It has been a terribly sad fortnight on our roads with hit and runs in Melbourne and Bendigo and two deaths less than 12 hours apart in Melbourne and Sydney.
Our emotions get stirred when this happens. You feel for the riders, their family and friends. You hope that you would never be in that situation and you wonder what you might do to avoid it happening to you.
After news broke of the death in Northcote in Melbourne’s inner-north yesterday, Bicycle Network CEO Craig Richards spoke on ABC Radio Melbourne wit Raf Epstein.
The point of the segment was to talk about what we can do to stop deaths on our roads.
Straight after discussing the limited facts available about the crash that took a male bike rider’s life, a caller rang in with an idea he had while he was driving.
While still behind the wheel and think-driving, John said he thinks that bicycles that use the road need to be licenced.
It was a terrible time to bring up the idea of licencing, just after talking about such a horrible crash.
He was then asked by Raf how exactly licencing would help with safety. John was stumped, he had no response. That’s because there is no logical reason for bike registration or licencing.
It wouldn’t improve safety or stop crashes. A piece of plastic in your pocket or on your handlebars doesn’t mean a two-tonne car won’t be able to seriously injure you in a crash.
It seems that every couple of weeks someone on the radio or TV says they reckon bikes need to be registered or riders licenced, and usually it follows a report of a crash or conflict.
This doesn’t help anyone – not the people who have been in a crash or their family and friends, and not the people who are going to ride home from work today or tomorrow.
It’s time to stop talking about bike registration and licencing. It’s not going to happen – here’s why you should always say no to rego.
Join the campaign – say no to rego