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“Hell Ride” fallout continues

Posted August 31st, 2006 in Culture, Advocacy, The Desk

The fallout from the hell ride continues with more commentary related to the incident in todays papers.

The Melbourne Herald Sun starts an otherwise solid editorial with this incitement.

The St Kilda Cycling Club is planning a memorial ride tomorrow to mark the Beach Rd death of James Gould. The riders, no doubt well-intentioned, will be very lucky if bayside residents don’t line the road at Mentone, armed with eggs, tacks and abuse.

I think this is a really bad idea and the St Kilda Club should abandon efforts to organise this ride - first rule of damage control in the face of seriously bad press? Shut the fuck up and let the lawyers do the talking. No amount of public sympathy shown by cyclists can address the damage right now.

The Australian reports on this logical suggestion regarding cycling accident victim compensation.

Prominent legal firm Maurice Blackburn Cashman today called for the Transport Accident Commission (TAC) to be extended to include cycling accidents, to enable families to receive financial assistance.

This would be an important move, in that it would go a long way toward giving cycling the same status as motoring in the eyes of relevant organisations. Any closing of the legal gaps between cyclists and motorists is a good thing.

And finally, the General manager of the Amy Gillett Foundation, Melinda Jacobson is quoted in the Daily Telegraph.

Cyclists who break the law should be exposed to the same charges and penalties as motorists, according to a prominent riding organisation. The head of the Amy Gillett Foundation said cyclists wanted the same road rights as drivers so should therefore be open to the same sanctions if they broke the law. General manager Melinda Jacobson said this could go as far as cyclists being charged with culpable riding if they caused a death, Ms Jacobson said consistency in the treatment of riders and drivers would help promote respect between the two.

I couldn’t agree more. The saying that in crisis there is opportunity couldn’t be more apt at the moment, this is a watershed moment for cycling and cyclists, we are being watched and our behaviour monitored by other road users and the authorities, there is no use crying about motoring behaviour because there is much more at stake here - our fight to be seen as responsible road users, and our right to use those roads.

While there is not much that can be done about the behaviour of individual cyclists, there does need to be a fair degree of self policing in the road bunches over the next few months as the summer riding season sees more of us out there. Lunatic club members and participants of other well known non affiliated Caffe rides out there need to pull their heads out of their arses and pull their heads in.

Finally, I’d like to see a special editorial in Cyclingnews on this incident. The organisation is a Sydney and Australian based media outlet and is read by just about every road rider in the country. As such it needs to take a leadership position now and denounce the irresponsible amongst our ranks and in doing so stand up for our now threatened right to ride in big bunches.

Update: Treadly has a posted a comprehensive and link rich summation of the media surrounding the “Hell Ride”.

Aftermatter: I think a good place for participants of the Melbourne ride to begin regrouping is to stop referring to the ride by it’s now infamous name, and whoever is responsible for it can start by killing the website.

Technorati Tags: cycling, bicycles, hellride, melbourne,

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