Cyclists gear up for PE safety ride

SA’s largest cycling organisation, the Pedal Power Association, has called on cyclists to join hands in a safety awareness ride through Port Elizabeth on Saturday February 22.

The mass cycle  — with an expected attendance of at least 300 cyclists — is aimed at highlighting safety and other issues facing cyclists and will set off at 7am from Grassroof Farm Stall and Restaurant on New Seaview Road, near Sardinia Bay.

Pedal Power Association members will also hand out reflective bibs in Walmer Estate and Motherwell, in conjunction with the Road Accident Fund.

Motorists will also be given safety-awareness stickers at busy intersections in the city.

The awareness ride was sparked by the increasing number of accidents involving motor vehicles and cyclists, resulting in cyclists suffering serious injuries, and even death, as was the case with Clem Morris in 2012 and Gerrit Radder in 2017.

Radder, an NMU professor, was killed when his bicycle was hit by a cash-in-transit van in Walmer Boulevard on September 4 2017.

Morris was killed by a drunk driver who smashed into his bicycle and fled the scene along Kragga Kamma Road on October 7 2012. He died on the scene.

The Pedal Power Association, with a paid-up membership of more than 13,000 cyclists, said the safety of cyclists was a concern that required the attention of local authorities.

Its chair, Rens Rezelma, said cyclists were taxpayers, contributing members of the community as well as family members.

Each serious injury or death of a cyclist was unnecessary and could have been avoided, he said.

“We have during the past few years noticed a growing intolerance between motorists and cyclists, which coupled with a growing trend of lawlessness among road users and what appears to be [diminishing] law enforcement and visible policing, has resulted in a current environment which is threatening the safety of cyclists in and about Port Elizabeth,” Rezelma said.

He said the Pedal Power Association’s call was for both motorists and cyclists to modify their behaviour and do the right thing by obeying the rules of the road.

“Behaviour shift is the only sustainable and cost-effective way to make the roads safer.

“When the traffic laws are broken, we need a zero-tolerance approach from the authorities,” he said.

Particular areas of concern included enforcement of traffic laws, improvement of road conditions, the education of motorists on the dangers faced by cyclists on the roads and the importance of respecting cyclists as legal road users.

Pedal Power Association PE representative Leon Claasens said the safety of cyclists was of growing concern because the number of accidents involving vehicles and cyclists had increased, resulting in cyclists suffering serious and fatal injuries.

The Pedal Power Association also plans to hand over a memorandum to Nelson Mandela Bay safety and security political head Queenie Pink, outlining its concerns and providing recommendations to improve the safety of cyclists in and around the city.

Pink said her office was still waiting for the official invitation to attend the safety ride.

“We have not yet received an official invite with detailed information from the organisation to respond to, but we are aware of the awareness [ride],” Pink said.

For more details on the ride, visit the association’s website at www.pedalpower.org.za