evidence,” she said.
“We will all benefit from a bike-friendly NSW, but the state government is going out of its way to make life harder and more dangerous for cyclists,” she said.
President of Bicycle NSW said that if fines were going to be raised so significantly, and at a similar level as motorists, then the government must design better infrastructure.
“Bicycle NSW agrees that safer roads is the joint responsibility of all road users. However, if fines are to be raised to such a high level, then bike riders need to be treated fairly in terms of road design,” said Mr Rice.
“What NSW needs is a stronger investment and commitment to safe cycling infrastructure, for example fully separated cycleways on key routes and proper traffic light phasing with sensors for bikes.
“Bicycle NSW believes that the majority of bicycle riders are law abiding, and that riders wish to share the road safely.
The adoption of the one metre rule was welcomed by Mr Rice.
The trial of the one “metre matters” zone around cars will begin in March 2016, and stipulates that cars must leave a metre when travelling below 60 kilometres, and a metre and a half when over that speed.
The Amy Gillett Foundation, which was formed in the name of a cyclist who died in Germany after being hit while cycling, has been lobbying state and the federal government for the “metre matters rule”.
Chairman of the foundation, Mark Textor said that the government’s move followed on from a cycling summit reported by City Hub in August this year, in which Roads minister Duncan Gay had indicated his support for the rule.
As the fifth jurisdiction to adopt these changes, the NSW decision puts us one step closer to achieving the Foundation’s goal of having minimum overtaking distance laws in place Australia-wide,” Mr Textor said in a statement.
