An open letter to Peter Ryan regarding police treatment of cyclists
Hon Peter Ryan,
I am writing because I am concerned at the number of recent incidents where a driver has collided with a cyclist, and the case hasn't been followed up by the police. Such incidents and the publicity surrounding them does nothing to encourage road users to obey the law when they realise that they will most likely get away with not doing so.
A week ago in Ballarat, a 13 year old boy was hit by a car, and the police said the boy had the right of way[1]. Despite this, the article linked states that the police will not charge the driver. This, despite her having broken Australian Road Rule 67 to 72, 84 or 86 depending on circumstances at the stated intersection, or perhaps 140 to 144 if travelling in the same direction. She was likely negligent in allowing the collision to happen in the first place, which, by my understanding, is a criminal offence, especially since there was serious injury involved. If she used the usual excuse that "she didn't see him", then that's an admission of guilt in failing to obey ARR 297 - driver having proper control of vehicle.
Also recently, there was a highly publicised case where Shane Warne had an altercation with a bicycle rider. In that case, the fact that Warne hit the cyclist from behind (ARR 126) after overtaking unsafely (ARR 144) is undisputed[2]. The fact that details were not exchanged following the collision is also undisputed (ARR 287). It is also well established that Warne was stopped unnecessarily in a bike lane (ARR 125; 153)[3]. And yet the police will not investigate[4].
Going back a number of years, I also have not had good experiences getting the police to follow up on cases. In my most recent case (11/10/2005; I do not know the case number sorry, all I know was that I was attended to by Angove & Auchterlonie from Boroondara police), the driver also failed to obey ARR 287 (as well as a slew of other offences, such as ARR 46 and 148 - changing lanes without indicating sufficiently and without due care). The police refused to prosecute the driver, and also would not hand over the driver's details or insurer details, based on some misguided privacy policy, asking me instead to fork out for a freedom of information request. Given that I was a broke student at the time, this was not a feasible thing to do and I never did receive compensation from the driver for damage to my bicycle, clothes, and large out of pocket expenses for travel to medical care for several years that the TAC didn't cover. The police also displayed a lack of knowledge of the law, initially thinking that I had broken ARR 141.
I can't imagine why the police aren't investigating these cases, because in each case, clear evidence is at hand, and not disputed. The identities of all parties are known. It should be an open and shut case. Without the police making charges, the rider in each case will have a much harder time claiming from the driver's insurance (if the boy was not admitted overnight, his TAC excess will be an enormous burden to his family). The driver in each case will not be discouraged from driving in a similar fashion next time. And other drivers also know that they will most likely get away with any offences they commit if a bicycle is involved. This is a perverse reversal of the situation that we should have, in which drivers should be encouraged to take due diligence around cyclists. It almost seems that the police always assume a cyclist is at fault unless proven otherwise in Australia, whereas most other countries with an established bicycling culture assume that the driver is at fault unless proven otherwise as they hold the burden of driving the more deadly vehicle and so should be required to take due care.
If the laws weren't adequate enough to prosecute to the driver in the above cases, has your department been contacted to update the laws, and what is being done? Keep in mind that cyclists have no protection other than by the law, and as the more vulnerable road user, the laws should focus on their safety and ensuring that transgressions are dealt with effectively.
Can you please encourage the police in each of these cases to follow them up to the full extent that the law currently allows.
Sincerely,
[1]
http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/teen-cyclist-struck-by-car-20120110-1ps85.html
[2]
http://theage.drive.com.au/motor-news/warnes-tirade-triggers-bike-rego-call-20120118-1q5k0.html
[3]
http://www.cyclingtipsblog.com/2012/01/cyclist-versus-warnie-the-cyclists-story/
[4]
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/more-news/warne-blasts-cyclists-on-twittershane-warne-clashes-with-cyclist-on-way-home-from-training-session/story-fn7x8me2-1226246735306
I am writing because I am concerned at the number of recent incidents where a driver has collided with a cyclist, and the case hasn't been followed up by the police. Such incidents and the publicity surrounding them does nothing to encourage road users to obey the law when they realise that they will most likely get away with not doing so.
A week ago in Ballarat, a 13 year old boy was hit by a car, and the police said the boy had the right of way[1]. Despite this, the article linked states that the police will not charge the driver. This, despite her having broken Australian Road Rule 67 to 72, 84 or 86 depending on circumstances at the stated intersection, or perhaps 140 to 144 if travelling in the same direction. She was likely negligent in allowing the collision to happen in the first place, which, by my understanding, is a criminal offence, especially since there was serious injury involved. If she used the usual excuse that "she didn't see him", then that's an admission of guilt in failing to obey ARR 297 - driver having proper control of vehicle.
Also recently, there was a highly publicised case where Shane Warne had an altercation with a bicycle rider. In that case, the fact that Warne hit the cyclist from behind (ARR 126) after overtaking unsafely (ARR 144) is undisputed[2]. The fact that details were not exchanged following the collision is also undisputed (ARR 287). It is also well established that Warne was stopped unnecessarily in a bike lane (ARR 125; 153)[3]. And yet the police will not investigate[4].
Going back a number of years, I also have not had good experiences getting the police to follow up on cases. In my most recent case (11/10/2005; I do not know the case number sorry, all I know was that I was attended to by Angove & Auchterlonie from Boroondara police), the driver also failed to obey ARR 287 (as well as a slew of other offences, such as ARR 46 and 148 - changing lanes without indicating sufficiently and without due care). The police refused to prosecute the driver, and also would not hand over the driver's details or insurer details, based on some misguided privacy policy, asking me instead to fork out for a freedom of information request. Given that I was a broke student at the time, this was not a feasible thing to do and I never did receive compensation from the driver for damage to my bicycle, clothes, and large out of pocket expenses for travel to medical care for several years that the TAC didn't cover. The police also displayed a lack of knowledge of the law, initially thinking that I had broken ARR 141.
I can't imagine why the police aren't investigating these cases, because in each case, clear evidence is at hand, and not disputed. The identities of all parties are known. It should be an open and shut case. Without the police making charges, the rider in each case will have a much harder time claiming from the driver's insurance (if the boy was not admitted overnight, his TAC excess will be an enormous burden to his family). The driver in each case will not be discouraged from driving in a similar fashion next time. And other drivers also know that they will most likely get away with any offences they commit if a bicycle is involved. This is a perverse reversal of the situation that we should have, in which drivers should be encouraged to take due diligence around cyclists. It almost seems that the police always assume a cyclist is at fault unless proven otherwise in Australia, whereas most other countries with an established bicycling culture assume that the driver is at fault unless proven otherwise as they hold the burden of driving the more deadly vehicle and so should be required to take due care.
If the laws weren't adequate enough to prosecute to the driver in the above cases, has your department been contacted to update the laws, and what is being done? Keep in mind that cyclists have no protection other than by the law, and as the more vulnerable road user, the laws should focus on their safety and ensuring that transgressions are dealt with effectively.
Can you please encourage the police in each of these cases to follow them up to the full extent that the law currently allows.
Sincerely,
[1]
http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/teen-cyclist-struck-by-car-20120110-1ps85.html
[2]
http://theage.drive.com.au/motor-news/warnes-tirade-triggers-bike-rego-call-20120118-1q5k0.html
[3]
http://www.cyclingtipsblog.com/2012/01/cyclist-versus-warnie-the-cyclists-story/
[4]
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/more-news/warne-blasts-cyclists-on-twittershane-warne-clashes-with-cyclist-on-way-home-from-training-session/story-fn7x8me2-1226246735306