I've already said pretty much everything that I want to on the topic of the Hell Ride. But with the release of CycleSport Victoria's new Cyclists' Code of Conduct, Crowlie has goaded me into further comment.
As usual there is a stunning lack of perspective on these matters. As Chris rightly points out over on Melbourne Cyclist:
After enduring a horrific weekend on Victorian roads where ELEVEN people lost their lives, it's beyond insulting to read the News Limited take on road user interactions being continually reduced to silly caricatures with a low emphasis upon news worthly or educational content.
Yet again, the Herald Sun coverage around the topic talks of cyclists "mowing down" pedestrians—a phrase that they otherwise seem to reserve for drunk drivers and gun massacres. There never seems to be the same sort of emotion poured into reporting of the "road toll" but then that's just a number, isn't it?
As to the code of conduct itself, I'm not sure what (if anything) it will achieve. It's a tri-fold pamphlet that basically says "obey the road rules and use some common sense". Much of the advice under the "Riding with others" heading is stuff that bunch riders should know but if they don't they'll soon be told by other people they ride with.
I don't know what I was expecting, but this doesn't seem to say much that isn't already common knowledge—or at least I thought so (and I'm not even a bunch rider). But it bears repeating and it doesn't hurt to have the information put together in a handy little resource. Just don't hold your breath expecting much to change because there is now a code of conduct.
There's already a suitable code of conduct in place -- it's called the traffic legislation. All we need is a police force willing to enforce that one. Admittedly, that probably won't appease the sanctimonious whiners in the tabloid press because it would hold them to account for their own breaches, but it would solve most of the problems.
Beyond that, what will a few more broken rules solve?
Comments
Exactly. And that's the real point: it's all well and good to have a code of conduct but the only rules that are truly enforceable are the road rules. My view is that it's in the interests of cyclists to see the road rules applied evenly to—and by—all road users. Anything else is really just window dressing.