We live on the Bridle Path Rd (which is a free turn onto Ferrymead Bridge - cyclists are supposed to give way to this traffic, but NEVER do, a whole other argument!). This accident occured at the bottom of St Andrews Hill (Ferrymead Tce). From what I saw at approx 7:43am a car had hit a cyclist whilst turning right into st andrew's hill (facing the causeway). I could be wrong. The sun is very low down at this time of the morning (until daylight saving ends) and there is a huge amount of traffic heading into town from Sumner Redcliffs. Could be just a whole serious of errors - but in this case maybe not on the part of the cyclist. The sooner the council address the reconfiguration of all these different intersections and merging of peak hour traffic the better... before someone loses their life!!

I live on St Andrews Hill and the accident actually happened at the corner of St Andrews Hill Rd and Main Rd not Bridle Path Rd. A car let another turn right from Ferry into St Andrews but the car did not give way to the bikes.

The bikes were not sneaking up the inside of the traffic. They were in the cycle lane. A lane that is legally theirs to use and for cars to also give way too. Would you bag a driver of a car in the left lane of a two lane road if they were hit by a car turning and only giving way to only one of the 2 lanes they had to cross?

That is exactly what a cycle lane is. Another legal lane of traffic cars need to give way to. But of course they are only cyclists. They pose no threat to a car driver and so are forgotten. If every driver assumed that every cyclist was their son or daughter riding to school or where-ever then maybe cyclists would get some notice.

Everyone in Christchurch drives like crap so no-one can finger point at anyone else. Go drive in the States or even Australia and you'll soon realise how bloody awful and impatient Chch drivers are.

PS Cyclists do not have to stop at the give way by Bridle Path Rd if they are not turning into the left lane. They are allowed to go straight along and then change lanes. 95% of the time that I do stop at the give way the car stops and waves me through, yet when there are no bikes (and they have a free left turn into there own lane) they stop and wait for a gap in the traffic in the lane they are not turning freely into. How can you possibly expect cyclist to be consistent when drivers are so useless anyway.

@ Jason #11

You are entitled to ride two abreast, only when it is safe to do so.

It's odd really. I'm living in a European city at the moment. Motorists and cyclists co-exist just fine. It's a mutual respect thing as far as I can work out. Everyone just seems so much mature about it. Everyone is entitled to get where they're going - a couple of seconds delay is nothing in the grand scheme of things. People just look out for each other, give way or move over. The road rules seem largely a formality.

Contrast this with Christchurch. Going to work on your bike feels like the front line. And cyclists are just as aggressive. Maybe it's a legacy of a recent past when there was no traffic to speak of. As another example, try using a pedestrian crossing. We just need to grow up a bit as a nation, as a society. I think that anything the government can do is just at the margins. People will have to change the way they think about other people. Nothing less will bring about any meaningful change to the present situation.

It's that simple. And that difficult. But I do think things are better now than say 5 years ago...

Even in a car I thought this location was a particularly nasty bottleneck, being between the sea and cliff, and far too congested. Perhaps in the future it will be possible to put a tunnel through to provide an alternative route.

Some Cyclist's are idiots. They have a cycle lane, but most still insist on riding the White line right next to the car lane, if I had the choice between hitting an on coming car because a cyclist is to far over on the road, It will be the cyclist that takes the brunt... Move over!

In regards to Basil (#2), were the drivers texting? why make a blanket assumption, however carefully hidden, when it could easily be applied to both parties. I think all drivers (me included) need to have their drivers license canceled and we can all use buses or bike. I make this comment after reading the letters to the editor this morning where a contributor pointed out that he had been blissfully ignorant of one of the more simple road rules for all his life.

i dont understand why the cycle lane from sumner to town is not a 2-way cycleway on the estuary side of the road instead of on the hill side, where the traffic merges. if it was on that side it could sidle the estuary, run down the middle (tree part) of linwood ave, then follow the quiet side of the river right into town. that would not only be safer, it would be more scenic and could be a tourist attraction.

In response to Craig #4. Yes they do have to cut through the traffic island. It is worth noting that there is a very small Give Way sign on the red bars of the traffic island - meaning that all people on cycles have to give way to the traffic coming around the corner. The traffic has the right of way, but rearly gets it.

"I reckon cyclists should pay road taxes so more cycle lanes can be created, and they should also be made to wear high visibility clothing."

You cannot be serious? If there were more people cycling surely road taxes would decrease as there would be less wear and tear on those roads.

Anyway, back to the question - no, cyclists aren't safe on Christchurch streets. I've lost count of the number of occasions I've almost been hit because people in cars basically don't give a toss.

No, I'm not talking about not being seen, I'm talking about definitely being seen and then pulling out in front of, or turning in front of us anyway. I mean who's going to come off second best? They'll (the cyclist) just stop (says the driver to themselves).

However, cyclists aren't angels. I also drive, and there are loads of riders out there putting themselves at risk, and causing frustration for drivers - no question.

Roadies (of which I am one - but not the seemingly sponsored, moving advertisement - Lycra clad type) do seem to think they own the road at times. We are 'legally' entitled to ride two abreast - but not three or four.

The real issue here is how bad drivers are (in general) in Christchurch. And the rift between people who ride and people who drive. If there was more accountability on both sides - maybe we'd make some progress.

The thing is - it's only going to get worse - there will be more cyclists on our roads in the future - so what is the government, or city council for that matter - going to do about this. It's obviously not going to go away.

Maybe when the inevitable petrol price hikes arrive again and there's fewer Merivale mum's dropping their kids off to school in those ridiculous 4WD's - there will be some respite.