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NSW proposes “strong” measures to keep cyclists safe

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The city of Sydney and the state of New South Wales in which it lies has a strong recent history of having cycling at the heart of its transport policy.

In the past year, Sydney council, led by its council leader, the pro cycling advocate Clover Moore, has introduced dedicated cycling lanes/tracks (known locally as the Sydney cycleways) on some of its most busy commuting road routes into the city. As a result numbers of people using cycles on their daily commute are up by 40%.

Now further measures, some quite extreme, are being recommended by an influential state government committee to help and protect cyclists in Sydney and New South Wales.

Among the more extreme measures being recommended are proposals to put airbags on the outside of cars to reduce the severity of collisions with cyclists as well as putting infrared “night vision” on cars so drivers can see riders in the dark.

The recommendations were made by the StaySafe committee of the New South Wales government. In its report to the state government it stated that current road planning in New South Wales was ”biased towards the needs of motor vehicles and drivers” and recommended changes.

Other proposals advocated by the StaySafe committee include giving cyclists their own green traffic signals to get a head of motor vehicles and a 30km speed limit for motor vehicles on roads in the central business district of towns.

StaySafe rejected a call for cycles to be registered. Opponents to Sydney’s cycleways had called for registration as a way of cyclists paying for changes and improvements to the city’s cycling infrastructure.

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