By Charlene Gatt
A FOOTSCRAY cyclist who has been run down twice in a fortnight is suffering increasing anxiety every time she jumps on her bike.
Larissa MacFarlane said two recent car accidents had affected her confidence on the road, blaming poor cycling infrastructure and a driving culture for the incidents.
The first occurred at the Buckley St pedestrian crossing near West Footscray train station, where a car braked at the last minute and managed to just knock Ms MacFarlane’s bike.
The second accident was worse.
Riding on Hopkins St, the offending driver did not see Ms MacFarlane as they turned left onto the road and ran over her foot.
The two accidents have left Ms MacFarlane bruised and sore. She has had to reduce her working hours, is having trouble sleeping and even more trouble confidently riding her bike.
“I don’t drive and I can’t walk long distances, so cycling is how I live,” she said.
“(But) I am not sure how much longer I can keep this independence.
“Every day, at least once, my life flashes before me as a car fails to see me.
“That’s not including the cars that seem to deliberately run me off the road.”
Ms MacFarlane said existing bicycle lanes were ineffective because cars were allowed to park in them, adding that many bike paths were fragmented and didn’t connect with each other.
She also earmarked the Shepherd’s Bridge and Dynon Rd crossings as being in dire need of upgrades, while calling on traffic lights at the Buckley St zebra crossing.
“I think a really big cultural shift needs to happen. Cars think bicycles shouldn’t be there and they ignore them and I don’t know how we’re going to change that.
“We do need better bicycle lanes and infrastructure, but I don’t know if that’s going to make it better.
“I was recently over on the other side of town, and their bicycle infrastructure is a lot better than any of Maribyrnong’s. Compared to other parts of Melbourne, we are severely lacking.
“We have so many cyclists on our roads and people are trying to do the right thing… but it’s so dangerous. We ought to be changing to sustainable forms of transport.”
