Daily Telegraph: Drivers move over for bikes – 4 October, 2006

Cyclists could soon get pole position at intersections with plans to create designated bike stopping areas in front of cars at traffic lights. In a move set to anger the city’s motorists, the National Transport Commission yesterday issued a draft paper highlighting the benefits of getting bicycles out in front of cars at traffic lights. The report by the NTC, the joint state and federal body charged with improving transport, has proposed bicycle boxes be used in Australia. Head start boxes – which are painted areas 2m beyond the stop line for motor vehicles – reduce bicycle accidents at intersections by 35 per cent, according to European research.

NTC senior policy analyst Greg Deimos said the bicycle boxes would protect cyclists from being “squeezed” by vehicles when traffic lights turn to green. “They give cyclists a head start to clear the intersection more safely, without delaying other vehicles,” he said. Cycling group Bicycle NSW supports the implementation of head start boxes.

Mr Unwin said Sydney lagging behind other capital cities like Melbourne, in terms of cycle infrastructure, where bicycle boxes are already used in certain parts.

Bicycle NSW chief executive Alex Unwin yesterday agreed that cyclists who did not stop at red lights were “infuriating” but insisted they was the exception rather than the rule.

“Some cyclists don’t stop at red lights just as some motorists don’t stop at red lights,” Mr Unwin said. “Because some people ride through red lights should not mean that cyclists in general should enjoy less rights and responsibilities of other road users.”

The City of Sydney Council recently embarked on creating a cycle “masterplan” to improving cycling access over the next decade. The draft statement reveals that the stopping line for traffic at intersections would be moved further back from pedestrian crossings as a consequence of installing the bicycle boxes.

The NTC suggests the plan would help encourage cyclists to “make more predictable approaches to and through signalled intersections”.

The head start boxes would become a national standard if they are approved by the State Government.