Cycling in Sydney Australia
Cadel says Australian drivers worst in the world
Australians drive cyclist star Cadel Evans to despair
By Daniel Hoy
Herald Sun
December 12, 2008 12:01am
AUSTRALIAN drivers are among the worst in the world when it comes to cyclists, Tour de France star Cadel Evans says.
Evans, who spends half his year in Europe and half in Barwon Heads, has been the victim of several near misses.
"I drive on the road and I don't like people just not having respect for other road users," he said.
"I spend half my year in Europe so I know what the traffic is like there.
"It is really strange, to be honest, the way Australian drivers are.
"Our roads have much less traffic, are far larger, and the drivers have much more space, but they are much more aggressive and negative to other road users.
"When you ride a race in Italy or Switzerland or France, the roads are much narrower and there is much more traffic, but the drivers are much more tolerant and easier to deal with. It is a bit of a shame."
"They feel like because they are in their car they have the right to use all the road, and everyone else on the road should be off it," he said.
Evans has been a strong supporter of the Amy Gillett Foundation, established after the AIS cyclist was killed by a car in Germany.
He will join the fundraising Amy's Ride on January 4.
He will head to Shepparton tomorrow to take part in Scotty's Ride, in honour of Scott Peoples, who was killed by a four-wheel drive near Mansfield in December 2006
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,24788969-421,00.html
By Daniel Hoy
Herald Sun
December 12, 2008 12:01am
AUSTRALIAN drivers are among the worst in the world when it comes to cyclists, Tour de France star Cadel Evans says.
Evans, who spends half his year in Europe and half in Barwon Heads, has been the victim of several near misses.
"I drive on the road and I don't like people just not having respect for other road users," he said.
"I spend half my year in Europe so I know what the traffic is like there.
"It is really strange, to be honest, the way Australian drivers are.
"Our roads have much less traffic, are far larger, and the drivers have much more space, but they are much more aggressive and negative to other road users.
"When you ride a race in Italy or Switzerland or France, the roads are much narrower and there is much more traffic, but the drivers are much more tolerant and easier to deal with. It is a bit of a shame."
"They feel like because they are in their car they have the right to use all the road, and everyone else on the road should be off it," he said.
Evans has been a strong supporter of the Amy Gillett Foundation, established after the AIS cyclist was killed by a car in Germany.
He will join the fundraising Amy's Ride on January 4.
He will head to Shepparton tomorrow to take part in Scotty's Ride, in honour of Scott Peoples, who was killed by a four-wheel drive near Mansfield in December 2006
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,24788969-421,00.html
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Kim on -
Although it maybe be an obvious observation for us cyclists, I think that it is good that he says these things as at least the Daily Terror publishes such a story. Besides, it gives the NEWS website a chance to get readers to write nasty comments about cyclists.
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Permalink Reply by jbcow on -
Nice work Cadel. We really need to be positively active in educating road users. After 5+ years cycling on relaxed European roads, I'm dreading the return to sydney's road rage.
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Permalink Reply by Owning on -
Does it take a cyclist to tell Sydney drivers are bad? Even when I am a pedestrian its seems pretty bad!
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Permalink Reply by Russ W on -
The media printed similar comments made by Cadel last Jan/Feb. What have the Police services done since then? If a similar prominent Australian made comments about their safety being threatened, my hunch is that the politicians and the Police would have acted by now. Why not? By contrast, while the gay movement were subject to similar threats, by the late 1980's they required the politicians and Police to act ..... a good lesson here.
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Permalink Reply by Tony A on -
Maybe road rage towards cyclists should be considered a "hate crime" just as "gay bashing" is.
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Permalink Reply by Doddsy on -
Thats not a bad point Tony... ive been researching a little bit about hate crimes and it seems like there (according to google search is not any real laws against hate crimes in Australia, Only against hate speech.)
