The Road Transport Forum wants state highways and rural roads to be rated according to their suitability for use by cyclists. “We saw this year’s Road Safety Awareness Week (May 6-13) as the ideal time to launch our proposal,” says the Road Transport Forum chief executive Ken Shirley.
“There are some roads which because of their narrow width, lack of shoulders or frequency of blind or tight corners really aren’t suitable to be shared by cyclists and vehicles, no matter how careful everyone is being. They are just downright dangerous for riders.
“We are going to propose to the New Zealand Transport Agency that they specifically rate roads for the risk to cyclist along the lines of the KiwiRAP risk maps. These highlight where fatal and injury crashes are occurring and are proving their worth in identifying high risk roads. We think cyclists deserve the same consideration.
“While accidents should be taken into account, KiwiRAP is essentially a reactive tool. We want the agency to be proactive, so assessment should also take into account the potential for causing an accident which should help prevent them happening.
“We think the project should be called CycleSafe and include suitably signposting unsafe roads so that cyclists are aware of the risk they might face by using them. The road freight industry puts a high priority on road safety, and we already have an accord with Cycle Tour Operators NZ, the commercial cycling association, which is working very well.
“This proposal will be a real contribution to ensure cyclists’ safety. The Road Transport Forum will be very happy to work with the agency and the cycling organisations in making CycleSafe happen.”
