The Queensland Govt. Safer Cycling Roundtable 12/12/11

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The 2nd Womble
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The Queensland Govt. Safer Cycling Roundtable 12/12/11

Postby The 2nd Womble » Mon Dec 12, 2011 11:20 pm

Howdy all.
I thought I'd update everyone on outcome of the first such meeting of it's type that has been held in Australia thanks to Queensland Transport and Multicultural Affairs Minister Anastacia Palaszczuk Minister and Matt Johnson - Director (Cycling program) from the Dept. of Transport and main Roads
Firstly, it will speed things up to simply cut and paste the day's agenda, so here it is:

AGENDA
Safer Cycling Roundtable
Date Monday 12 December 2011 Time 9.30 am arrival for
10.00am – 4.00pm
Place Level 17, 53 Albert Street, Brisbane
MC Matt Johnson, Director (Cycling Program), Department of Transport and
Main Roads

SESSION 1
10.00am
Opening address The Honourable Annastacia Palaszczuk MP
Minister for Transport and Multicultural Affairs
10 minutes
10.10am
Welcome and Purpose Mark Cridland, Associate Director-General (Policy and Planning), Department of Transport and Main Roads
5 minutes
10.15am
Introductions All
15 minutes
10.30am
Keynote Speaker 1 What the data tells us about cycling safety
Professor Narelle Haworth, Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety Queensland, QUT
20 minutes10.50am
Keynote Speaker 2 The Safe System as it relates to cyclists
Tracey Gaudry, Chief Executive Officer, Amy Gillett Foundation
20 minutes
11.10am
Keynote Speaker 3 10 years of change - cycling in Queensland
Ben Wilson, General Manager, Bicycle Queensland
20 minutes
11.30am Break
10 minutes

SESSION 2
11.40pm
Snapshots Current initiatives
Planning networks for safety – Donnie Mackay, Department of Transport and Main Roads
Infrastructure provision – Kendrick Benson, Department of Transport and Main Roads
QCS Signature Projects – Matt Johnson, Department of Transport and Main Roads
Legislation and regulation – Michael Langdon, Department of Transport and Main Roads
Sunshine Coast “Share with care” Program – Peter Duffy, Sunshine Coast Regional Council
Draft safety campaign – Matt Johnson, Department of Transport and Main Roads
60 minutes

12.40pm Lunch
50 minutes

SESSION 3
1.30pm
Working Group A Small group discussion on presentations:
What we are doing well? What is not being done well enough? What could be done differently?
Each group to nominate their top 5 priority areas for action.
Report back.
45 minutes
2.15pm
Working Group B Vote to identify top 5 priority areas for action.
15 minutes
2.30pm Afternoon tea Queensland Bicycle Council
30 minutes

SESSION 4
3.00pm
Report to Queensland Bicycle Council Summary of the day’s findings:
Presentation to the Queensland Bicycle Council
Discussion and Feedback
Close
60 minutes

SO that's what the day entailed. Under Flouro's which tend to put me to sleep in a big way!
I should begin by saying that Matt Johnson is a bloody nice bloke and is genuinely keen on achieving the best possible outcomes for Queensland cyclists, and it shows. He and many others are now frantically trying to play catch up with the rest of the world where infrastructure, education and enforcement/legislation are concerned - something I would have been highly sceptical of had I not witnessed their commitment first hand over the last few weeks.
The opening address by the Minister was delayed by half an hour today as she was urgently called out to Springfield (my back yard) where the new rail/cycle link to Forest lake is in it's early stages. Apparently earthworks uncovered some 2000 year old pieces of Aboriginal Flint which brought the entire process to a grinding halt. I missed it on the news btw :? However the Minister made it eventually and gave a shortened intro to get us back on track again.
Following her was Mark Cridland (see above) who during his presentation described cycle lanes as "corridores of death" which shows that those in control of what goes where and why are still very much aware of the limitations of such road engineering measures.
Narrelle Haworth from CARRS Q gave a very simplistic statistical analysis without much detail, and relied on figures dating back on average 4-5 years which was never going to give a fair and relevant summary of the current situation in this State. It was also apparent that until a comprehensive study is carried out, we will never gain usable data from current sources with which to draw any meaningful conclusions regarding much of anything. Concidering that Police data indicates that multiple vehicle accidents (bikes incl.) represent roughly 90% of accident totals on road where other figures have put that number as low as 5-6%, the reliance on current data will most likely never give us the answers we're all looking for.
One thing Narelle did mention which was an eye opener is that only 3% of accidents involving riders - whether in multi vehicle incidents or not - are reported to the Police. It also seems apparent from what little evidence about rider behaviour IS available, that cyclists in general overestimate their own visibility. A major factor in this is not so much overconfidence or en inflated sense of entitlement IMO, rather a lack of due care and attention on the part of the motorist. I'm sure we're all familiar with this senario.
AGF CEO Tracey Gaudry pointed out as politely as possible that "more people riding more often" is not being reflected in the statistics. The overall percentage of Deaths and injuries to cyclists is still increasing regardless. This is something I will be keeping a closer eye on what with the QLD Govt's 2016 deadline of doubling cycling participation while reducing the cyclist accident rate by 30% is fast approaching!
Ben Wilson. Ben Wilson... Well, nothing to see here. His greatest claim to fame was the 1km section of George Street in the Brisbane CBD where we have a separated dedicated cycle lane on a 4km stretch of road. Hardly an enlightening talk and one which only confirmed my view of BQ. We'll mention the spat he had with me in the group discussion shortly, but give it up and go home Ben.
Matt took the stage again afterwards and made the point that today had been brought about as a direct result of the alarming increases in the level of aggression and incident rates on QLD roads. TMR admits action MUST be taken now lest they effectively lose control of the situation altogether.
TMR is working on a High Priority discussion paper in relation to cycling legislation, and the paper will be available for public comment in roughly 2 weeks time at this stage.
One big plus for commuters and children in particular is that TMR are looking at allowing cyclists to ride across intersections at major crossings rather than having to dismount. This would NOT apply at school or regular pedestrian crossings however, but it will still make the process of riding easier and safer for many of us.
TMR will also be advertising in 2012 in the papers and on radio - as well as other mediums - with a new Share The Road campaign in 2012. Initially the start of '12 will focus on Brissy, the Sunshine and Gold Coasts and Ipswich, with a statewide campaign in the latter half of the year. We will be pushing for TMR to double it's financial commitment for this and ask them to campaign for the majority of the year.
As for the group discussion, Ben Wilson made the point while we were again trying to identify 5 key areas that most needed addressing, that Brisbanes bicycle network was in many instances engineered to worlds best practice. I took him up on the claim and benefits of 3% of the State having so much money thrown at an incomplete and at times very much NOT worlds best practice bike network that only benefits 50% of the States cycling community. Ben's solution to bike safety is to simply build more bike paths, but no cyclist on God's green earth will ever be able to ride from their front door to the office or cafe exclusively on a dedicated bike path. He was horribly offended when I suggested that he was forgetting two minor points:
1)50% of this State's riders do NOT have access to this kind of infrastructure (riders in Townsville or Toowoomba should be proud of Bicycle Brisbane's achievements?), and
2)survey results from TMR suggest that the lack of suitable bike paths are an issue preventing only 9% of potential cyclists from getting active on a bike. 60% of those surveyed are more worried about perceived risk associated with road riding.
It seems even those who don't ride are more aware of the issues than BQ themselves, and I was relieved to hear the mass mumblings of agreeance on SCA's standpoint regarding cycling safety prioritisation. It is also worth noting that BQ did not interact with any of the regional representatives today at any stage, and three of them made that point very clear.
This was the first of a host of such Roundtables being held in Brisbane. I am lead to believe that the focus will now be narrowed and include enforcement and legislation together with the issues surrounding the NTC and the constraints regarding the implimentation of QLD policies. The group will also be "thinned out" in order to achieve meaningful outcomes, as it was apparent that today was a mishmash of ideas and opinions that if left unchecked will see little achieved. We're glad that SCA will not be left out of the process moving forward. Oh and congratulations to the QLD Government on taking the national lead by actually taking cycling seriously rather than side stepping the issues at hand. Well done!!!
The only good Cyclist is a Bicyclist

