Green Up Moggill

I sent the following on 23 June 2009 either by email or by via their web site to each of Campbell Newman, the State Minister of Transport Rachel Nolan and the state member in whose area the incident occurred, Scott Emerson:

On my way into the University of Queensland today on my bicycle, the
driver of the 428 bus that arrived on campus at about 8:40 behaved in
a consistently intimidatory way, including driving right up behind me
to stop at bus stops on the way, and overtaking me on the last stretch
of Hawken Drive before UQ so close I could have reached out to touch
the bus (this last event when the road was wide, and there was no
oncoming traffic, so there was absolutely no excuse). A bus is a
dangerous weapon when used in this fashion. Sooner or later this kind
of behaviour is going to result in serious injury or a fatality.

I have complained several times about the way bus drivers attempt to
push bikes off the roads to no effect.

This time if I get no satisfactory response be assured that I will
launch a public campaign.

I received a reply from Campbell Newman, dated 16 July, addressing my concerns in detail. The bus driver concerned has been placed on a performance improvement plan, and this information has been used to improve driver training.

I am yet to hear from the other politicians. While Campbell Newman is the person most able to take action, it is disappointing that the others did not take the matter seriously enough at least to reply.

While I disagree with Campbell Newman on many policy issues, I would like to thank him for taking this issue seriously and taking remedial action.

Nonetheless the city’s overall approach to bicycle safety is inadequate: incidents like this are not purely a matter of driver training but also a consequence of mixing too many incomptible vehicles on the same roadway. While there are some excellent bikeways, once you are off them you have little option but to mix with either heavy traffic or pedestrians. It’s as if the city, wanting to learn from its lesson of neglecting motorway construction in the era when that was considered a good idea, is trying to remedy this oversight by focusing solely on the equivalent of motorways for bicycles. It’s all very well to have a clear run between far out of the city and the city centre, but having to mix with other traffic in city and suburban streets remains a serious problem.

If everyone who had the option to use a bike felt safe to do so, traffic would be signficantly reduced, reducing the need for more roads. We would have a healthier population, and local businesses would do better because the average person would shop locally more often, rather than waiting until a long enough shopping list had accumulated to justify taking the car to the mall.

Let’s keep working on th big picture: a city that’s fun and safe to live in, with healthy lifestyle options accessible to all, not just the adventurous few willing to take their lives in their hands every time they venture onto the streets.