Bicycle Network Victoria: Behaviour

'No hefty Harleys in bike lane', says Govt

15 July 2009. The State Government has rejected an attempt to raise the risks of bike riding by permitting motor bikes to share the bike lane.

The Motorcycle Riders Association and the Victorian Automobile Chamber of Commerce this week called on the government to change the current law, which restricts the bike lane to bikes.

The two groups launch this futile campaign every year, only to see it rejected every year. Police are booking more motorcycle riders for this offense, thus the clamour to have the law changed.

The motorcycle groups claim that because their members are vulnerable on the road, and over-represented in accident statistics, they ought to share lanes with vulnerable cyclists.

The argument is flawed, (but hopefully not fatally flawed). This proposal may reduce vulnerability for one group, but it would increase it for another. That is no way to improve road safety.

Motorcycles are much heavier, faster and more powerful than a human on a bike and the great disparity in mass, velocity and acceleration means greater risks to cyclists when the two vehicles types share a narrow lane designed for bikes.

Bicycle Network Victoria regularly receives complaints from cyclists who have suffered near misses involving motor bikes illegally in the bike lane.

The Minister for Roads, Tim Pallas, made it clear this week that the laws would not be changing.