Cycling in Christchurch

Flashback Friday – Is Cycling Safe?

Seven years ago, we had one of those unfortunate situations when suddenly there were two cycle deaths in close proximity. They are thankfully rare but they do get many people questioning the relative safety of cycling. This article, originally posted …

Flashback Friday – Handy Tips: Avoiding Dooring

This subject seems to have suddenly been topical again on social media this week, so here is an old post, originally from Feb 2013, looking at the age-old problem of “dooring”…

There has been a flurry of interest…

Flashback Friday – Safety: Who Ya Gonna Call…?

As well as topical info of the day, at Cycling in Chch we also like to provide useful ongoing guidance that will prove useful whenever you will need it. When it comes to cycling, safety and crashes are a big …

Do closer average passes mean less safe cycling?

A recent news article (and similar variants) has been doing the rounds recently and sparked a lot of social media comment. The article reports on some recent research from Australia that measured the space given by motorists passing people …

Sensibel: More testers needed

What’s cycling like in Christchurch? Some of you may remember the introduction last year to Sensibel, a new way of capturing information about people’s cycling experiences (good or bad). Now, more help is still needed to collect more information.…

Christchurch Annual Plan – the Numbers don’t match the Intent or the Need

Submissions due 1 April – link below

It is truly great that Council is committed to speeding up delivery of the Major Cycle Routes, MCR’s. Be sure to let Council know you support the MCR’s. A careful look at the …

Guest Post: Mind those doors!

Cycling in Chch reader Helen Leigh sent me a slightly harrowing story:

“I am an avid cyclist and have cycled for well over 10 years and have traversed much of the city. It was the first week in January this …

Guest Post: 10 things I’ve learned from cycling in Christchurch

Here’s some great insights from Evan O’Donoghue of the City Church of Christchurch (original post):

I ride a total of 20km to and from work every day – rain, hail or shine. That’s about 4,600km a year, or

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Stay wider of the rider – sign the petition

We’ve discussed in the past the potential for a rule specifying a minimum space for motorists when passing a bike rider (and all the myths surrounding such a law…). Now it looks more likely that the new Government may …

Guest Post – Sensibel: What’s your experience of cycling?

Hamish McNair tells us about an interesting project that you can be part of:

Sensibel promotes more efficient communication between you (the user) and decision makers responsible for cycle infrastructure. This is achieved by giving people who cycle the opportunity …

Dyers Pass Safety Improvements

I have ridden up Dyers Pass a few times now that the speed limit has been lowered and the double yellow lines painted from Sign of the Takahe up to the Kiwi. My impression is that most cars slow down …

Can you overtake a bike now on Dyers Pass Rd?

Recently, the City Council voted to reduce the speed limit along Dyers Pass Rd and to introduce double yellow no-passing lines along the route. This comes after many concerns about safety along this route over the Port Hills, including …

Tram Tracks, Cycle Signals – Two local cycling surveys to do

There are a couple of public surveys on cycling topics currently out for Christchurch residents to fill in. See below for the details:

{Disclosure: my company is involved in doing the analysis for both surveys}

Survey on cycling tram-track incidents

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How dangerous is cycling in New Zealand?

Auckland researchers Michael Chieng, Hakkan Lai and Alistair Woodward have compared the risk of cycling with other common activities and found it to be relatively safe, so ask the good question ‘why is it perceived to be so dangerous’? The …

Guest Post: On-road cycle lanes

Here’s a guest post from Darren who’s been thinking about his regular commute:

There’s an ongoing debate around the world regarding delineation of modes:

Separate different types and speeds of travellers (think: footpaths, separated cycleways, medians, rail corridors, with signal-controlled

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Um, maybe your riding is just… a bit crap?

Many people who cycle often express concern about their safety when riding, and typically point the finger at some of those dodgy drivers out there. Given that official crash data suggests that at least 2/3 of cycle crashes are the …

Shouldering the burden

Around the outskirts of Christchurch, there are many “urban-fringe” roads that are popular both as recreational and commuting cycling routes. However, they are definitely not for the faint-hearted on a bike, because often they have some rather negligible shoulders provided …

Tag: Cycling safety