City of Sydney launches campaign to encourage ‘gracious’ cycling

As someone who lives in inner Sydney this is long overdue. Look, I cycle myself and certainly empathise with the difficulties of cycling in inner Sydney. But man, some cyclists are utter idiots. In all seriousness I nearly mowed down two in the last two days who just cycled out in front of my car without a care in the world (music blaring through their headphones.). Just because you have a helmet and a fluoro vest don’t make you Teflon coated people.

Cute, but a complete waste of money. Is it actually believed that this will change the behaviour of the cyclists who clearly have no regard for the safety of anyone, including themselves on the road. The only cyclists who will take note of this are the ones who would do the right thing anyway.

I’m with Lance on this. I cycle to work and generally do a decent ride on the weekends too (150km a week all up, usually) but in the last couple of years I’ve noticed a huge increase in cyclists doing absolutely crazy stuff, acting as if the road rules don’t apply to them – riding on pavements, sailing through red lights, etc etc. And I have no idea how any cyclist can feel safe cycling with headphones in.

In exactly the same way that everyone thinks taxi drivers are idiots when one taxi does something annoying like slamming on the brakes to pick up a fare (sorry taxi drivers, but it’s true), individual cyclists need to remember that doing stupid stuff like this means you lose the goodwill of car/truck/bus drivers for **all** cyclists.

It’s nice work. Red light riders let the whole team down boo.

Would also be good to see a campaign that addresses the angry sense of entitlement some drivers have over lanes. Almost daily occurrence seeing car waiting patiently for a right turning car and then aggressively accelerating past me on the bike – without considering there is no difference between the two traffic obstacles in terms of getting from point A to point B.

Well done! Very glad the City of Sydney council did something about this. Yes some peak hour drivers can be angry and irrational d&^#heads, but offending cyclists are just as bad, if not worse. Such cyclists think they can ride with impunity, have a God-given right to hold up traffic behind them, ride through red lights and flick you the bird because they didn’t could care less about you think of their riding style.

If the message from this campaign doesn’t get through, the police should start running Cycleway Patrols and give them fines to the same amount as motorists.

I have to agree with Lance – VERY long overdue. Personally am sick of getting nearly mowed down by cyclists when I walk to work – they think thy own the roads, the pavements and the parks. When I am behind the wheel of my car I then just feel like running over them! But of course I don’t because I drive a car and stick to the rules because I get fined. prosecuted or points on my licence for violating the rules….cyclists, they don’t even need a licence to be a menace on the roads and footpaths…..

Not all are bad I know but the arrogant ones wreck it for those who do the right thing.

This is a good try. But the ones who are giving cyclists a bad name are not the middle-class cyclists that this ad is appealing to.
I used to ride through red lights etc, but now I don’t as I feel like I am an ambassador for cycling. Gotta follow through with what I wish other cyclists to be.
Maybe a Dumb Ways To Die for arsehole cyclists who don’t give a crap and show this very happily to everyone while riding….

Nice to see some beautiful type – any info on who created this? It makes me think of Jessica Hische’s lovely work.

Oi, LW, what are you doing, talking about the advert?

This is the place for moaning about cyclists!

Excellent. Another cyclist column another comments series of ‘why just the other day’, online aneurisms, and a death threat by comment 6.

excellent design approach

on the video … two words … too long

Content needs to be much much shorter in this ADDDDDDDD world

LW – i believe Frost was behind the design, but i could be wrong. whoever did, they’re beautiful and hats off to City of Sydney for commissioning them

Comment 6 (Sharon) is atrocious.
The difference between a driver and a cyclist is that a driver can very easily kill or cause massive damage to a cyclist – and they often do. A cyclist isn’t nearly as dangerous, even when they are idiots.

I suppose we should all be grateful you are afraid of being fined so you aren’t trying to kill and maim cyclists for inconveniencing you.

The answer to cycling in inner Sydney is more cycleways – and connecting the disjointed ones that do exist.

PS Sharon, please don’t give way to your temptation to run over cyclists.

For a start, we have families who love us.

It’s alarming that the only thing stopping you from killing people is the thought of a fine.

And seriously, Mumbrella, can you not run comments like that? I see it as irresponsible.

Video ad is patronising.
Posters are pretty.
Neither will make much difference to either cyclists or motorists. This campaign is not life (habit) changing. Wish it was because too many accidents have happened. If they think this is a good campaign, how about a campaign for “driving graciously”?

SERIOUSLY! this cute little animation is not going to solve the rising danger that is now present due to the increasing number of cyclists and scooter riders on the roads in peak hour in Sydney. I drive to work from Bondi down along Oxford street and the section through Paddington and Surry Hills and it is increasingly turning into a death run.

