Words: Sarah Imm @sydneybikemayor

But lets step back a minute. Why is The Urban Cyclist focusing on something negative when our main objective is to promote the positive aspects of cycling as a lifestyle choice?

It did start out in a positive way - as this article was inspired by watching the Indian Pacific Wheel Race, a remarkable event where 70 riders from around the world, everyday people not professionals, competed just for the glory of being the fastest over 5,500 kilometres.

So many came out to cheer, offer words of support, food or even ride with the competitors as they passed through towns and cities. It felt as if the event had a life of its own. The IndiPac was a rare cycling good news story that filtered into the broader community which had to be spread further.

Then disaster struck. On the morning of March 31 - just as the lead rider Kristof Allegaert was approaching Sydney - Mike Hall’s GPS dot stopped moving. Mike is an inspirational cyclist having won both the Trans-Am Bike Race and the Tour Divide, plus organiser of the Transcontinental race in Europe and an amazing cycling representative we could all aspire to emulate.

And it was the first time he and Kristof had competed against each other so there was a lot of international interest.

At the time, we hoped it was just a mechanical; then a press release announced that a rider had been killed and the race was cancelled.

Initially, I was mad at the driver. How could someone, on a straight stretch of highway, just run over a cyclist? Where was their duty of care to look after the more vulnerable in our society?

During the IndiPac there were reports of more than a few extremely close passes at speed for no other reason than that they could. But this was just insane. Are we really in that much of a hurry, has time become so valuable that it is now worth more than someone’s life?

Then came the news of an elderly pedestrian dying in Melbourne after a collision with a cyclist. This time I was mad at the cyclist. I am well aware of the personal risks to cyclists from hitting a pedestrian, but still. How could someone, who could easily be my friend, be so uncaring and callous that they kill someone more vulnerable?

Is it not a basic concept of a robust caring society that the stronger take care of the more vulnerable? On the roads the trucks watch out for the cars, while the cars take care of cyclists and cyclists respect the needs of pedestrians.

I have to admit my anger at the cyclist proved to be misplaced – again showing the risk of basing opinions on quick news grabs. It was the pedestrian, not the cyclist, who allegedly ignored the red light on the crossing.

As the vitriol towards cyclists rolled in, I was horrified by the level of anger and aggression towards one person that no-one knew personally. So much anger was projected at a single “killer cyclist” that you have to ask why they were ignoring the 440 pedestrians that died on Victorian roads in the last 10 years due to motorized vehicles. Meanwhile, only one pedestrian has died in a collision with a cyclist in the last 30 years.

All unnecessary deaths are tragic but tragedy does not mitigate misplaced anger. Why were they not getting angry at the drivers who run over children at school entrances, buses that run red lights at pedestrian crossings or even people who drive while texting?

We have to find a way to move the debate away from a ‘us and them’ mentality - cyclists vs drivers vs pedestrians - to a simple idea of ‘we’. We are all fragile people who are at risk on the roads and need to look out for each other as well as ourselves. 

Anger is not a solution no matter how good it feels at the time. But finding a way to develop understanding and compassion might be. At this juncture it feels almost too much to ask. But then again, given how bad it has become, do we have any choice?

How does this make you feel; do you think it can it be done? Why not join in the debate on Twitter with @urbanphaedrus or @sydneybikemayor. Help us move the debate forward in a positive way and not let it get stuck in personal issues or angry ruts.