Amy Gillett Foundation
Canberra to Melbourne
23rd to 28th November 2009
Talk with any cyclist and they have at least one story of a close encounter of the motor vehicle kind. Not all these close encounters result in time in intensive care and not all are the fault of the cyclist or the driver but accidents do happen. Unfortunately a few years ago I had a very close encounter with a Taurus while riding in Philadelphia (PA). The framework of the story can be recited by practically everyone who has ridden a bike on the road, it is just the outcome that varies. It was peak hour and I was riding along, the Taurus was late for work and accelerated across an intersection to beat the oncoming traffic. Unfortunately the Taurus didn’t see the girl on her bike in the middle of the intersection.
I was lucky to be in a city with a rapid emergency response team and a well equipped I.C.U. Apparently I stopped the peak hour flow and made the front page of the Philadelphia newspaper, I also sustained spinal fractures, facial fractures, lost a few teeth and banged my head pretty badly. Some cyclists are not so lucky.
This maybe news to many drivers but cyclists are allowed to share the road with motor vehicles, we are allowed to ride two riders side-by-side and we are human beings, not just common pests or play toys. We generally travel at around 28-35km/h so stopping takes some time, we wear helmets but that does not mean we need to use them, we are not there to be abused, we take offence to having things thrown at us and if large vehicles drive too close we do get a little off balance and scared.
When I heard about the Amy Gillett Foundation and their charity rides I was extremely excited that maybe there was a chance to improve road safety from the cyclist perspective. The ride from Canberra to Melbourne involves an exclusive peloton of 20-30 cyclists, each raising $10,000.00 for the AGF. The field is predominantly male but three (4) female cyclists, myself included, have decided to take up the challenge. We will be raising funds over the next month on behalf of the AGF and come the 23rd November we will be heading off from Parliament house south to Docklands via Jindabyne, Khancoban, Beechworth and Helesville.
The Amy Gillett Foundation (AGF)
On average, 35 cyclists are killed and over 2,500 are seriously injured on our roads every year, with many, many more incidents unreported. The unfortunate reality is many of these road accidents involve bike-motor vehicles interactions and are preventable.
The last decade has seen an increase in environmental awareness and a trend toward personal health and well being. This awareness has provided momentum for a swing from cars to bikes for transport, with in excess of 1.1 million bikes sold per year, out selling cars. With more and more people becoming involved in cycling, the potential for bike-motor vehicle encounters will increase. The Amy Gillett Foundation has a number of programs directed at reducing cyclist-motorist accidents, increasing awareness and understanding between road users. All road users need to be mindful of their actions on the road to avoid the potential dangers of mixing cars and bikes.
The Amy Gillett Foundation's primary objective is to reduce the incidence of injury and death caused by the interaction between cyclists and motorists, therefore promoting a safe and harmonious relationship of shared respect between the two groups. The funds raised from the Canberra-Melbourne ride will support a new campaign called “A Metre Matters”, aimed at getting motorists to provide more room to cyclists on the road.
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