The cyclists and scooter riders heed no traffic rules are rude and demanding and quite honestly seem to be on a death wish !!! I surely don’t know how the bus drivers avoid running over them over – because I bet they want to. Clover has created a rod for the city’s back – and not just an inconvenient one – but a dangerous multi life threatening one.

Ignoring the conceited spiel from both sides of the spectrum in the comments above me, it is refreshing to see a campaign from the City of Sydney reminds the audience that everyone should share the road friendly and fairly – both cyclists and motorists… and not ‘placing the blame’ on either side. I thought the campaign brings fresh, friendly air in a topic full of animosity, and I must say I was admiring the aesthetic of the posters they started to put up throughout the city in the beginning of the week.

LOL Michael O’Reilly #9. I will re-comment under my other name (Outraged of Redfern) shortly. And thanks Demi #12!

it’s a start!! well done, clover and team!!

when it gets to “share the road, share the path” aimed at gracious, and aware, pedestrians, cyclists AND drivers, we might finally be getting somewhere, without all the aggression and angst

Agreed Jack48.

An advertising campaign aimed at one group of road users isn’t going to have much of a long term impact. Re-educating all road users (pedestrian, cyclists, car drivers, truck drivers and bus drivers) so that we have a gracious road culture will take years, but achieving it would lead to a much more pleasant city to live in.

Remember, you’re not “in traffic” – you are traffic.

Really?

Not all cyclists are museli chewin, loafer wearing, Clover hippies.

A taxi driver nearly clipped my brother (team Rapha) just yesterday but because he rides like speedy gonzales he escaped.

I’m afraid to show him this, such an insult, I mean he rides everywhere man!

Ps. ‘Dumb Ways To Die’ everyone wants to do one but just cause you can doesn’t mean you should!

public shaming 101

The effectiveness of this rather soft soaping and old fashioned approach remains to be seen, but I would have thought that some home truths would have been more effective.

Show idiots being idiots, show mangled bicycles and bleeding people in Lycra and bike helmets, show expensive bikes mangled and crushed, show ex cyclists in rehab, with disabilities etc.

That’s great , I love the design – so now we need the NSW Roads to taken on a positive campaigns to encourage people to drive slower and safer and with less abuse aswell…same idiot cyclist are the same idiot car drivers…

Wow Sharon. You sound like an awful human. And yes Mumbrella, you should really be censoring posts that promote running down cyclists on Sydney roads.

Very poor moderating.

It would be good if City of Sydney clarified the rules for cyclist and pedestrians to take account of the growing number of cyclists on congested road.

The ambiguity of rules and the poor infrastructure for cyclists means that they are often caught in between riding on a pavement and sharing with pedestrians, or riding on busy roads where cars struggle to drive around them safely.

Sharon ( comment6). The reason we don’t run over cyclists is because they are humans.

I saw a sign on the footpath today “cyclists dismount”. I thought to myself “It’s illegal to ride on the footpath, why does there need to be a sign?” and “Why aren’t there also signs for motorists to not drive through red lights or cut other road users off?” It’s hard to understand why there is so much attention given towards cyclists, who really pose so little risk to others, when drivers continue to create carnage on the roads and no one seems to say anything.

Sure, ring your bell cause no one is going to hear it over traffic noise let alone inside a capsule. With so many roads laws actually adding to risks of cyclist. Eg, cycling to the left places you in the door zone and out of vision of moterist. And moterist running red lights at far greater rate and worse consequences than cyclist why beat up on this furpy. It cars, stupid that make roads dangerous. Get off my back!

Anything that helps to understand and tackle the fact that deaths on the roads in Australia are nearly 3 times higher per capita than the UK is a good idea.

Perhaps Sharon has been running them over?

Sharon, comment 6, your IP address is saved. If u ever do hit a cyclist this comment could be used as evidence of intent. Not just a fine then, but a jail term. Perhaps u feel the same about pedestrians holding u up at crossings?

As long as the dumb attitudes, the holier than thou statements, the refusal to accept that cyclists are part of the problem persists they will continue to be injured or worse.

@Groucho – That’s rich coming from someone who’s never shy on offering ‘holier than thou’ statements himself ad nauseam.

@chico – rich perhaps, but true. Cycling is like eating Chico rolls, you never know when it will come back and get you.

A timely article in the NY Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11.....&_r=0

Who exactly is the audience for this campaign? It seems to paint a “prettier than perfect” picture of how cycling works in Sydney but as a commuter who does about 250km of commuting every week it is far from that.

For example – try to indicate to change lane – 3 out of 5 times they will let you in. However it’s rarely politely so, sometimes you just have to start moving into the lane until they give in. And then the other 2 out of 5 times result in honking, failure to give way, and verbal abuse.

