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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2008-10-15 Daily Xml
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Grievance Debate

NATIONAL RIDE TO WORK DAY

Dr McFETRIDGE (Morphett) (15:29): Today is National Ride to Work Day. As I said during question time, the Minister for Transport and I were at Victoria Square this morning—

Ms Chapman: And me!

Dr McFETRIDGE: The member for Bragg was there. I missed the member for Bragg, but, certainly, the minister was there. This is one of those events where there certainly is bipartisan support. National Ride to Work Day is a great event, and last year over 2,500 bike riders assembled in Victoria Square for a breakfast put on by a number of volunteer groups. There were other organisations there, including Bicycle SA, and the member for Norwood was there, as well as the Attorney-General (although I missed him this morning). It certainly is a great event, and it is good to see South Australian cyclists being supported by members of parliament as well as by a number of volunteer organisations.

I apologise to the Mayor of the City of Marion, because there is also an event down there. I did not go last year and she got into me; this year I went to the Victoria Square event again, so I have to apologise there.

However, this is a terrific event. The fact that Adelaide is the flattest capital city in Australia makes it perfect for bike riding, and my wife and I certainly enjoy riding our bikes along the foreshore from Glenelg to Henley Beach or down to Kingston Park for a coffee. It is a great pastime, and the health benefits of cycling are more than evident from the changed shape of the Minister for Transport. Although the lycra look is not one I would wear, I must admit that Tim Noonan from the ABC did acknowledge the fact that the minister was preserving his modesty by wearing shorts over his lycra this morning. However, I congratulate the minister for turning up. He does need to recognise that we have to do more for cyclists in South Australia.

In London recently I saw bike lanes in downtown city streets that were separated from vehicular traffic by a concrete plinth, and it was interesting to note that they were two-way bike lanes on the sides of the street in London. We could investigate something like that here to give cyclists that extra bit of security when they are mixing with traffic. Just this morning I had a couple of near-death experiences going from Parliament House to Victoria Square. In heavy traffic you have to have your wits about you and make sure—

An honourable member interjecting:

Dr McFETRIDGE: Part of the ride. That ride is in heavy traffic, and you need to be careful not only of cars but also of pedestrians. Coming back from Victoria Square to Parliament House this morning a long bus pulled in front of me and pushed me onto the kerb. Fortunately, through my skill and agility, I was able to jump off the bike and not be flattened. However, cyclists are in danger and need to be protected, and we need to look at what is happening with our cyclists on the road here.

Cycling is a healthy pastime and it is one we should be encouraging by providing the infrastructure. The bike path over South Road with the tram overpass is a good addition to that piece of infrastructure. It should not have been necessary because it should have been designed differently there in the first place, but to miss out on a bike lane initially but then add the bike lane later is at least a positive move—because at last count there are, I think, something like 40,000 new bikes sold in South Australia every year.

The organisation Bicycle SA encourages those with bikes to make sure that they are well informed when they are on their bikes. They put out a Travel Smart brochure and a Simple Guide for Everyday Cycling, they put out a Cycling and the Law and a Share the Road booklet, and they also put out numerous other pamphlets. One thing I do not think we have in South Australia (and I have made inquiries of the RAA) is a service like that in Victoria, where the RACV has a roadside assistance service called Bike Assist. This service is designed to assist cyclists in the event that their bicycle cannot be ridden because of an accident, mechanical problem or puncture. It is $24 a year for single cover and $33 a year for family cover, and if your bike is beyond repair it provides, as part of that membership, a taxi ride up to the value of $50 to transport you and your bike to your chosen destination. I encourage the RAA to look at something like that, because one of the downsides of riding a bike is that things do go wrong, you do get punctures and you may be stranded. We certainly do not want that.

I encourage the government to keep up positive attitudes to cycling. We in the Liberal opposition will certainly be supporting the biking fraternity in South Australia, and if the RAA could provide that service it would be an extra bonus. However, congratulations to all those involved this morning—particularly the volunteers—and congratulations also to the media for supporting the event. It is a great one, and it should be supported by everyone in this place. Perhaps next year we could have most members of parliament there.

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