Huge fan of booted RGers who just can't help themselves

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InTheWoods
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Re: The Queensland Govt. Safer Cycling Roundtable 12/12/11

Postby InTheWoods » Tue Dec 13, 2011 12:25 am

Thankyou, a very interesting post and very good to hear about how seriously tmr are taking this. And that there are advocates who are making a lot of sense.

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Re: The Queensland Govt. Safer Cycling Roundtable 12/12/11

Postby The 2nd Womble » Tue Dec 13, 2011 9:13 am

Yes mate, your reply from Murray was not full of empty rhetoric. It must help you somewhat to know this is one of those rare times :)
As for BQ, I've made our position clear so I don't feel the need to go on about them any more other than what was said here purely because it was worth noting given the general response in the room on the day to BQ's position.
I took a few crappy iPhone snaps on the day before being asked to put it away. One Photobucket plays ball I'll post them
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Re: The Queensland Govt. Safer Cycling Roundtable 12/12/11

Postby GraemeL » Tue Dec 13, 2011 10:30 am

That's great! its good to see that something is actually taking shape. now we need all the other sates to get on board.

Graeme
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Re: The Queensland Govt. Safer Cycling Roundtable 12/12/11

Postby The 2nd Womble » Tue Dec 13, 2011 11:08 am

Oath!
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Re: The Queensland Govt. Safer Cycling Roundtable 12/12/11

Postby Kenzo » Tue Dec 13, 2011 3:12 pm

The 2nd Womble wrote:One thing Narelle did mention which was an eye opener is that only 3% of accidents involving riders - whether in multi vehicle incidents or not - are reported to the Police.
How did CARRS calculate that one? From the surveys sent out via various cyclist forums and organisations?

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Re: The Queensland Govt. Safer Cycling Roundtable 12/12/11

Postby The 2nd Womble » Tue Dec 13, 2011 3:35 pm

Kenzo wrote:
The 2nd Womble wrote:One thing Narelle did mention which was an eye opener is that only 3% of accidents involving riders - whether in multi vehicle incidents or not - are reported to the Police.
How did CARRS calculate that one? From the surveys sent out via various cyclist forums and organisations?
Police v medical data from GP's and Hospitals
The only good Cyclist is a Bicyclist

Huge fan of booted RGers who just can't help themselves

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Re: The Queensland Govt. Safer Cycling Roundtable 12/12/11

Postby Kenzo » Tue Dec 13, 2011 3:45 pm

The 2nd Womble wrote:
Kenzo wrote:
The 2nd Womble wrote:One thing Narelle did mention which was an eye opener is that only 3% of accidents involving riders - whether in multi vehicle incidents or not - are reported to the Police.
How did CARRS calculate that one? From the surveys sent out via various cyclist forums and organisations?
Police v medical data from GP's and Hospitals
How did they know the number or incidents not reported to be able to determine the percentage?

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Re: The Queensland Govt. Safer Cycling Roundtable 12/12/11

Postby The 2nd Womble » Tue Dec 13, 2011 4:48 pm

Im the wrong person to ask
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Re: The Queensland Govt. Safer Cycling Roundtable 12/12/11

Postby Xplora » Tue Dec 13, 2011 6:18 pm

Thanks for the update!!!!

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