THE CYCLISTS

Southland Times, Issue 22041, 14 June 1933, Page 8

THE CYCLISTS

PARKING OF MACHINES. MOTORISTS GOING TOO FAR. Very definite opinions regarding the attitude of the Motor Association towards cyclists in Invercargill were expressed by a number of cyclists who were interviewed yesterday. Motorists appeared to think that, because a small percentage of cyclists, like a small percentage of motorists, were in the habit of doing all sorts of foolish things on the streets, all cyclists should be tied down by exasperating regulations, one cyclist declared. “Invercargill is admirably adapted to the bicycle,” a prominent citizen said, “and the motorists should realize that the men who cycle about the city are fellow users of the road and should be treated as such. lam not quite certain whether a cyclist is required to give way to a motorist whether he has the right of way or not, but I do know that practically every, motorist on the streets treats the cyclist with contempt as far as the right of way is concerned.” All classes belonged to the cycling class, he added. Prominent solicitors, business men, and others could be seen cycling along the streets, and it could scarcely be said that they were likely to offend in any way, but because a few irresponsibles created breaches the Motor Association discussed cyclists as if they were all out to annoy motorists and should be suppressed at all costs. * “I am quite prepared to admit that a small section of the cyclists in the city ought to be heavily fined if not sentenced to prison for the way they act on the streets,” another cyclist said, “and I am sure cyclists generally will applaud the Motor Association if it brings them up with a round turn, or is the means of having them checked, but I object to the general way in which the association condemns the conduct of cyclists. I will defy any motorist to prove that he observes the regulations more religiously than I do. and from my own observations I would say that the majority of the cyclists in Invercargill are just as law abiding as the majority of the motorists. If motorists generally were treated as some I know ought to be treated, they would all be in gaol, but we all know that it is a small number that cause all the trouble.” Motorists should think carefully before they decided to ask for the suppression of the parking of cycles against the kerb, another cyclist said. The cyclist had to leave his mount somewhere, and if it were properly parked against the kerb it did not interfere with anyone because the motorist could park within six inches of it. “Are the motorists too lazy to pull on their brakes?” he asked. “Evidently they are determined to have the kerb as a means of stopping their cars without any regard whatever for ether users of the road, or do they want to force the cyclists on to the footpath to annoy the poor old pedestrian?” “Motorists should confine themselves to the cyclists who commit real breaches and leave those who park against the kerb alone,” another cyclist said. “We cyclists will be forced to form an association of our own tc protect our interests, and if we do I am going to suggest that all bicycles should be fitted with stands and parked in the parking areas. Where would the motorists be then?” Still another declared that he would be only too pleased to see offending cyclists brought to book, while he objected to all cyclists being pilloried for tHe sins of the few. “I cannot see why any motorist should object to two cyclists riding abreast because they do not take up as much room as a car, but I agree that three or more should not be allowed,” he said. “The practice of riding with the hands in the pockets should be punished severely, and so should the practice of riding on the wrong side of the street, and that is all "too common in Invercargill. Almost daily I see cyclists going to the Post Office on the wrong side of Dee street. Cyclists who ride without lights and on footpaths should also be punished, and a determined effort would put a stop to those practices in a few weeks. If the motorists are instrumental in bringing those offenders to book, cyclists generally will rejoice because the offending'cyclist is just as big a P e st to other cyclists as the offending motorist is to other motorists.”