Open Letter about cyclists deaths

Hon Annette King


Minister of Transport


Parliament Buildings


Wellington





23 June 2008





Dear Ms King





The deaths of two cyclists in the Wellington region on Friday 19 June have highlighted for many New Zealanders the need for our roads to be made safer for people wanting to cycle.





We know that there are Government strategies and programmes with this aim, but we want to see them pursued with more urgency. This will require a lot more resources than are currently allocated.





Particular initiatives we would like to see implemented soon are:





1. a much greater shift of resources from road building to public transport, walking and cycling and other measures that seek to reduce the number of motor vehicles on our roads it is not possible to have it both ways: things that make motoring more attractive will undermine measures to encourage alternatives





2. a change in the tolerance for motor vehicle speed limit enforcement to five per cent of the posted speed limit





3. a five-fold increase in the size of the walking and cycling budget in the National Land Transport Programme





4. a revision of funding processes to ensure that all roading projects improve the environment for cycling





5. changes to the transport planning and funding processes to ensure key problem areas or 'gaps' for cyclists (e.g. Ngauranga to Petone cycleway, Auckland Harbour Bridge) get fixed, rather than being the subject of long delays and buck-passing between various organisations





6. a national Share the Road advertising campaign aimed at informing motorists and cyclist of what it means to co-exist safely on the roads





7. changes to the driver licensing system and to driver instruction (including in-service training for commercial drivers) to ensure that motor vehicle drivers are educated about how to take care around cyclists.





We are happy to meet with you to discuss these initiatives further.