Simple things to make cycling better and safer

[il padrone]

I recall during the oil crisis (1970's) that people said that they'd never pay the price that americans were then paying. Never ever ever. (That war $1 per gallon, ie around 20c per litre.)

Well, prices in Oz long ago got to that price in real terms

Wrong there.

20c in 1970, adjusted for inflation would be $1.91 in 2009. In 1972 (when the oil price jump kicked in) 20c would be worth $1.70 in 2009
http://www.rba.gov.au/calculator/annualDecimal.html.

So our current petrol prices are still way too cheap. A fuel price of $2.50-3.00 per litre would be more of the sort needed to shift use well away from cars - something like what fuel prices are in Europe I believe.

[ColinOldnCranky]

I recall during the oil crisis (1970's) that people said that they'd never pay the price that americans were then paying. Never ever ever. (That war $1 per gallon, ie around 20c per litre.)

Well, prices in Oz long ago got to that price in real terms

Wrong there.

20c in 1970, adjusted for inflation would be $1.91 in 2009. In 1972 (when the oil price jump kicked in) 20c would be worth $1.70 in 2009
http://www.rba.gov.au/calculator/annualDecimal.html.

So our current petrol prices are still way too cheap. A fuel price of $2.50-3.00 per litre would be more of the sort needed to shift use well away from cars - something like what fuel prices are in Europe I believe.

Good call. I was afraid someone would jump me for not doing the calcs myslef and for not crafting my reply carefully enough.

However, over the time there were intervals (late 70's?) where we did jump heavily and it stuck. And people did drop use for a while, got used to it and went back as though the relativities had not changed at all.

On the other hand, the substantial rise in proce of cigarettes does seem to have affected the buying habits of consumers. (Then again, there are a lot of other things that have put downward pressure on smoking too, so it's hard to be definite.)

But good cop nontheless.

btw, US pump prices these days WAY lower in equivalent currency terms now than in Oz - around US$3 per gallon - a massive reversal. What's taht work out at? About half what we pay? And then people wonder why the yanks still drive big heavy tanks.

[il padrone]

Yeah, I just got to thinking how I used to buy a drumstick for 20c in the early 1970s, and how now they are $3.40

[brentono]

A well presented (witty) Safety Campaign.

[Mustang]

On a more realistic note...

More cycling lanes that don't end at intersections (just where you really need them) would be nice. Or, when it is unavoidable, "bike boxes" at the front of the line and specific bike lights to give bikes a few seconds to clear the intersection and get back into their bike lane before the cars lights go green. Sure they exist somewhere here, but the need to exist more.

+1

[human909]

On a more realistic note...

More cycling lanes that don't end at intersections (just where you really need them) would be nice. Or, when it is unavoidable, "bike boxes" at the front of the line and specific bike lights to give bikes a few seconds to clear the intersection and get back into their bike lane before the cars lights go green. Sure they exist somewhere here, but the need to exist more.

+1

-1

Take the lane through intersections. It is safer.

[eldavo]

Moveable barriers serve a useful purpose. But by their nature they can be sited in dangerous or less than ideal places, just waiting to catch the unwary or the plain unlucky. (viewtopic.php?f=18&t=35669&p=522758#p522758)

However, I reckon that reflectors or reflective paint would seem to be the minimum requirement for these barriers. Unpainted concrete is one of the easiest things not to see even if a rider does have lights.

I'd extend the same simple requirement to plastic barriers. Paint them with reflecting irridescent paint, or glue reflectors on them.

Perhaps BTA and others could lobby to have something written into relevant standards.

A personal incident with these exact ones at this site before the fatality.

I had seen those concrete bollards before while driving our family wagon, I turned into the street to the estate for the first time in the neighbourhood, nearly hitting them, because there was no switched on street lighting from the development and my headlights didn't hit the bollards them until I had made the turn, so it was an emergency jump on the brakes... at night in good weather at no remarkable speed. The street lighting from the main street was obscured by trees, so not enough spillover to light them indirectly.

When I heard the first details of the crash I sadly knew what was the likely obstacle.
If somebody thinks that the bollards were the right choice, ask why the council/developer then removed them ASAP and put orange/white continuous barriers and road closed signs for all access turning lanes to the road after the death.