Last Friday 20 April, a 19-year-old woman was hit by a car at the intersection of Stanley Street and Vulture Street while riding between West End and Woolloongabba. The cyclist was following the road rules and riding in the correct lane but the design of the road network in this area forces cars into direct conflict with bikes. The motorist stopped briefly, but drove away without leaving contact details or helping the injured woman to a hospital.
Brisbane City Council has dedicated funding to improve bike safety along Stanley Street but has no plans to install bike lanes along the stretch of Vulture Street leading from the hospital precinct to West End. Vulture Street is a key connector between Woolloongabba and West End and many more people would ride this route if it was safer to do so. Councillor for the Gabba Ward, Jonathan Sri believes Brisbane City Council has a strong cultural bias against slowing down traffic flow to improve bike safety. “Every time my office requests changes such as lower speed limits or converting part of a traffic lane to a bike lane, the council’s main objection is that they don’t want to reduce traffic flow,” he said.
As a result, a die-in protest – where cyclists lie on the road to symbolise an accident – will be held every time the council’s refusal to prioritise bike safety is a contributing factor to a cyclist being injured in a crash. “This will mean that failing to improve bike safety will have more of a negative impact on traffic flow than making simple design improvements,” said Jonathan. The first protest will be held on Wednesday 2 May beside the intersection of Vulture and Stanley Street in South Brisbane. Protesters plan to assemble at 8:15am in the public space on Graham Street (next to Somerville House) for a quick safety briefing, before moving onto Vulture Street at 8:25am and blocking traffic for approximately fifteen minutes.
“Protests like these are obviously controversial but after years of advocacy, it’s clear that evidence-based arguments and rational debate alone are not working to shift the cultural biases within the bureaucracy, so we need to take a more assertive approach,” said Jonathan. “We believe significant funding needs to be allocated towards improving bike safety and connectivity between West End and Woolloongabba and that Brisbane City Council needs to consider converting part of the general traffic lanes into dedicated bike lanes along Vulture Street.”
