Plan still risky, says veteran rider

Don Farmer | 17th July 2010

''Stop-start'' cycle lanes for Masterton's Chapel St will do nothing for the safety of bike riders and could make drivers even more complacent, says veteran cyclist Malcolm Harris.
Mr Harris, 71, said the street was too narrow to accommodate cycle lanes and taking away roadside parking spots, while leaving others, could lead to disaster, cyclists having to swerve in and out of the lanes to get around parked cars. Mr Harris has twice been admitted to hospital after crashing into car doors being suddenly opened as he passed by, and has had other spills not of his making from inattentive or ignorant drivers.
He said the Masterton District Council or the New Zealand Transport Agency had not asked the right questions of the right people before determining to push ahead with Chapel St cycle lanes. ''They should have put a question-and-answer survey in the newspaper to gauge support.'' He had let his feelings be known to the council and had been part of a cycle group that opposed the idea when it was first mooted but had not been listened to.
''If they think lanes are going to make it safer, then I have doubts. You need big, wide roads like in Palmerston North, or Pahiatua.''
Driver education was needed to make roads safer for cyclists.