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A vocal minority has over ruled a silent majority which is negatively impacting Health System Costs The majority of road cyclists 'break their own wind' and enjoy higher visibility of upcoming Hazards with materially reduced likelihood of suffering a trauma fall The vast majority of motorists, and over half of all road cyclists, would like to see the size and behaviour of Bunch Rides regulated Casual empiricism from canvassing the Writer's non-cyclist friends, and other cyclists who ride hills and seek to consciously stay away from fellow riders, particularly during steep descents, suggests that the vast majority of all road users would like to see - A. the size of Bunch Rides capped at between 14 and 20 riders; and B. Regulation 126 “Keeping a safe distance behind vehicles” made more clear, so that cyclists behind have a reasonable likelihood of having sufficient time and space to avoid a fallen cyclist(s) ahead or be able to stop for a red light and not be concerned that other riders 'down the line' will not stop also. Watching You Tube videos of Bunch Riding on Beach Road evidence that a serious problem occurs when a traffic light turns amber/red and a large Bunch Ride is approaching the intersection, or partially through the intersection, particularly if travelling at above 20km p/h which is through most of the intersections. If the riders near the back of the Bunch Ride start to brake, they often run the risk of other riders behind them continuing to ride through the intersection. Beach Road has a few weekly Bunch Rides with over 100 riders during the warmer months which appears selfish, needless and reckless. The penchant by a few fellow citizens to want to maximise avoiding wind resistance by being part of a behemoth bunch places an unnecessary Health System Cost on taxpayers due to increasing the likelihood of Avoidable Trauma Bicycle Accidents. A vocal minority has out-weighed the wishes of a passive majority of fellow road users, which is counter-productive when the majority of road cyclists are happy to 'break their own wind', as explained at the tail of Popularity of Bunch Riding. These road cyclists, and motorists, have to pay heed to Regulation 126.
Road rules to mitigate trauma accidents
and maximise road user efficiency cover all sorts of common sense issues such as
- Regulating the size and structure of Bunch Rides is necessary due to vital Unknown Hazards of not running red lights and not avoiding fresh potholes, which physically cannot be avoided if the Bunch Ride is too large and/or travelling too fast. |
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