THE PRESS MONDAY, MAY 12, 1980. Lighting the cyclists’

Press, 12 May 1980, Page 20

THE PRESS MONDAY, MAY 12, 1980. Lighting the cyclists’

Ninety years ago Mark Twain described Christchurch as a city where half the people rode bicycles and the other half were kept busy dodging them. The welcome revival of cycling among Christchurch residents gives new urgency to the need to prevent cyclists and other road users from banging into each other. Most cyclists are naturally cautious and show a healthy and sensible concern for their own safety. Many motorists. show little regard for the rights of cyclists and a programme of re-education for drivers is overdue. But some cyclists would get better treatment, and. improve their own safety, if they showed less contempt for laws designed for their own protection.

Cyclists are specially vulnerable at night and the problem is increased in winter when darkness falls before the end of the evening traffic rush. Cyclists who ride without lights, or with inadequate lights, and parents who allow their children to cycle at night without adequate lights, are risking serious, even fatal accidents. When it suits their purpose, cyclists are quick to point out that they are much more likely than inotorists to receive injuries in even a minor accident. Yet on a winter night, in Christchurch smog, a cyclist without adequate lights can be very hard to see, or to avoid.

-'o The problems and dangers of cycling at night have been increased by the fashions for faster bicycles and for lights attached to the rider rather than the machine. A . fit young adult on a 10-speed light-weight bicycle often travels as fast as a car on city" streets. Motorists have generally not " grown accustomed to making allowance for the passage of such swift, silent enthusiasts. The riders of such machines, intent on their own prowess, do not always pay adequate attention to the

traffic around them. They appear to put great faith in the skills of dodging and stopping quickly which they do not always possess. The vexed question of inadequate lighting might be solved by more vigorous enforcement of the law 7 . Bicycles at night are required to show a white light at the front and a red light, plus a reflecting surface, at the rear. These may be supplemented by other devices. A torch tied to an arm or leg, or a ring of reflectors fixed to the spokes, may give pleasing impressions of a Christmas tree in motion, but by themselves such devices do not give adequate warning to others, on the roads. A moving light, attached to a leg which is peddling vigorously, certainly catches the eye. But it offers little indication of its distance, the speed at which the rider is moving, or sometimes even the direction of movement. The result can be dangerously confusing.

In these and in other matters cycling enthusiasts have compelling reasons to obey the law, not only for their own safety, but to maintain and enhance the new sympathy 1 which the bicycle is receiving. Cyclists want more cycle stands, especially in the inner city; they want more progress on a system of cycleways through and round the city; they want motorists to treat them with respect.

These are fair and reasonable requests, reinforced by groups which have appeared to represent cyclists’ interests. The community will be more disposed to spend money making safer the cyclist’s lot, and drivers will be more ready to treat cyclists with courtesy, when cyclists themselves are seen to be playing the game. On winter nights, making sure they can be seen at all times should be the first concern of all cyclists.