Today Safe Cycling Australia wades into the debate of effectiveness for minimum passing distant laws designed for motorists in order to protect cyclists due to the persistent and systematic propaganda from uneducated run of the mill hack reporting & opinion pieces via main stream media.

From our point of view there really is no debate, and that’s probably because we have taken the time to arm ourselves with some hard facts from another country who have implemented the law (some as far back as 1973) with much success & continue to roll out this law in other states cross their country.

Firstly, I would like to guide your attention to the Courier Mails resident cycling expert Belinda Seeney. Let us entertain ourselves at the expense of this press release with links that raise questions regarding news stories from the Courier Mail spruiking ill conceived ideas as to why the law will never work.

(Well actually “tough-talking” Belinda, Roads were originally sealed & designed for bicycles but you already knew that surely)

And of course more well researched factual information just flows from this oracle of knowledge, wisdom & enlightenment:

(Assuming everyone is 90+ with rickets)

(Of course you want us to stay safe Belinda, & I am also sure it was hard using those imaginary thoughts when penning this academic article)

In the face of such well researched scientific data from Belinda one could surely believe the QLD passing distance trials were overwhelmingly sure to fail? I mean, its never going to work right? It’s been 4 months & we are not interested in results, we just want our roads back! Why should it be ok to protect cyclists with laws that clearly don’t work? It’s just so difficult waiting 10 seconds to pass a cyclist on a narrow lane safely… Oh the pain…

Well friends, thankfully just before we take Belinda’s word for it as the gospel truth, how about we steer her and the general community in the right direction? Let us start by doing something unheard of to many in the opinionated reporting fraternity & start looking at some facts.

Here look what I have found for you:

Oh, oops found some more!

Of course Belinda, if the law had no effect as you so overwhelmingly suggest then countries such as America who are concerned about cycling safety and awareness wouldn’t be continually rolling out said laws across the country since 1973 right?

Once again we see people in positions of influence disregard the safety of our fellow Australians by doing their utmost to overturn positive steps to save vulnerable road users lives on our roads with nonsensical debates such as the registration of bicycles… Then what next? Skateboarders & those bloody pesky pedestrians with unregistered wheeled walking frames! No research, no thought, no regard, just as long as we roll out the next piece of garbage for a penny in our reporters paypackets.

Unequivocally it seems the main point our dear opinionated Belinda has missed in all of her philosophical texts regarding our new trial law is this:

The minimum safe passing distance law is not about enforcement, its about awareness. Her statements are just as ludicrous as saying we may as well remove the penalties for wife beating because nobody witnesses the crimes (as extreme as it may sound) or gravity doesn’t exist because you cant see it so lets get rid of that too!

It is the knowledge of penalties & rules via awareness campaigns that send out a clear message to behave yourself on the roads & inevitably enact overall behavioural change as so well documented in the above mentioned links.

In addition, regarding the usefulness of creating division amongst road users to sell papers at any price we have this fine example:

There is a reason as to why its never a good idea in trying to extend an olive branch to the Murdoch press. In a subtle attempt at gagging the sensationalisms that they the press pride themselves on, this Cycling advocacy group recently tried to broker a deal with the empire after hand shaking a verbal contract of chastity in quelling the unrelenting negativity towards cyclists and the minimum passing laws from reporters & opinion writers.

I’m certainly not condemning their futile efforts to tame the Murdoch beast, better people than Cycle Org have tried and failed spectacularly at changing the strategy of the Murdoch press and the manner in which it sells papers…. If you think for a second certain members of these papers give a shit about cyclists, then think again. Its about selling papers.

You see by creating division from opinion & never letting the facts get in the way of selling papers this so called war on our roads will continue forever and a day until we finally beat them into submission with the swelling numbers of cyclists & falling sales of rags.

Unfortunately while this pathetic garble continues to manifest, the price we pay are lives & hospitals full of injured cyclists.

Thankfully, we have facts & don’t rely on your fiction Belinda. You’re not the only one who has a voice.

Graham George

Safe Cycling Australia

See also Australia’s Deadliest Sport