Then, the shared use paths and cycleways. Worst thing about the shared use paths is the pedestrians. Their unpredictability and failure to see cyclists is worse than that of road users. Approaching them requires a level of caution not covered in this video.

The cycleways are too narrow and the lights are not in sync. For example to get up King street you either need to sprint in order to catch all the greens (and risk hitting oncoming traffic if you have to overtake), or catch each red and wait 3 minutes, adding up to 9 minutes to the commute time. I used to have no trouble riding on the road on King street before the cycle lanes existed. Now, that is illegal thanks to rule 247 of the Road Rules 2008.

Maybe this video is aimed at beginners or occasional cyclists, but the audience they want to target (ie. those who run the reds, hurl abuse at drivers and/or ride unpredictably/erratically) will not pay attention. The errs of these cyclists are a result of poor infrastructure and poor culture.

Perhaps covering the consequences of running a red, not indicating your intentions, riding without a helmet, or hitting a pedestrian would have more of an impact, like how the quit smoking ads work. I myself know the consequences as I have fallen on my helmet (thanks to the painted cycleways being slippery as hell in the wet), hit a pedestrian (thanks to Friday night drunkenness), and seen a cyclist struck when running the red. Trust me experiencing these things make you a more gracious rider, but not everyone should have to experience these things. Showing these things and how they happen, instead of some pretentious “the grass is always green” video, I think will make riders safer and more “gracious”. Hopefully.

A good example: http://youtu.be/D_W4xE7_7TI

This is probably inappropriate but another cyclist killed in Sydney this morning. That’s three in the past month. That would prove the need for a campaign like this.

It suggests to me that the infrastructure is abysmal if a cyclist and truck are in close proximity.

How about a sign telling cyclists that wearing high-heels or platforms, carrying baskets full of fruit, not wearing a helmet, cycling alongside eachother in the same lane, walking your dog at the same time, strapping your dog to your back in a baby harness, and attaching a pram to the front of your bike, are all completely stupid things to do while riding through surry hills in peak hour(and yes, ALL of the above I see on a regular basis as I drive down cleveland to work and back).

We need officers fining these people. they are a hazard to pedestrians, motorists, and all other commuters including themselves.

@Nolsy You forgot cycling with headphones in.

CYCLING WITH HEADPHONES IN.

Every time I cycle past someone else cycling with headphones in, even I just feel like pushing them off.

As legitimate road users, cyclists are legally entitled to ride on the road along King Street in the city.

JC, the lane there is a ‘cycleway’ not a ‘Bicycle Lane’.

See road rule 153 which clarifies that a ‘Bicycle Lane’ is signposted with a picture of bicycle and the word ‘LANE”. They tend to be on highways or where cyclists are allowed to ride counter to the traffic flow.

Anything else is a shared path, shoulder lane, or cycleway which cyclists may use if it is more practical than using the road. There may be many reasons (graciousness to pedestrians, risk of being hit by a car door, badly sequenced lights, ensuring the safety of slower cyclists) that make it more practical to ride on the road.

@Alberto Contador – why do you want to push over a cyclist with headphones? Actually, this study showed that they can hear the same amount as you (driver) when you don’t have any music playing, and can hear more than a driver playing music. https://www.bicyclenetwork.com.au/general/bikes-and-riding/94917/

@Nolsy you are just the worst, why should cyclists be fined for carrying fruit or wearing platforms. It is also not illegal to ride two abreast, it is actually safer for cyclists, as knobs like you need to overtake the proper way by switching lanes, instead of trying to wedge past and risking clipping or hitting the cyclist.

I like the campaign and I hope we can see some behavioural changes in the future! It would be great to see a similar campaign aimed at drivers too.

@sydney driver/cyclist – As I mentioned in my first comment, I’m talking as a cyclist. I spend as much time cycling as driving, if not more. But I get just as annoyed as a lot of drivers do when I’m cycling and see other cyclists doing stupid stuff.

The headphone study is an interesting one, and I’ll admit I find it very counter-intuitive. I certainly wouldn’t feel safe cycling with headphones in, but then maybe I have my music playing too loud.

But my point is this – if I’m driving with the music on too loud, and i don’t hear the bus behind my right shoulder when I pull out around a parked car, I might get a dented wing panel that needs to be replaced but I’ll probably survive.

But if I’m on my bike and I don’t know there’s a truck there when I swing out to the right, that’s a whole different story. I’d rather not risk it by adding headphones to the equation.

@Lance Armstrong well said

Regarding moderation of comments, I put comments up earlier this month at https://staging.mumbrella.com.au/sa-tourism-commission-releases-short-film-showcase-adelaides-personality-188851 , which (despite being publicly shown) are still listed as ‘waiting for moderation’. I even sent Mumbrella an email asking about this and have not received any kind of reply to that.
I won’t be holding my breath waiting for improvement on this site’s moderation!