Bicycle Network calls on Tasmanian Councils to make roads safer for cyclists

The cyclist sustained serious injuries after a crash at the intersection between Atkinson Road and the West Tamar Highway, according to police.

Bicycle Network's Public Affairs Adviser Alison Heatherington said that after a crash, the cycling community's general response was concern for the rider but also interest in the cause of the crash.

One of the major issues with road safety is a lack of separation between cyclists and traffic and not having enough space on the road, Ms Heatherington said.

The "golden rule" is to separate cyclists when they're on high-speed roads or where there's heavy traffic, she said. But separating cyclists and drivers occurs more often in urban environments rather than long-distance riding.

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And in places in Tasmania which have dispersed populations and long distances, it can be more cost-effective for governments just to provide a wider road to give riders more space, she said.

Ms Heatherington said that she'd been contacted by Bicycle Network's members in North who were frustrated because they'd been trying to get their council to put painted bike lanes on Westbury Road but were not getting any response.

Painted lanes "is nothing really expensive," Ms Heatherington said.

The Bicycle Network is calling on Councils across the state to have bike plans and bike strategies that show they understand the different needs of different people, Ms Heatherington said.

Councils need to have those plans in place and to build those networks step-by-step, each year to make it safer for people to ride for whatever reason they want, she said.

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"Having bike plans in place so everyone understands what we're all working to is a really good start to make cycling more attractive to more people."

In Australia, Melbourne has the best cycling infrastructure because they started making roads safer with painted lanes for cyclists 20 years ago, Ms Heatherington said..

"They then understood that a lot of those lanes in the city areas should be separated and they've gone through and retrofitted and separated bike lanes from the traffic."

But on the global stage, Australia is far behind what other cities are doing around the world, she said.

Ms Heatherington said European cities have much better infrastructure with cities like Amsterdam and Copenhagen taking the lead in cyclist accessibility.

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But these cities also have "better attitudes towards cycling as a legitimate form of transport," she said.

At the turn of the century, cycling was a really common mode of transport in Australia and was used by a broad range of people but in the 50s and 60s, there was a "big push towards driving," Ms Heatherington said.

The car took over our roads which didn't necessarily happen in other cities, Ms Heatherington said.

This was the case in older cities where they weren't able to modernise their roads to accommodate more vehicles.

Those cities now have the benefit of having these really "beautiful, walkable, rideable" city centres that haven't been destroyed by highways cutting them in half, which unfortunately occurred in a lot of Australian cities, she said.

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