Supposedly, I’m a menace and a f*%king idiot. Why? I’m not really sure, but I think it’s because I ride a bike around Sydney.
I wear a helmet. I ride on the left side of the road. But, I have a cheap hybrid bike that can’t move all that quickly, and sometimes, when it’s dusk, I don’t put my lights on.
Last week, two men in cars started yelling at me while I was on my bike. This isn’t unusual, it happens a lot, and I’m quite used to it. But this time the yelling escalated until one of the men – a solid built, tanned fellow – jumped out of the taxi he was in. He grabbed my bike, while I was still on it. He dragged the bike (and I) to the side of the road, and continued to verbally abuse me. This is, without a doubt, the worst bike rage I have ever experienced.
I understand that it can be frustrating for drivers when they feel like they are slowed down by bikes. Plus, drivers can get anxious about hitting cyclists. We stress you, and that’s a shame. But, this experience made me think that people might need a refresher course in the Road Rules.
Bikes are vehicles too
According to NSW Road Rules 2008, bicycles are vehicles, just like motor vehicles and animal drawn vehicles (Pt 2 Dv 2 Rule 15). As such, bicycles must ride on the road. This rule applies across Australia, including Queensland, Victoria and South Australia.
Further, Rule 249 of the NSW Road Rules, stipulates: “The rider of a bicycle must not ride on a part of a separated footpath designated for the use of pedestrians.” If cyclists ride on the footpath, it can attract a fine. Again, similar laws exist around Australia.
If a cyclist is not wearing a helmet or appropriate lights – or perhaps they are stealing a bag of grapes as they ride – that doesn’t change these rules. Cyclists can get fined for their wrongdoings, but that doesn’t open the door for abuse from drivers. That would be like saying I’m allowed to smash a car window, because a driver hadn’t paid for their registration. I can’t. If I did, the driver and I would be acting against the law, for different reasons, and we could both be fined accordingly.
What this means is that drivers don’t have exclusive access to the roads, and that is the law. If drivers are frustrated and disagree with this, they can write letters to Parliament, or set up a peaceful protest.
Feeling Congested?
But, before drivers start penning these letters, consider the benefits of cycling. Drivers might think that cyclists slow them down, but if riders were driving cars instead, it would significantly increase road congestion. According to the Queensland Government, current rates of commuter cycling reduce the cost of congestion around Australia by approximately $63.9 million per year.
There is also evidence that a strong cycling culture can reduce rates of obesity. If you don’t think this issue affects you, it does. In 2008, the total annual cost of obesity to Australia, including health system costs and loss of productivity was around $58 billion. If you’re not concerned about obesity, that money could have been spent on things you do care about.
I love riding. I don’t do it to offend cars, or annoy drivers. I just enjoy commuting on two wheels, and it’s perfectly legal. If drivers have a serious problem with it, they need to take it to the Government. No amount of name-calling is getting me off my bike.
For more information
- Road User’s Hand Book (pdf)
Pay rego and I will stop complaining.
We all pay taxes, which are used to build the roads. Here is a budget announcement which shows the money the Commonwealth Government puts into infrastructure. As I understand it, registration doesn’t get put towards constructing and maintaining roads. Rather, rego goes toward third-party insurance and administration. But this is a bit off topic, and leads into a different debate all together.
Almost all adult bike riders do pay rego. We have cars. We buy petrol and the taxes from that go toward paying for the roads.
We drive and we ride.
The main reason for car rego is because every car is a lethal weapon. Any driver can make a mistake and kill or very seriously injure someone. While it is possible on a bike it’s fairly hard.
Also, the bike we ride create almost zero wear and tear on the road and with cycle commuters reduce the need for 8 lane roads at peak times.
Bikes you see are saving you money. If one delays you for 30 seconds just relax.
One of the many reasons I ride is that it’s cheaper than maintaining a car. I have a car licence but no car rego as I don’t own a car anymore. A lot of people I know are in a similar situation. I also know a few people that have never had a car licence and probably never will. At least one of these cycles.
