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Pete and Anthony and interested others, <br><br>
Interesting news ... thanks for the info and comments ...<br><br>
Yep it is a pity too that because CARSS-Q is (perhaps inevitably?) so
much funded by road authorities and other government agencies and it has
quite a few staff who are former employees of such agencies which in
itself isn't necessarily a problem if they and their research unit are
fearless and their briefs etc are transparent and open to public scrutiny
and critique. <br><br>
Clearly it is difficult to get funding for research that might be
critical of government especially so if both the researchers and the
government know the research is likely, perhaps inevitably, to be
critical. And sadly, in my view and experience over some 20 or more
years, and more recently with CARRS-Q, they know.<br><br>
To illustrate, here are some further examples.<br><br>
#1 ... It is easier to research whether the whole or partial population
consider older drivers should have a restricted licence than it is to see
what might cause or contribute to older drivers (as a group) tending to
drive slower ... could it be that it is safer and easier for ALL road
users (ie motorised, cyclists, pedestrians and of all ages and abilities)
if ALL urban road traffic was to move slower? <br><br>
#2 ... It is easy to blame "victims" and/or the
"powerless" eg cyclists or pedestrians, and for the
"research" to appear legit, rather more difficult to question a
dominant belief system embedded by up to 14 years of "road
safety" education ie from K-12 ... so is it "safer" for
all road users to separate/segregate these "vulnerable" road
users (and would they be likely to agree to that) or would it be safer
for all if urban road traffic was to move slower given those 14 years or
more of "education" followed by "x" years of
experience on the roads as currently used and managed?<br><br>
#3 ... Is research based only or primarily on community experience in a
current road "environment" valid or biased, if the majority of
those surveyed have insufficient, little or no experience of other road
operational environments eg the increasingly dominant 30/50 speed limits
in urban Europe and the 20mph in UK and 25mph in parts of the
USA?<br><br>
#4 ... The cyclists v motorist "what makes motorists and cyclists
mad with each other" adversarial mentality is endemic ... yet
arguably addressing this at the level of individual behaviour etc is
biased if the system level requirements eg speed limits, road design,
road operational management, etc are not open to change or critique or
research. One example is the previous "trial" of 30km/h speed
limits in SCHOOL ZONES instead of the current 40km/h. There is a similar
"trial" either starting today or soon to see as to whether
40km/h can be applied to SCHOOL ZONES on two lane each way roads.
Are the trials and their conditions etc, and results and findings
available for public scrutiny? If not, why not?<br>
<br>
#5 ... Given the "new" cycle lanes in George/Tank/Turbot, etc
and the new "spiny" bridge, anyone thought much about why the
cycle lanes were/are deemed necessary or what other alternatives might
have been applied that were "better" (or worse) and for
whom?<br><br>
#6 ... To what extent if at all, does the current CARRS-Q research
project and/or the survey referred to below, address issues such as those
above? Might it act to bring forward, or delay, research in these and
related areas at a whole of or wider, population level? To what extent
might it have been more (or less) useful and beneficial (and to whom) if
that research or similar have been implemented ... perhaps instead of the
current project?<br>
<br>
In other words, if the Australian road authorities and related government
agencies know the roads could and can be managed very differently AND
achieve a far "safer" (used here to include the many related
issues which are inevitably compromised eg convenience, priority, etc)
outcome and there is strong evidence that can be drawn upon from both
here and overseas, then is much of the "safety" and related
research essentially being funded and undertaken so it does not question
critically what some of us might argue is obvious ... namely that urban
speed limits are too high and roads designed and managed and operated
accordingly ... causing or contributing to many of the
"problems" that are the topic of research esp in relation to
cyclists, pedestrians, and other particular groups eg older drivers, etc,
rather than ALL road users?<br><br>
So if cyclists ride where they ride because other locations are (or are
perceived as) too dangerous or too inconvenient (eg too long waiting at
traffic lights to cross a road) or too polluted (due to what?) etc, then
research derived from cyclists stating where they ride may well be
self-serving for the government agencies ie it might well endorse the
current situation ... and thereby remove or hide any incentive or need to
address the issues and concerns that lead to other routes not being used
or indeed to choice of other modes than cycling ...<br><br>
Or as the previous research Pete referred to seems to suggest, much
research can result in what is commonly described as "blaming the
victim" or as blaming (or concern for) the vulnerable road users ...
but why are they so vulnerable is the question and what options are there
to make the roads both safer and more convenient for all road users?
<br><br>
This isn't a new issue of course ... if interested, try a search in
GOOGLE for < safety+convenience > then try <
"safety+convenience" Queensland cycli* > ... or for a
somewhat different view, try < "sharing the road" >
...etc etc etc ... If you wish, you could even see what you get if you
add < Yeates > to those searches ...! <br><br>
Care needed with surveys ...?? <br><br>
BTW, when I do get to read the survey, I am hoping at least some the
above is no longer the case ... just wondering how long to wait
...!<br><br>
MY ..................<br><br>
At 06:58 AM 5/10/2009, Peter Whittle wrote:<br><br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite="">Content-Type:
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boundary="----=_NextPart_000_001B_01CA4589.4ED2BBB0"<br>
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This would be from the group that in their last survey and paper,
basically concluded that bikes got hit by cars because the driver
didn’t see them till too late (oh boy) and the solution was in cyclist
education (obviously the cyclist’s fault for not being seen!).<br>
<br>
P<br>
<br>
<b>From:</b> bikeqld-bounces@bikeqld.org.au
[<a href="mailto:bikeqld-bounces@bikeqld.org.au" eudora="autourl">
mailto:bikeqld-bounces@bikeqld.org.au</a>] <b>On Behalf Of </b>Anthony
Lee<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Monday, 5 October 2009 6:14 AM<br>
<b>To:</b> BIQ<br>
<b>Subject:</b> [bikeqld] Survey<br>
<br>
This survey sounds useful. And you can get a T-shirt.<br><br>
<i>it's taken quite a while, but we've finally launched our Queensland
Cycle Survey, as of today it's your chance to tell us why you ride, where
you ride, how much you ride & any glorious injuries you've received
while riding. <br>
<br>
you can complete survey online:
<a href="http://www.carrsq.qut.edu.au/cyclingsurvey.jsp">www.carrsq.qut.
edu.au/cyclingsu rvey.jsp</a><br>
or I can send you a paper copy: 31384944;
<a href="mailto:cyclesurvey@qut.edu.au">cyclesurvey@ qut.edu.au</a><br>
<br>
please pass it on to anyone you know who rides, any kind of bike at all
(tandem, bmx, track, downhill, triathlon, road, hybrid). <br>
<br>
cheers,<br>
amy<br>
</i> <br>
Anthony Lee<br>
The Doctor -- the last of the Time Lords?<br>
........-- __o <br>
....-- _ \<,_<br>
........(_) / (_) <br>
E-Mail: doctorw1963@yahoo.com.au<br>
<br>
<br>
__,_._,___<br>
<br>
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