Cycling in Victoria

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Cycling in the Australian state of Victoria (including its capital Melbourne) is a popular pastime, sport and way of getting around since at least 1896, as indicated by the Banjo Paterson poem Mulga Bill's Bicycle. Cycling in Victoria has been encouraged by the development of bicycle networks in town and cities throughout the state, and many regional rail trails. The sports popularity has been encouraged by the success of racing clubs such as the St Kilda Cycling Club and Victorian racing riders such as Cadel Evans, Simon Gerrans and Matthew Lloyd. Organised rides held annually including the Great Victorian Bike Ride, and races held in Victoria include the Herald Sun Tour.

Regional rail trails

Victoria also has many developed rail trails suitable for cycling^[1] including:

Ballarat-Skipton Rail Trail, Ballarat
Bass Coast Rail Trail, South Gippsland
Bellarine Rail Trail, Bellarine Peninsula
Crater to Coast Rail Trail, Camperdown
East Gippsland Rail Trail, East Gippsland
Great Southern Rail Trail, South Gippsland
High Country Rail Trail, Lake Hume
Moe-Yallourn Rail Trail
Murray to the Mountains, Wangaratta
O'Keefe Rail Trail, Bendigo
Old Beechy Rail Trail, Colac
Tyers Valley Tramway, Gippsland
Warburton Trail, Warburton
Drouin to Warragul Trail, Drouin - Warragul, Gippsland
Linear Park Arts Discovery Trail, Warragul, Gippsland
Rokeby to Neerim Trail, Gippsland

Safety

According to VicRoads hazards that cause cycling fatalities and injuries include "side impact at intersections", "manoeuvring", "lane change" as well as collisions between car doors and cyclists in the door zone, commonly referred to as "car dooring" in Australia.

In Victoria it is illegal to "cause a hazard to any person or vehicle by opening a door of a vehicle, leaving a door of a vehicle open, or getting off, or out of, a vehicle" and it is also illegal to flee the scene of such an accident.^[2]

While there were 1112 collisions caused by opening doors in the Australian state of Victoria between 2000 and 2010, the first fatality occurred in March 2010, when a car door opening caused university student James Cross to be propelled under the wheels of a passing truck.^[3] Eight percent of serious injuries to cyclists between 2006 and 2010 were cause by car doorings.^[4]

In July 2012 Victoria increased the on-the-spot penalty for car dooring from $141 to $352, also increasing the maximum court imposed penalty from $432 to $1408.^[2] In March 2015 stickers were placed in taxis in the state, advising passengers to look for bicycles before leaving the vehicle; at the time 13% of car dooring incidents in the state involved taxis.^[5]

References

^ "Cycling Trails". Visit Victoria. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
^ ^a ^b Carey, Adam (18 March 2014). "Police urged to charge passenger after cyclist car-doored in CBD". The Age. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
^ Power, Liza (26 November 2011). "Reflecting on a tragedy". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
^ "Heavy toll of car dooring incidents points to need for bigger fines". Slater and Gordon Lawyers. 31 August 2012. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
^ "Victorian cyclists welcome taxi stickers to curb car dooring risk weeks after Alberto Paulon's death". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 28 March 2015. Retrieved 29 March 2015.

Cycling by country and city

Africa

Asia

Europe

East	Czech Republic Prague Moldova Romania Bucharest Slovakia Turkey
North	Denmark Copenhagen Estonia Ireland Latvia Lithuania Norway United Kingdom Cambridge Cardiff Leeds London Manchester
South	Italy Malta Portugal Slovenia Spain Madrid
West	Belgium France Paris Germany Berlin Munich Luxembourg Netherlands Amsterdam

North America

Belize
Canada
- Toronto
United States
- California
- Illinois
  - Chicago
- Georgia
  - Atlanta
- Massachusetts
  - Boston
- Michigan
  - Detroit
- Minnesota
  - Minneapolis
- New York
  - New York City
  - Syracuse
- Oregon
  - Portland

Oceania

Australia
- Canberra
- New South Wales (Sydney)
- Perth
- Victoria (Geelong, Melbourne)
New Zealand
- Auckland

v t e Rail trails in Victoria
Melbourne & Region	Belgrave Bellarine Box Hill to Ringwood Djerring Hawthorn to Kew Inner Circle Lilydale to Warburton Outer Circle (Anniversary) Powelltown Red Hill Rosstown Heritage Sandridge Waverley Yarra Valley (Lilydale to Healesville)
Gippsland	Bass Coast Drouin to Warragul East Gippsland Gippsland Lakes Discovery Gippsland Plains Grand Ridge Great Southern Moe to Yallourn Moondarra Noojee Trestle Bridge Rokeby to Crossover Tarra Tyers Junction Walhalla Goldfields
North Victoria	Castlemaine to Maldon Dookie Great Victorian High Country Marysville Mount Samaria Murchison-Rushworth Murray to the Mountains O'Keefe Plain Creek Say G'day
Western Victoria	Andersons Mill Ballarat-Skipton Bunny Camperdown-Timboon Domino Grampians Great Divide Old Beechy Port Fairy to Warrnambool Tiger

Category:

Cycling in Victoria (state)

Hidden category:

Use dmy dates from November 2019

Regional rail trails

Safety

See also

References