I found that even though I had a car licence and knew the road rules I still didn’t know the road rules in relation to riding a bike. Imagine then if you have someone that has never had their car licence! How much would they know about riding a bike on the road?
People should have a licence to ride a bike so that they have to have knowledge of the road rules and be responsible as a rider. If you go out unprepared onto the roads you are a danger to yourself and others.
Bike shops certainly don’t check if you even know how to ride a bike let alone know how to cope riding one on the roads.
Some cyclists I know have done the City of Sydney cycling course and have gotten a lot out of this but this isn’t a thing that a lot of people know about or have to do.
All other vehicles on the road have to be registered or at least the driver does so why not bicycles? They’re a vehicle too.
Imagine if noone had to register as a driver (car or otherwise) or know the road rules. That would definitely make life interesting!
Too many people run red lights, ride on the footpath or ride into pedestrians at crossings. Yes pedestrians and cars do stupid things too but it helps if you know what is stupid and what is safe. Probably a lot of cyclists don’t even know that you’re not supposed to ride on the footpath if it isn’t a shared path.
Yes the incident reports for cyclists are low but this is perhaps partly because they are not able to be identified so people don’t bother to report it.
And that leads us to third party insurance. Bicycle NSW offer this as part of their membership which is pretty much why I joined. Rego usually provides you with the same.
I am a cyclist but I am also a pedestrian and I’d like to see all cyclists aware of what they are doing and be confident on the roads. Maybe regulating cycling would also get cyclists a bit more respect from others.
This is a great article Wendy. I am not sure that I would have written something so helpful after such an encounter.
I do hope that you weren’t hurt.
For Michael above – what is it that you feel that a rego for bikes will give you? Some cyclists break rules, do you feel that rego will give you some power over those rule breakers? Does it give you power over other road users that break rules?
Or is it the old chestnut “Rego pays for the roads, so bike riders don’t pay for roads” – obviously untrue.
Stop thinking of bike riders as “them” Vs “us” and think instead of just “people” then perhaps your attitude will change. There is nothing to complain about.
I too am a rider (63 y/o and started riding to work in January) and have never been abused at all. You didn’t say whether you were riding in the middle of the road – which of course would be very frustrating for traffic. I see bike riders doing this just because they can. I don’t of course condone what happened to you.
Hey Michael,
Classifying all bike riders as non-rego-paying freeloaders seems somewhat shortsighted – how many of the cyclists you complain about have cars at home with fully paid up registration?
Since I pay rego on three vehicles, I assume you’ll be checking with me when you see me out on my bike, to make sure you’re not complaining from a position of ignorance? (No, I thought not…)
Janice,
What difference does it make if she was riding in the middle of the lane? Road rage bordering on physical assault is not the fault of the victim.
Bike riders often ride in the middle of a lane not “just because they can” (even though they are certainly entitled to by law) but because, in the absence of proper bike lanes, riding at the left of the carriageway often encourages cars to attempt to overtake the bike in its lane when it is unsafe to do so. There is little risk for a car that attempts this and gets it wrong, some scratched duco at most, but for a bike rider it is almost always very stressful and potentially seriously injurious.
I will start treating cyclists like other vehicles and not pests when they stop riding through red lights. The amount of near accidents I’ve had driving in the early morning with cyclists running reds is beyond any joke.
Monique – take a look at what you’ve just written. It implies that EVERY SINGLE cyclist jumps red lights. If you see a car jump a red light or cut someone up or speed or hog lanes does that mean that ALL car drivers act the same way? No, of course it doesn’t. It means that that individual was driving poorly.
If you see a cyclist run a red light, it means they are breaking the law, not every single cyclist.
Don’t be so ignorant.
Please, I see more cyclists running reds than cars. I’m aware its not every single rider so there’s no need to be so patronising. but it happens far too often .
Hi Wendy,
Great article. I was particularly interested in your comment about drivers being anxious around bikes.
As a bike rider I am particularly careful not to “ride in packs”. It might be simply because I have no friends. But it does astound me when I see those big groups of racing enthusiasts in their branded Lycra gear in massive packs in built up areas and on busy roads.
