I wear high vis gear. I am a road user like you driving your car every day. I stick to the road rules like you in your car. I have lights on my bike for cycling at dusk. I wait for pedestrians to cross the road. I am safety conscious. I am scared of losing my life. I am an avid individual cyclist.
Last year.. actually about this time last year I was hit off my bike by a driver at a roundabout, I didn’t see who the driver was but I recognized the car luckily there were witnesses who saw who it was. If I didn’t have witnesses I wouldn’t have been noticed and if I died and had no witnesses.. that would of become messy..
There is soooo much bad driving in and around New Zealand.. that some people aren’t aware of. 2 weeks ago I was out at Red Bridge (near Tukituki Valley).. There is a sensor at the start and end of the bridge for cyclists to push so that they will be noticed and I was wearing high vis gear. The car overtook me and almost pushed me into the side of the bridge giving me a bit of a fright.. If there was another car coming there would have been a far worse impact on everyone and I would probably be dead.
Every week I hear different stories in Hawkes Bay and online from all around the world of cyclists dealing with impatient rude drivers who don’t have the courtesy for us- cyclists.
BUT drivers don’t have all the blame.. Cyclists need to learn the road rules.
I recently bought a GoPro, to help with the aid of being part of an effort to help police track down hit and run drivers if I get in an accident and to also show my awesome international friends what its like to cycle in New Zealand.
I am a cyclist
