on what appears to be a stretch of road not suitable for cycling - Im a cyclist, both mountain biking and road cycling and there are stretches here in Canterbury that Evil Knievel would think twice about cycling on. The last statement in the article seems to sums up some cyclists attitudes - its the cars / trucks at fault for using the roads.
i would not ride a bycycle here in northland . all fine in taumarunui save as the ride there.
henderson_guy,
Mar 17, 4:03pm
I travel this road several times a day in a truck, and no it is nowhere near suitable for cyclists. The lanes are only 3m wide with no shoulder to speak of, and the road is windy in places. There are also a lot of trucks and farm equipment that travel along here, and cyclists take their lives into their hands when using it IMO
wrong2,
Mar 17, 4:57pm
i wouldnt say its super-safe, but cyclists should be able to go up & down it without being squished to death by trucks
its all about giving enough space to each other
kingfisher21,
Mar 17, 6:28pm
Yup, if cyclists know it's dangerous, duh, it's not exactly rocket science, DON'T use the road untill it's improved.
matarautrader,
Mar 17, 6:54pm
The cyclists may be right and they may have got the right of way, and vehicles etc should give way but thats in a perfect world. Any mistake no matter who is at fault and when its tons of metal against a human body you don't have to be an expert to figure out the losers of the encounter. Some roads it should be compulsory for cyclist to wear body bags as its going to make it much easier for the police and firemen to pick the bits up.
rsr72,
Mar 17, 7:41pm
Drivers should have the right to drive on roads without running the risk of squishing bikers.
morrisman1,
Mar 17, 7:45pm
compulsory high-vis would help a lot. But then the lycra boys will throw their toys out as they won't look as cool anymore.
mark.52,
Mar 17, 7:50pm
This is a bit like the argument concerning (some) girls that dress up (down) and get s#it-faced and separated from their friends.
Nobody should have to worry about getting raped. Unfortunately, it happens. There are certain things girls can do to minimize the risks.
Nobody on abicycle should be hit by a vehicle on a narrow road.
lazeeboy,
Mar 17, 10:37pm
I used to ride my bike to school, starting at age 7.
It worked like this for me: Hear a car coming, move off the road and over on to the shoulder. <--this is called common sense.
I'm not sure what it is with lycra. seems to cut off the wearer's blood supply to the head.
1ollie,
Mar 17, 10:48pm
If you drive on the country and highway roads of NZ even a few times a year this should come as no surprise at all in any way what so ever! now I am not including all of them in this statement but just a good 60-70% of the idiots! now what the hell do you expect when you ride nearly 1m out from the edge of a road and sometimes even 2 abreast! roads are for cars so use your brain and live a long life!
trouser,
Mar 18, 5:08am
How would high-vis help!
serf407,
Mar 18, 5:20am
The roads are too narrow in many places, punctures are a possibility if road cyclists move into the loose gravel often at the edge of the tarseal. There are better places to mountain bike (with rugged tyres) in NZ than road cycle in close proximity of vehicles.
lazeeboy,
Mar 18, 9:29am
This is the case. Timaru has some great off road tracks, they look exciting to say the least.
I would imagine riding on the road is boring. and bloody dangerous < This part takes no imagination to realise.
Especially if your cycle "might" get a flat tyre if you "need" to move onto the shoulder.
These types of bikes were designed to race in a super smooth velodrome arena.
Not on the side of NZ roads.
I believe a mountain bike would be the safest choice for cyclists in NZ.
Sadly for some cyclist they don't share my opinion, self preservation clearly is not for everyone.
Yep. The group were riding single file, they were easy to see (fine day, bright yellow tops, a whole group of them), and the truck driver should have given them the recommended 1.5 m clearance. This is truely sad.
supernova2,
Mar 18, 3:01pm
I remember being parked on the side of SH1 - completely off the road shoulder in a side road - when a curtain sider went past and the wind blast simply ripped the door mirror and monsoon shield completely off my car.
I can see the same thing happening with a bike and a large truck.
Unfortunately bikes and modern traffic IMHO is a very dangerous mix.
trogedon,
Mar 18, 4:47pm
Mostly because of the drivers.
whqqsh,
Mar 18, 4:57pm
same as motorcyclists yet they get stung with huge ACC levies. time to pay up, Lycra Lovers
trogedon,
Mar 18, 4:59pm
Sports players (start looking into Rugby.oh no you can't pick on our National gayme), people who walk, use showers, climb ladders, look for the TV remote behind the couch. Time to "pay up" humans.
oliver6,
Mar 18, 5:00pm
Possibly it is time drivers had to take driver training to be able to drive on our roads. One in ten drivers are unskilled, careless, dangerous, and sometimes aggressive. Obviously the truck driver involved in this shouldn't ever drive on our roads again.
kingfisher21,
Mar 18, 5:23pm
Oh, so you're one of the tossers that automatically presume because a truck is involved that the said truck driver was at fault, were you there were you!
henderson_guy,
Mar 18, 5:33pm
I recently saw a slideshow by a advanced driving instructor with several clips of fatal accidents. In all the accidents involving trucks, in only one was the truck driver at fault. Accidents are not always clear cut.
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