CYCLISTS have been alarmed to hear the Transport Minister hint he may scrap the 1m passing rule after two years if it is not practical to enforce.

As The Courier-Mail revealed today, just four motorists have been fined $330 for breaching the rule which was introduced on April 7 to improve bicycle safety.

LAWBREAKERS: Cyclists fined more than drivers

LOST LANE: Brisbane’s biggest road bugbear fixed

In the same period, four cyclists have been killed in crashes and more than 1300 fined for a range of offences, including speeding and running stop signs.

Transport and Main Roads Minister Scott Emerson said he was concerned about how practical the 1m rule would be, which was why he opted to trial it.

“The point of this rule has never been to fine people; it’s to change attitudes on the roads,” Mr Emerson said.

“That why I said we’d do a trial to see how practical it would be to enforce.

“The important thing is there has been an attitude change on the roads.”

He said a decision on whether to retain the law would be made at the end of the two-year trial in April 2016.

Townsville cyclist Simon Ormes said there had been a massive improvement in the courtesy being shown “both ways” on the roads since the laws took effect.

And he warned any moves to scrap the law would be a backward step.

“So much hard work has been done to get (the 1m rule) in, it would be like stepping back 10 years,” Mr Ormes said.

“It would also set the precedent for other states that Queensland tried them and it didn’t work.”

He said there was still a small number of motorists who were doing the wrong thing, and some of his riding buddies had experienced a reluctance among police to investigate.

“I’ve seen the footage that we’re talking about - the photographs, the videos, and for police to turn around and say it’s inconclusive is a bit hard to swallow,” he said.

One video shows a bus coming within centimetres of swiping a cyclist, but police ruled the GoPro footage failed to prove the rider’s complaint.

Police yesterday told The Courier-Mail all complaints in relation to the 1m rule were being thoroughly investigated.

Overnight it was reported:

CYCLISTS claim they are worse off under law changes that were meant to improve bicycle safety on the roads.

Since April 7, just four motorists have been fined under the new 1m and 1.5m passing rules designed to ensure vehicles keep a safe distance from bicycles.

In the same period four cyclists have been killed in crashes, and 1344 riders have been fined for various traffic offences including speeding and ignoring stop signs.

Under the new laws, cyclists are now fined the same amount as motorists for traffic offences resulting in a tripling of some fines.

Ben Wilson from Bicycle Queensland described the statistics as “bordering on alarming”.

“We want to work through this and get this right, but we find it very odd that cyclists don’t have to carry a speedometer on their bike yet they have to comply with the speed limit,” said Mr Wilson.

“We don’t know of any other jurisdiction taking speed enforcement action against cyclists.”

He said they were working with police on the enforcement of the passing rules which was “proving a challenge the world over”.

“It’s also proving a challenge for Queensland police,” Mr Wilson said.

But acting Inspector Shane Panoho from the Road Policing Command said the four fines issued to motorists did not mean there was an enforcement problem.

He said a traffic operation last Sunday focusing on bicycle safety detected no breaches of the one and 1.5-metre rules.

“The feedback I’m getting generally from police, is that most motorists are trying to be patient and compliant with the new legislation,” said Insp Panoho.

“From their observations, most drivers are trying to give as much space to cyclists as they can.”

Mr Wilson said from the cyclists’ perspective, the new laws were yet to make a difference to the behaviour of many road users.

“We’ve got no doubt some motorists are taking a lot more care but some are taking even less care,” he said. “It all needs to be evaluated.”

The new passing rules are being trialled for two years in Queensland following an exhaustive State Parliament cycling inquiry.

A spokeswoman for Transport and Main Roads Minister Scott Emerson said the intention was to promote a change in road users’ attitudes and to improve road safety.

“Motorists and cyclists are treated equally by police under the legislative changes, and we ask all road users to respect each other and obey the laws,” said the spokeswoman.

“Motorists are not being given any leeway. This year we’ve issued motorists with 139,012 infringements for speeding alone compared with 1074 offences to cyclists in the same period.”

Motorists caught driving too close to cyclists face a $330 fine and three demerit points.

Join the conversation on Facebook