MyPE

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The whole cycling debacle needs to be urgently addressed

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When will the authorities do something to stop the carnage of cyclists on our roads?

Roving road blocks on a continual basis, not only over the Festive season should be in place. I also believe that cops should drive the routes that are more popular for cyclists at peak times that is, early in the mornings during the week and week ends.

I also think signs indicating “cyclists beware” should be put up at regular intervals along these routes.

In the case of Port Elizabeth,there are not that many routes the cops would have to drive and be more visible anyway.

Clearly, where cyclists are breaking the rules of the road, they should also be fined.

Too many motorists have never ridden a bicycle and have no idea about the hazards we face all the time, for example bad drivers, poor road conditions, we cannot always hear cars coming up behind and if we do it is very often when they are right behind us. Our roads are so poor that we are continually having to bob and weave on the road to avoid potholes and the like.

So many motorists come screaming past us no more than 30cm’s away. It is common for a cyclist to have to move over more than that to avoid potholes etc.

One last point, cyclists very often ride in bunches, this makes us more visible across the road. Count how many cyclists have been knocked over or killed when riding in a bunch – it is probably zero.

As a cyclist, we do not mind and in fact encourage motorists to give a short blast on their hooter to indicate they are coming up behind us.

PLEASE, before we have any further cycling deaths on our roads, can the traffic department at least patrol the roads that are used by cyclists at the peak times mentioned above.

Regards
Selwyn Gill

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Port Elizabethan

This author is a 'catch-all' for occasional articles and letters written to MyPE. The Author of each article can be found in the signature at the bottom of each individual article.

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Comments

  1. The 1.5 m passing rule should be promoted and enforced. As cyclist we also need to clean up our act.I too am guilty of treating robots as a stop streets but only to try and ensure that we do not hold the motorists up and the traffic can flow easier.