Ignorance of Law?

[John Lewis]

What follows is a letter to the editor that appeared in our local paper
The Weekender for My 8th. I believe there was an almost identical letter by the same author in The Albany Advertiser but I didn't see that one.
I'm looking at drafting a reply for all the good it will do.

"City is pandering

to local cyclists

SOME time back I rode a push-bike
on a daily basis from South Perth to
Fremantle and return.
This saved me a two-bob bus fare
a day on my meagre weekly wages.
Observing the bike riders of today,
I wonder in what direction we are
going.

The Cadel Evans wanna-bes and the
ladies, with aspirations of grandeur
who pedal their bikes resplendent
in lycra around our city are to be
commended in their pursuit of body
perfection and fitness until they
decide to take on road trains during
peak hour traffic and annoy car drivers
on a daily basis.

Maybe a bike rider could explain to
car drivers. why they choose to ride
their bike double-breasted down a
major highway during peak times
when we have financed a bike path
four metres away.

More importantly, we should ask
why our Council has approved the
widening of Golf Links Road at a
cost of nearly half a million dollars.

On enquiry, the City advised me the
widening is to cater for bike riders
who need to travel to work and can't
use the present bike road because it
takes too long to go to work.

This drivel, confirmed by the state-
ment Golf Links Road speed limit
will be reduced to cars because it
is too narrow to cater for 8Okm/h,
suggests the City is attempting to
bulldust old bulldusters, controlled
by funding from State Government
which in turn i catering for a lobby
group that has no relevance to a posi-
tive future for Albany.
- John Robertson, Albany."

( From Letters to the Editor. Weekender May 8th 2014)

The Major highway is a dual carriageway and the bike path mentioned is a poor quality footpath repurposed as shared path with all the problems of driveways etc etc that makes it totally unsuitable and dangerous for commuters. Already had one friend cleaned up by a car shooting out of a driveway at McD's. They did a runner too.
The second path mentioned is a meandering dual use path along the beach and has a posted 15 kmh speed limit.

The road definitely needs widening and the speed limit reducing. There is a poor shoulder that once had bicycle symbols but it is eroded away and you would be a fool if you tried to use it.

Certainly seems the writer needs to apprise himself of the law and the letter needs answering if only to educate others.
Letters to the Editor. Only email I can find is as below.
email is manager(at)gsweekender.com.au . replies limited to 250 words and name and address required even if not for publication

John

[Aushiker]

To be honest John, I thought worth writing a reply was a great idea till I got this sentence ...

The Cadel Evans wanna-bes and the ladies, with aspirations of grandeur who pedal their bikes resplendent
in lycra around our city are to be
commended in their pursuit of body
perfection and fitness until they
decide to take on road trains during
peak hour traffic and annoy car drivers
on a daily basis.

Honestly when people write like this I think that bothering to reply is a waste of time, but then maybe other readers might benefit from an intelligent reply.

Given the 250 word limit I would stick to facts and clarity.

Andrew

[John Lewis]

Thanks Andrew,
Thats what I ended up doing.
I hope those who read it will learn something.
Now to wait and see if my reply is published.

John

[petie]

Good on you for replying, at least if your reply is published John Robertson will hopefully read it (someone who writes letters is likely to eagerly look for replies?)and possibly think about his position.

[silentC]

There was a similar letter published in our local paper last year. One of the local cyclists wrote what I thought was a well reasoned reply. The following week there were another 2 or 3 letters in response complaining about cyclists...

Sadly people who hold those views rarely change them. It might make other people think perhaps, hard to say. I've given up trying to convince anyone. I just accept that there are people like that out there and I do my best to avoid them on and off the road.

[ldrcycles]

There was a similar letter published in our local paper last year. One of the local cyclists wrote what I thought was a well reasoned reply. The following week there were another 2 or 3 letters in response complaining about cyclists...

Yep i had the same thing a year or 2 ago, some woman kept writing in saying that cyclists should only be allowed on the road between 1 and 4 am for their own safety, and demanding to know why it was not a good idea. As you said, people with that kind of staggering ignorance cannot be reasoned with, but there is value in presenting the facts for others who may not be so stupid.

[il padrone]

The staggering thing about the intelligence quotient measurement is that something like 80-90% of people think they are above-average IQ...... but the calculation of the IQ means that something pretty close to 50% are actually below-average

[Aushiker]

Thanks Andrew,
Thats what I ended up doing.
I hope those who read it will learn something.
Now to wait and see if my reply is published.

John

Good on you. Do let us know if it gets published and of course a copy of the letter

Andrew