I was driving one day on Sydney’s Upper North Shore when I stopped at lights I was quickly surrounded by a pack of cyclists with the branding of a certain local bike store emblazoned across their backs. I was suddenly in a situation where was trapped and was unable to turn into a service station. This sort of behaviour doesn’t help the image of the common bike rider who just wants an easy
Cont… Commute to work. Such a shame although I recognise it is a somewhat different scenario to that you describe.
I will start treating other motorists like people and not pests when they stop driveing through red lights, hogging the road at ridiculously slow speeds, & start using indicators. The amount of near accidents I’ve had driving in the early morning with cars running reds, merging & turning without notice, & holding up traffic is beyond any joke.
That’s ridiculous. Do you treat every car driver like with road rage because you witness one car doing something illegal? Hopefully not because you treat EACH driver as a person. For some reason when it comes to bikes people forget that for every irritating commuter bike that cuts through traffic there are probably a hundred bike riders that never do anything illegal. Stop treating all bike riders poorly based on a handful of experiences.
Commuter riders tend not to be an issue here on the gold coast. The issue is when you have the large groups riding 5 abreast and are “training” or something like that. These are the people with no respect for traffic, blocking lanes and slowing traffic. If you want to ride a bike for fitness, go to a velodrome or park, but if you DO need to stay on the road, at least stay inside the designated bike lanes, not in the middle of the traffic lane, riding at 15km/h in a 60 zone.
Have you ever actually ridden on a velodrome? Cos you sound like you have no clue. 15 kph… hah… maybe on the toughest pinch of Mt Buffalo on a bad day.
Given the value of that number lets just assume 5 abreast is 2 abreast with one rider passing. One lane worth of bikes. Entirely legal.
“Entirely legal.”
Indeed, but, and I say this as a regular cyclist, the number of times I have seen distinct lack of courtesy from riders’ in situations where they cause frustration for no reason is far too often. (Yes, driver’s too)
Case in point, two abreast riding downhill at around 60-70km/hr in a 100 km/hr zone, with a dozen cars queued up behind them, yet a wide, good quality (no potholes), debris-free shoulder all the way down. Sometimes we need to look at ourselves and point the finger also, drivers’ frustrations may be quite valid.
What Felixmeister said. Be a pedestrian or traffic. If you’re traffic, you can’t run a red or fail to indicate.
Also, I feel that, in general, the “don’t be a dick” rule should apply to all people at all times. If a cyclist is causing considerable traffic holdups – especially heading up hills etc – the polite thing to do might be to pull over for a bit, or use a side street, instead of being a dangerous rolling roadblock in the left lane. By the same token, motorists should be polite and give way to cyclists when necessary. Abusing people is rarely a good idea.
good, calmly discussed points. Thank you.
There is another situation that can annoy drivers which I notice particularly here in the West: the cyclist(s) ride on the road when there is an excellent Dual use cycle path near – sometimes within a couple of metres of the road they are on.
Have a safe ride home.
Hi Wendy, jeez what an a-hole. But, neither here nor there with biking (good? tick!), avoid getting road rage. Full stop.
Can you do an article on what excites road rage please?
All great points.
As a commuter in Sydney I try to ride via quiet streets, use bike lanes where possible and avoid busy roads if I can. However, each journey (only 7kms) I witness or experience multiple incidents of car drivers angrily, inattentively or illegally driving in a dangerous manner. There needs to be a concerted driver education program…and some enforcement wouldnt go astray.
As an aside. I got tooted yesterday because I was riding on the left of the road lane and not on bike lane that the council hasd so thoughtfully provided. The reason? Because the painted cycle-designated area was squarely in the dooring zone of a street full of parked cars. I had no desire to be knocked off my bike by a suddenly opened car door and mashed into the bitumen by the passing traffic. I’m sure that the driver who tooted me didnt realise this and thought that I was just driving on the road to be a dick.
Some more thought and planning by the governemnt bodies would be great and a little understanding by the general public would also go a long way to improving car-bike relations.