The Taxi Council of Queensland wants cyclists to be banned from some routes during peak hours. Credit:Glen Hunt Speaking after the inquiry, Mr Wash said while his members had “no problem” sharing the road with cyclists, peak hour brought its own problems. “Where you've got high volume traffic and a lot of vehicles on the road, especially given that they want a metre space, which we don't have an issue with, but when you have a lot of vehicles jammed into a very small space, obviously the most vulnerable would be a cyclist,” he said. “It is just safer for all parties concerned, including the cyclists, for them to not be necessarily in those places during peak times. It is really about making sure everyone stays safe.” Mr Wash said the council's submission was not about attributing blame to cyclists or implying taxi drivers were perfect, but about making roads safer.

“In all fairness, some of our members came back with suggestions because they said, 'well I'm a cyclist also and these are issues that I have faced, as a cyclist',” he said. “The inquiry was an opportunity to be heard. “We're in the game of making sure people get to where they are going. and any kind of accident impedes that progress and no one wants to see someone get injured. "But we also don't want to see traffic flow stop as a result of an accident, so anything you can try and do to stop something from occurring, obviously everyone kicks a goal; our passengers get to where they want to be and no one gets hurt.” Mr Wash said better education on both sides of the road – from taxi drivers to cyclists – and what each was allowed to do would also help, citing the pick up and drop off of disabled customers as one area needing better understanding.

“We recognise that in dropping off wheelchair accessible or disabled people from wheelchair accessible taxis, we'll often be impeding a designated cycle lane,” Mr Wash said, naming the Vernon Terrace and Macquarie Street lane in Teneriffe as an example. “We acknowledge in shared spaces their right to be there, that is not an issue at all, but we also acknowledge that we can equally frustrate them by impeding their progress in that situation and that pushes them to either go onto a footpath or into the traffic. “We don't want to cause any angst, but at the same time, it is just about that mutual respect that the most vulnerable people are always the ones who need to be given the highest level of care and understanding. And we are the primary transporter of people who have mobility and vision impairments. "If we do cut off the cycle lanes, most of the time, it is for someone...who needs it, someone in a wheelchair or who is blind.” A report on the cycling inquiry and the parliamentary committee's conclusions will be tabled in Parliament in November.