2008nswrrchanges.pdf
For cyclists the major changes are to do with the expected construction of bike boxes on the road, referred to as "bicycle storage areas". On some roads, painted boxes on the road in front of the traffic lanes will provide an area for up to 2 bicycles to wait in front of the cars at traffic signals. Motorised vehicles will not be able to creep over these lines to stand in the bike box.
Scooters (human powered) and unicycles have now been placed in the "wheeled recreational device and toys" category. This seems to imply that it is legal to ride these on footpaths, shared paths, and some roads (but not at night), unless there is a sign prohibiting their use. (See pages 11 and 12 of the pdf)
The Sydney Morning Herald has a story Critics see red as laws hand bikes pole position that outlines the fines motorists face for breaking the new rules.
| New laws hit drivers with tough three-demerit-point penalties and fines of $342 if their cars drift into special bicycle waiting zones to be installed at many intersections across the metropolitan area. If it is in a school zone, drivers who enter the painted cycle zone will be up for four demerit points and a $405 fine. |
Opposition spokesman on road safety Andrew Fraser should immediately be removed from his post and sentenced to a lifetime of cycling for these comments:
| "While we need to be mindful of safety for cyclists, these bicycle zones at lights are dangerous," Mr Fraser said. "You are inviting all cyclists to wait in the middle of the road rather than on the side of the road where drivers expect them to be. It is putting them directly into the path of traffic." |
Dear Mr Fraser, the safest place for cyclists to be on the road is in the middle of a traffic lane where they are the most visible, safe from road side debris and mindless car drivers in parked cars. The changes to the road rules are not putting cyclists "directly into the path of traffic" because cyclists are, legally, traffic!
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