Is this wrong? Surely there must be laws against hate crimes in Australia. I was google searching for about half an hour... not sure if its because off google.ca instead of au but all i could find was laws and penalties for hate speech.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hate_crime#Hate_crime_laws
"Hate crimes (also known as bias motivated crimes) occur when a perpetrator targets a victim because of his or her membership in a certain social group, usually defined by racial group, religion, sexual orientation, disability, ethnicity, nationality, age, gender, gender identity, or political affiliation.[1]
Hate crime can take many forms. Incidents may involve physical assault, damage to property, bullying, harassment, verbal abuse or insults, or offensive graffiti or letters.[2]"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hate_speech#New_South_Wales
"Hate speech is a term for speech intended to degrade, intimidate, or incite violence or prejudicial action against a person or group of people based on their race, gender, age, ethnicity, nationality, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, language ability, ideology, social class, occupation, appearance (height, weight, hair color, etc.), mental capacity, and any other distinction that might be considered by some as a liability. The term covers written as well as oral communication and some forms of behaviors in a public setting. It is also sometimes called antilocution and is the first point on Allport's scale which measures prejudice in a society. Critics have claimed that the term "Hate Speech" is a modern example of Newspeak, used to silence critics of social policies that have been poorly implemented in a rush to appear politically correct"
"Australia
[edit] The Commonwealth of Australia
The Racial Discrimination Act 1975 forbids hate speech on several grounds. The Act makes it “unlawful for a person to do an act, otherwise than in private, if the act is reasonably likely, in all the circumstances, to offend, insult, humiliate or intimidate another person or a group of people; and the act is done because of the race, colour or national or ethnic origin of the other person, or of some or all of the people in the group.” An aggrieved person can lodge a complaint with the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission. If the complaint is validated, the Commission will attempt to conciliate the matter. If the Commission cannot negotiate an agreement which is acceptable to the complainant, the complainant's only redress is through the Federal Court or through the Federal Magistrates Service.
In 2002, the Federal Court applied the Act in the case of Jones v. Toben. The case involved a complaint about a website which contained material that denied the Holocaust. The Federal Court ruled that the material was a violation of the Act.[4]
Section 85ZE of the Crimes Act 1914 makes it an offence to use the Internet to disseminate material intentionally that results in a person being menaced or harassed. This offence includes material communicated by email. Federal criminal law, therefore, is available to address racial vilification where the element of threat or harassment is also present, although it does not apply to material that is merely offensive.[5]
[edit] Tasmania
Section 19 of Tasmania's Anti-Discrimination Act 1998 prohibits anyone from inciting hatred. The Act says:
A person, by a public act, must not incite hatred towards, serious contempt for, or severe ridicule of, a person or a group of persons on the ground of –
(a) the race of the person or any member of the group; or
(b) any disability of the person or any member of the group; or
(c) the sexual orientation or lawful sexual activity of the person or any member of the group; or
(d) the religious belief or affiliation or religious activity of the person or any member of the group.
[edit] New South Wales
In 1989, by an amendment to the Anti-Discrimination Act 1977, New South Wales became the first state to make it unlawful for a person, by a public act, to incite hatred towards, serious contempt for, or severe ridicule of a person or group on the grounds of race. The amendment also created a criminal offence for inciting hatred, contempt or severe ridicule towards a person or group on the grounds of race by threatening physical harm (towards people or their property) or inciting others to threaten such harm. Prosecution of the offence of serious vilification requires consent from the Attorney-General and carries a maximum penalty of a $10,000 fine or 6 months imprisonment for an individual—$100,000 for a corporation. An offence has not yet been prosecuted under this law.[5]
[edit] Queensland
Queensland's Anti-Discrimination Act 1991 and amendments create laws that are similar to Tasmania's. In 2001, the Islamic Council of Queensland brought the first action under the Anti-Discrimination Act for victimisation on account of religion. The Islamic Council complained that the respondent Mr. Lamb, a candidate in a federal election, had expressed some unfavourable opinions about Muslims in an electioneering-pamphlet. Walter Sofronoff, for the Anti-Discrimination Tribunal, dismissed the action on the ground that Mr. Lamb did not intend to incite hatred or contempt but rather wanted to let the electors know his opinions on political matters.[6]
[edit] Western Australia
Unlike other jurisdictions, Western Australian law imposes criminal but not civil sanctions against racial vilification. In Western Australia, the Criminal Code was amended in 1989 to criminalise the possession, publication and display of written or pictorial material that is threatening or abusive with the intention of inciting racial hatred or of harassing a racial group. Penalties range between 6 months and two years imprisonment. It is noteworthy that the Western Australian legislation only addresses written or pictorial information—not verbal comments. The emphasis on written material arose in direct response to the racist poster campaigns of the Australian Nationalist Movement in the late 1980s and early 1990s. There have been no prosecutions to date.[5]
[edit] Victoria
On 1 January 2002, Victoria put into effect its Racial and Religious Tolerance Act 2001 which makes religious vilification as well as racial vilification unlawful. Section 8(1) of the Act states:
A person must not, on the ground of the religious belief or activity of another person or class of persons, engage in conduct that incites hatred against, serious contempt for, or revulsion or severe ridicule of, that other person or class of persons.
