By LACHLAN MOORHEAD
A BERWICK cyclist, who owns a local bike shop, believes there is a “complete lack of respect” in the community from motorists towards bike riders.
It comes after a recent and much-publicised “dooring” incident in Melbourne’s city where a cyclist was hit by a car door and then verbally abused.
Spider Bikes Beaconsfield manager Dave Jones said the most common incident indicative of motorist aggression in Casey was “close passing.”
“When I cycle with our group, we average nearly 60 kilometres per hour, we’ll be going the speed limit but we’ll still have vehicles that will pass us on double lines simply because, heaven forbid, a push bike is in front of them,” he said.
“There are those cars that pass that give ample space, but there are other vehicles that if they see another car coming the other way, they will still pass despite the fact that there’s clearly no space.”
Mr Jones, who runs a weekly “shop ride” for cyclists, said motorists even went to the extent of throwning items at passing riders and yelling abuse, adding that he himself had been a victim.
But he conceded cyclists needed to be wary of riding in vulnerable positions when it wasn’t appropriate, such as two abreast.
“If you were to look at it from the driver’s point of view, a lot of cyclists put themselves, at times, in bad situations, so you can avoid a lot of the problems simply by being in the right position on the road,” Mr Jones said.
Bicycle Network Victoria spokesman Garry Brennan said while the network received more reports of abusive driver behaviour from areas in the outer fringes of Melbourne, anti-cyclist attitudes were actually fading away.
“We expect to see the numbers of riders on the roads in this district to more than double in the next few years, and drivers will have to adjust their behaviour and take more care,” he said.
“Research shows that when you get plenty of bikes on the roads, safety improves for all road users because drivers are being more careful.
“This will be a great result for the people in this region.”
