NSW roads minister wants to CLOSE segregated bike lane in Sydney

I've just come back from a couple of weeks in Australia (I'm originally Australian but have lived elsewhere for more than 20 years).

I was slightly heartened by the improvements they have made for cyclists since I was last there about 5-6 years ago.

Most impressive were the places they have added a cycle area (I won't say a lane, as it is just a painted line) to the side of the freeways running south and west from Sydney. There's also a lot of signage and warnings to drivers. Often people think that the relative high speed of the cars on highways is the problem but where there is a wide hard shoulder I feel it's safer than narrow roads with lower speeds.

On the down side, it's also true that there are relatively few cyclists compared to most European cities. Given their geography and weather it is really quite poor. Where I would expect to see 15-20 cyclists waiting at a traffic light in London (apparently it does happen sometimes ) in Sydney you will get 2 or 3.

Melbourne is better with more visibility and higher numbers I think although it might be that I was staying in St Kilda where a lot of cyclists use the road along the beach.

I think all the noise is ramped-up when something approaches tipping point. Cycling is approaching that point and causing reflection on the natural order of things on the road. You will always hear fuckwittery at this point in the cycle. They are raging against the dying of the light. They are kicking and screaming as it dawns on them that motor vehicles are being squeezed by the increase in people wishing to cycle.

It's too late to turn back now, press ahead, ignore the noise.

To be fair to the guy, Australia has narrow roads and dreadful weather, so no-one could reasonably expect cycling to be taken seriously there....

He's essentially a dinosaur. Continually floats the idea of bike registration etc. He's a complete D-bag in a government that is actually doing a lot of good infrastructure things around the State of NSW.

Australia really is (from what i can tell) a truly, truly awful place.

Australia has a casualty rate for cyclists two or three times ours. The Government decided that making cyclists wear helmets would put things right. It made no difference.
The casualty rate in the Netherlands is a fraction of ours, and of Australia's. So the Minister decides he is a cycle lane sceptic!

So as I read it, this buffoon is saying that a car was driven into 6 cyclists as a result of not having a "cyclists driving license", sounds like he would take being called a f**kwit as a compliment.

Here is a study of the standard of driving interacting with cyclists in Australia. It bears out all that commenters above have said.
"Drivers were at fault in 87 per cent of incidents with cyclists and most did not realise they had behaved in a reckless or unsafe manner, according to the Monash University Accident Research Centre and The Amy Gillett Foundation.

The three-year study into cyclist safety on the roads used mounted video camera footage, as well as helmet-mounted cameras worn by cyclists, to determine the main causes of road accidents between cyclists and motorists."

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/cars-to-blame-in-most-accide...

https://theconversation.com/helmet-cam-captures-bike-accidents-and-could...

It reaches a point when it's not a general human thing anymore though and it becomes a backward or bigoted thing. I've always found Australia to be one of the most shameful and racist places on earth and it is just getting worse (speaking as an 'foreigner with an accent' that will never go there again).

Aborigines were only given Australian citizenship in 1967. Think about that for a second - white Australia wouldn't let the indigenous population vote until 1967, its insane. Look at what they do to asylum seekers, or any other minority group - gay marriage, lol, no chance (despite the fact their neighbours, NZ passed the law in 2013), cyclists - fuck off, you're not normal!

God help you if you are a black, gay, cyclist with an accent in Australia - you will definitely be tarred and feathered.

I think it's a problem of general intolerance hard wired in human DNA.
After all It took quite a long time to educate the mindless and narrow minded mob called society to at least tolerate racial, sexual and ethnic minorities...

It seems to me that Australians _really_ hate cyclists and cycling.
What with this, the compulsory helmet thing, the compulsory cycle path thing in some places, and the dismal modal share.

I can only assume its because Australia is currently only number 2 in the world obesity rankings (after the US). This must sit badly with their competitive instincts. When did Australians ever settle for second when it comes to competition over physical things?

Ramuz does have a bit of a point though - the Anglosphere generally is not exactly premier league for cycling, within the developed countries.

No surprises. Australia - least bike-friendly place I've ever been.

Mr Gay said that he was being “increasingly persuaded” that cyclists need to be licensed

You mean like a driving licence, My Gay? The one that nearly all cyclists already have?

Australia, a nation flushing itself down the toilet.
Insane housing costs.
Insane energy policy.
Insane immigration policy.
Insane politics and economics

I though the UK was bad but...

US, UK, Australia, Canada - all to some extent hate bikes. What is it with the English-speaking world? Le français est la langue d'un avenir vert.

Cvnt

Is he going to stop cars from driving on certain roads because there may have been 'a couple of accidents there'. Perhaps he should think about licensing car drivers and that should stop any car crashes...oh wait a minute.

It beggars belief that this sort of fuckwittery makes it into positions of power. Oh, who am I kidding, they're all as bad as each other in positions of power aren't they? I despair, I really really do...