Note: "engage in conduct" includes use of the internet or e-mail to publish or transmit statements or other material.
Section 11 of the Act provides this concession in favour of freedom of expression:
A person does not contravene section 7 or 8 if the person establishes that the person's conduct was engaged in reasonably and in good faith—
(a) in the performance, exhibition or distribution of an artistic work; or
(b) in the course of any statement, publication, discussion or debate made or held, or any other conduct engaged in, for—
(i) any genuine academic, artistic, religious or scientific purpose; or
(ii) any purpose that is in the public interest; or
(c) in making or publishing a fair and accurate report of any event or matter of public interest.
In 2004, the Islamic Council of Victoria laid a complaint under the Act about the preaching by two Christian pastors. One pastor, a man who had fled Pakistan when a charge of blasphemy was made against him there, was Daniel Scot. The other pastor was Danny Nalliah. Scot and Nalliah made controversial remarks about Islam at a seminar.[7] On 17 December 2004, the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal, in the person of Judge Michael Higgins, determined that the pastors had violated the Act. The judge sentenced them to print an apology—drafted by the judge—on their website, in their newsletter, and in eight advertisements appearing in two newspapers. The pastors appealed. The Supreme Court of Victoria overturned the Tribunal's decision.[8] The Court said the Tribunal had no business “attempt[ing] to assess the theological propriety of what was asserted at the Seminar.” The Court directed a re-hearing before a different judge. The pastors and the Islamic Council of Victoria prevented a re-hearing by resolving their conflict through mediation on 22 June 2007.[9]
[edit] South Australia
The Racial Vilification Act 1996 is similar to the law in New South Wales.
[edit] The Northern Territory
The Anti-Discrimination Act 1992 prohibits discrimination and harassment in activities associated with education, work, accommodation, services, clubs, and insurance or superannuation.
[edit] The Australian Capital Territory
The Discrimination Act 1991 is similar to the law in New South Wales."
I think this deserves to be a discussion in its self.
http://www.sydneycyclist.com/forum/topics/road-rage-attacks-against
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Permalink Reply by Doddsy on
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Im not very impressed with Cadel Evans in regards to his media skills.
He did a good job of pointing out all the problems with Australian motorists, yet he completely failed in regards to using what Europe has done as an example for what Australia should be doing.
Just another cyclist that is too busy concentrating on the problem rather than working towards the solution.
Figure out what we need and then push for it.
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Permalink Reply by Kim on
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Doddsy, perhaps he did speak about solutions but this mightn't have been reported by the media.
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Permalink Reply by Doddsy on
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I Didn't say i disliked his article, I just wasn't impressed... Neutral, the article just pointed out the obvious.
You could be right eh Kim...
Maybe im still holding a grudge after that live interview he had after some big mountain stage last year.
"Sun burnt, Sore Bum. Thats the tour" in his squeeky little voice... brrr
Shivers... it gave me shivers
It was inspiring until he opened his mouth.
Hes getting better.
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