Campaigns & Initiatives

Brisbane Ride of Silence: 20th May 2006

“An engineer designing from scratch could hardly concoct a better device to unclog modern roads – cheap, nonpolluting, small and silent…”

Rick Smith, International Herald Tribune, May 2006

The Wheels of Justice website has been developed with the direct aim of creating improved access to information that can be easily utilised to educate yourself and create greater awareness about vitally important issues encountered by Australian cyclists.

Our Campaigns & Initiatives articles are a start towards advocating for positive change – to influence our local, state and federal governments to take a leadership role when taking decsions that directly affect cyclists and all road users.

Also Wheels of Justice does media monitoring and interviews, listen to mp3′s on our Media page.

The Wheels of Justice rides in May 2005 in Adelaide, Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne were the first such ‘Campaigns & Initiatives”, and many more are planned in the future.

Three proposed Wheels of Justice objectives to improve road user interactions

1. Immediate action: Behaviour change programs
Develop involvement and input from Federal and State Governments and include input from National and State Road Authorities and Motor Insurance Organisations. Utilise positive role models from Australia and overseas. Consult with Bicycle Federation of Australia and local bicycle organisations. Emphasise the need for Utility Cycling to be taken as a serious transport opinion.

2. Medium Term: Standardise Adult Cyclist Training
Develop a National Adult Cycle Training package that will follow on from, and enhance, the existing BikeEd training in schools, with proper accreditation for revelant state organisations, Bicycle Federation of Australia and the Australia Bicycle Council.

3. Longterm scenario: Drivers Licenses
Develop policies to change the drivers license test to having more revelant pedestrain and cyclist questions. For example, the German license has a 30 to 40% of questions directly pertaining to these interactions. Refer to this presentation by Dr John Pucher from the Connecting Cycling conference (page 48) held in Melbourne in February 2006. Also refer to the European Union driving licence / German Fahrschule24 site.

Recent Wheels of Justice initiatives have been:

Our various pages, such as the Letter Writing Guide, Australian Road Authorities and Bicycle Rules, CrankBusters: Debunking Cycling Myths, Resources and Support and daily updates on news articles can assist you create further awareness of the topics that we all have to contend with when riding on the roads.

If you find any relevant media articles, papers, submissions, events, or want to write a opinion piece, or have send or received letters and related correspondence about road issues, please send them to us and we’ll post them on the site.

Basic guideslines for material is that it should relate to cyclist and road issues, improving safety, awareness etc. ie: not a article on the upcoming TdF or Giro unless it directly relates to cycling awareness, although personal stories about your cycling experiences are most welcome.

Your personal contribution can be as simple, and as powerful, as influencing your family, friends and workmates attitudes towards cyclists, or indeed taking another step and writing letters to the media, revelant authorities and politicians.

If you have a pressing issue or wish to start a locally based campaign, please feel free to contact us and if possible, we can assist you plan, research and network your campaign.