.
I actually know the people behind that video. I haven't spoken to them recently about it, but I'm pretty confident they have given up.
It's just not an issue that can be changed in Australia. Bloody depressing really.Comedian wrote: ↑Sun Sep 06, 2020 9:54 amI actually know the people behind that video. I haven't spoken to them recently about it, but I'm pretty confident they have given up.
My take on it is that two groups of Australians make up about 99.5% of the country. They are either drivers or sports cyclists. Both of these groups support the law, or are at most ambivalent.
Which.. it is what it is. It's only really utility cyclists that understand why it's decimated utility cycling - and both of the above groups are completely convinced that even though it's not something that they don't have any experience of that the utility cyclists are just wrong. So the only thing left for them is to just get by as best they can, or move. The only satisfaction (that's probably not the right word) they will get is being able to laugh at governments and other groups failed attempts to try and get their populations to be healthier and more active by getting incidental exercise, and abate the climate crisis. Oh well.
.
BTB beat me to it. The only place in Australia where you see a lot of people riding for transport is the NT. I was amazed when I was there. Yet.. the helmet advocates just cry "But it's different there!".tpcycle wrote: ↑Sun Sep 06, 2020 10:10 pm.
That's what I did - move that is - and where I live I ride a bike everyday for transport (without a helmet). It always amazes me when I am in Australia how few people just ride bicycles around. When I was stuck in Australia with the COVID lockdown I was surprised how many people were just riding bicycles around. But by the time I left it had gone back to normal. When I stay in my place on the Sydney north shore I am about the only local person riding a bike for transport - the only other bicycle riders I see are the occasional warrior commuters who brave Military Rd each work day and the peletons of sports cyclists who pass through along Military Rd on the weekends.
Yeah, it's way, way hotter and/or wetter than the climate that most Australians live in, and even though the population is small, the urban areas are still pretty spread out (although somewhat irrelevant, as much utility cycling is to the local shops/school/pub/friends, whether in small town or big city). If anything you'd think there'd be less cycling here.
Come hang out in inner city Melbourne, particularly the inner East and the inner North. Riding for transport is 100% normalised for the residents who live here. The proportion of cycle commuters are the highest of any part of Australia.
Come hang out in inner city Melbourne, particularly the inner East and the inner North. Riding for transport is 100% normalised for the residents who live here. The proportion of cycle commuters are the highest of any part of Australia.
That's awesome! Are they largely helmet free? Are the cops going them?human909 wrote: ↑Mon Sep 07, 2020 9:32 pmCome hang out in inner city Melbourne, particularly the inner East and the inner North. Riding for transport is 100% normalised for the residents who live here. The proportion of cycle commuters are the highest of any part of Australia.
Of course that doesn't apply to all of Melbourne but it is spearheading the change.
Some fantastic data here:
https://chartingtransport.com/
https://public.tableau.com/profile/chri ... desharemap
What happens to the ones that don't tow the line?
Again the only examples I've got is the NT and Byron, both of which are easily dismissed. It's got to be one of the big cities.I remember seeing some stats - pre-covid - that Melbourne had more people commuting by bicycle than by tram. Of course, Melbourne is famous for it's trams while the cyclists are somehow invisible.human909 wrote: ↑Mon Sep 07, 2020 9:04 pmCome hang out in inner city Melbourne, particularly the inner East and the inner North. Riding for transport is 100% normalised for the residents who live here. The proportion of cycle commuters are the highest of any part of Australia.
Of course that doesn't apply to all of Melbourne but it is spearheading the change.
What, like Amsterdam, New York or Copenhagen?
Yeah.. anywhere overseas is definitely different to here. I do tend to agree that they will always try and find a way to explain away. But it would be very inconvenient if a major city repealed the law and world didn't stop spinning.. nor was there a river of blood.Thoglette wrote: ↑Tue Sep 08, 2020 5:14 pmWhat, like Amsterdam, New York or Copenhagen?
Oh, that’s right: we’re special. Physics, maths and biology work differently here, in ways that are somehow never adequately disclosed.
Even Brisbane or Perth would “explained away” by the True Believers of MHLs.
Interesting... So have you performed more scientific tests on energy absorbent helmet polystyrene than helmet designers? So bicycle helmets, motorcycle helmets, ski helmets, rock climbing helmets have it all wrong and the skaters have it right? Interesting...rustguard wrote: ↑Sun Sep 27, 2020 5:59 amThe really hard foam has next to zero impact absorption, all they do is just split open and you have a head ache. cheap skate helmets are the same. My skate helmet has none of that hard esky foam the bike helmets are made of. It has sections of about 3/4 inch of firm spongy type foam.
Unfortunately I fear that you are too correct. I have almost given up on any chance of success on the law. However I am quite pleased to see the significant jump in ordinary folks just riding without helmets in Melbourne during this lockdown. It is clear the police have a lot more stuff on their plate to deal with.Comedian wrote: ↑Sun Sep 06, 2020 9:54 amI actually know the people behind that video. I haven't spoken to them recently about it, but I'm pretty confident they have given up.
My take on it is that two groups of Australians make up about 99.5% of the country. They are either drivers or sports cyclists. Both of these groups support the law, or are at most ambivalent.
Which.. it is what it is. It's only really utility cyclists that understand why it's decimated utility cycling - and both of the above groups are completely convinced that even though it's not something that they don't have any experience of that the utility cyclists are just wrong. So the only thing left for them is to just get by as best they can, or move. The only satisfaction (that's probably not the right word) they will get is being able to laugh at governments and other groups failed attempts to try and get their populations to be healthier and more active by getting incidental exercise, and abate the climate crisis. Oh well.
Meanwhile... Motorist hits and kills cyclist, apologises, so no jail.opik_bidin wrote: ↑Sat Nov 14, 2020 3:10 pmNo.MHL, yet no helmet is still used to arrest with force and jail someone
https://amp.abc.net.au/article/12871268 ... ssion=true
NT Police were advised to issue a written apology to a 17-year-old cyclist who was taken to the ground and handcuffed for not wearing a helmet, a report from the Northern Territory Ombudsman has revealed.
https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/ ... tal-crash/The judge accepted Mirzikinian, a former poker champion, was blinded by the sun at the time but it begged the question of why a driver would move into a kerbside lane unsighted.
"The fact his vision was so compromised means he should have stayed in the lane," Judge O'Brien said.
"To do otherwise was inherently dangerous"
Prosecutors said a jail term was needed but it could be served as an ICO if Mirzikinian's moral culpability was judged as low.
The judge found so, saying while worse than a momentary lapse of attention, the offending didn't involve speeding and the dangerous driving occurred only over a short distance.
The 52-year-old's early guilty plea, genuine remorse and offers to pay for the victim's funeral and otherwise help the Trameaux family were also recognised.
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