Call to change Christchurch car use

KIRK HARGREAVES/The Press

COMMUTING CASUALTY: Jen Smart and her damaged bike. She was one of three cyclists hit by cars on the road from Sumner to Christchurch on Thursday morning.

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One of three cyclists knocked off their bikes in rush-hour traffic from Sumner on Thursday morning believes car-pooling could solve the safety problem.

Jen Smart, who has cycled to the city from Sumner every day for two years, was hit at 7.45am on Thursday.

All three cyclists, were struck by turning cars that had been waved through by motorists leaving gaps in the bumper-to-bumper traffic. Two of the accidents were reported in The Press yesterday.

"Someone waved through a car and I hit the passenger door, flew over the handlebars and landed on top of his car," Smart said.

"I thought I had broken my arm, but, amazingly, I am just bruised and really sore. My bike is totally mangled," she said.

Smart said motorists needed to consider car-pooling.

"If people reassessed the way they travel, the roads would be much safer," she said. "[The accidents] wouldn't have happened if the cars weren't backed up."

She said the accident had not put her off cycling to work.

"Christchurch is the best city in New Zealand for cycling.

"As soon as I get a new bike, I'll definitely get back out there ... It's the best way to start the morning."

Smart, a Hagley Community College teacher, said she noticed "heaps of other people with helmets" while she was at Christchurch Hospital's emergency department.

Smart's flatmate, Julia Capon, also a regular cyclist, said she counted 235 cars backed up along the causeway on Thursday. Only seven had more than one passenger. She said the queue of traffic was crawling at "5 to 10 kmh".

"[Motorists] can't keep doing this – driving with one person in the car," she said.

- © Fairfax NZ News