CYCLIST crashes leading to serious injuries have doubled in Brimbank in the past five years, spurring calls for better infrastructure and driver education.
According to VicRoads statistics, there were 87 crashes in the five years to the end of last year, rising from 12 in 2007 to 26 in 2011.
The figures include 33 serious injuries requiring hospitalisation.
Almost half the accidents occurred at intersections and nearly all involved cyclists colliding with a car.
Three in four were in broad daylight and most occurred during the morning and evening peak traffic period.
Keilor cyclist Graeme Oke said many drivers involved in accidents claimed not to have seen the cyclist they struck.
The Brimbank Bicycle Users Group secretary was hit by a driver while cycling through the intersection of Old Calder Highway and Burrowye Crescent in 2008.
Mr Oke said the driver came straight through the intersection without seeing him and he was thrown onto the bonnet before hitting the road.
“I was diagnosed as having a broken back,” he says.
The keen cyclist was kept off his bike for almost a year after the incident.
Mr Oke suspects the rate of accidents is a lot higher than recorded by VicRoads and police, and that many cyclists aren’t reporting accidents unless they are seriously injured.
But despite the rise in reported crash rates, he said there seemed to be a growing awareness that cyclists are entitled to share the roads.
Mr Oke would like to see more spending on bike paths and lanes, but he appreciated Brimbank Council had a limited budget.
Council’s general manager for infrastructure and environment, Paul Younis, said crash data was used to establish priority for road-based safety projects.
“The general rule of thumb is that the higher the number of crashes at a particular site the more likelihood there is of a successful funding application to the state or federal governments. This applies to black spot funding especially.”
VicRoads regional director Nial Finegan said the authority continually reviewed the safety and operation of the roads for all users.
It has launched a campaign to foster mutual respect between road users, clarify cycling-related rules for all road users, and encourage drivers to treat cyclists as legitimate road users.
The council is taking part in Bicycle Network Victoria’s ‘Super Tuesday’ user surveys next Tuesday.
