Our Broken Spokes

In the wake of the Tour Down Under, Adelaide's cyclists lament a grim fact. The most recent data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that more cyclist are killed per capita in South Australia than in any other state.

According to the Traffic Intelligence Section of the SA police; The main cause of fatal and casualty cyclist crashes is driver inattention.

David Bowler offers another possible factor in the form of dangerous by design cycle tracks. Midway through its four year cycling plan many cycle routes remain incomplete, merging dangerously into heavy traffic. David maintains a web-based list of state black-spots deemed “Deathtraps”, most of these occur where a bikelane joins the main body of traffic, with potentially disastrous consequences.
The State Governments cycling policy document suggests that the enormous health benefits of cycling are being missed due to perceptions that it is unsafe

State leader of the democrats Sandra Knack has released a statement on Adelaide’s cycling numbers claiming “we are just about the worst performers in Australia…
Mike Rann has got us watching bikes but we still don’t ride them.”
Kanck advocates that we introduce Copenhagen style cycling lanes like those already in use in Melbourne. These insulate cyclists from the main body of traffic with a lane of parking.

The department of energy infrastructure and transport policy document “Safety in Numbers” outlines two key strategies to improve cyclist safety. Firstly to “improve cycling infrastructure and road user behavior. Secondly it is suggested that “encouraging more people to cycle more often,” will in fact reduce the crash rate. The proposed solution; to improve “The perception of safety for those not currently cycling.”

The line of argument here is challenging to follow. It has been demonstrated that cities who cycle more have fewer accidents per trip. The simplest explanation is that cities who have implemented safe cycling trails would enjoy both a higher rate of cycling and a lower accident rate. Encouraging more cyclists to risk dangerous roads will bring about safety only by forcing government action to remedy cycle routes. Till then commuter cycling may be our State extreme sport.




07 Fatalities 07 fat/Mil 04-07 avg fat/Mil
SA 7 4.54 2.76
Qld 9 2.27 2.04
Vic 7 1.39 1.9
WA 4 1.99 1.88
NSW 11 1.62 1.74
Figure: Australia’s Most Dangerous