Recently there was a Facebook post to Chch City Council’s site by someone grumbling about cyclists using traffic lanes in the central city when a cycleway exists on the same road. Not surprisingly, there was quite a bit of animated …
Tag: Legal issues
Flashback Friday: Can You Ride Two Abreast?
Cycling behaviour regularly seems to come into the public firing line; what’s often interesting is whether the perception of what riders are doing “wrong” actually matches the reality of the law (often not). Cycling two abreast is one of those …
Flashback Friday: Don’t be a D***k – Stop at Red
Nothing gets the cycle-moaners vocal quicker it seems than any hint of law-breaking by people biking. And while that is often a case of “the pot calling the kettle black”, I do still often see some fairly dodgy behaviour at …
Cycling and the Law: Positioning yourself on the Road
OK, time to consider some of the nitty-gritty in the road rules when you’re riding, particularly when in the vicinity of other road users. We’ve previously covered the various places where you can/can’t ride, but it’s probably on the …
Can e-scooters and bikes co-exist?
In case you have been living under a rock lately, it’s been two months now since Lime e-scooters turned up on Christchurch (and Auckland) streets. Judging by the volume of alarmist news articles and letters to the editor, you’d think …
The problem with cycleways and turning traffic
The new separated cycleways have given a dramatic transformation to our city cycling network. Lots of people are now enjoying these new connections around town. However, if there was one particular thing that is causing ongoing angst for all parties …
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 …
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 …
New cycling research causes a flurry
Three interesting research reports about cycling have just been publicly released by the NZ Transport Agency and already they’re causing a bit of a stir around cycling circles (and elsewhere…). We previously alluded to these pieces of work being underway, …
Have your say on allowing Footpath Cycling
You might recall earlier this year that Lower Hutt mother Jo Clendon was petitioning Government to make it legal for kids to ride their bikes on the footpath. As mentioned previously, currently it is illegal for anyone to ride on …
Cycling and the Law: Things that can go on or with a Bike
In our earlier legal articles we considered what counts as a cycle and where you can legally bike. Now let’s look at what you can and can’t have on your bike (well you can take it from the earlier …
Cycling Road Rules getting a shake-up
Many of the current road transport regulations in place in New Zealand were drafted really only with motor vehicles in mind; trying to apply them to cycles as well doesn’t always make sense. New developments in cycling network design also …
Guest Post: Should kids be able to ride on the footpath?
Here’s an interesting guest topic from Jo Clendon:
Do you cycle with kids? Do you sometimes let them ride on the footpath? Perhaps you’ve seen or heard in the news about my campaign to make cycling on the footpaths …
Cycling and the Law: Where can you Ride your Bike?
-1200x533.jpg)
Having previously covered the innocuous legal question of what exactly constitutes a bike, we’ll now turn our attention to where exactly you can ride your bike (and some of the implications of that). Before we get too far into …
Mythbusting: What a Safe Passing Rule Means
Since the Cycle Safety Panel report came out, there has been a lot of attention focused on one particular recommendation in it – introducing a mandatory minimum lateral clearance distance when passing someone riding a bike. As is often the …
Cycling and the Law: What is a “Cycle”?
This is the start of a planned series of articles to help readers understand some of the legal ins and outs of cycling in NZ. I get lots of questions about this, and clearly there is a bit of confusion …
Progress on Cycle Safety Panel Recommendations
There wasn’t a lot of fanfare, but just before last Christmas the final Cycle Safety Panel report was presented to the Government. You will recall that this came from the national group of experts convened by NZTA and the …
Cycling in Nantes and #VeloCity2015 Conference
-1200x627.jpg)
After the highs of a month in the Netherlands, I still had another month to check out some of the “lesser lights” of European cycling (which, compared with New Zealand, invariably still means better than most of us…). …
What the Alex Mann case has taught us
It was fascinating to watch the furore erupt regarding Alex Mann’s conviction for impeding traffic while cycling on Dyers Pass Rd. Only two weeks ago, this was all over social media (and was easily our most viewed blogpost in a …
Police suggest cyclists get off the road
Following the conviction of Alex Mann for ‘impeding traffic’ for 400m while biking up Dyers Pass Road, there was an interview on Radio New Zealand featuring Alex and senior sergeant Scott Richardson (Radio NZ interview link). He made the …