This is exactly what I think every day I ride up Swanston St:
Senior Constable Fletcher Pearson, who investigated the accident, told coroner Paresa Spanos that Ms Rawlins had a narrow space of just 1.5 metres to navigate between the tour bus on her left and the tram track on her right.
Senior Constable Pearson went back and looked at traffic data relating to cycle accidents in the CBD, and found that in the nine months prior to Ms Rawlins’ death, there had been six instances of riders being seriously injured as a result of getting caught in tram tracks.
It has not been proven that Ms Rawlins’ accident was caused by her wheel getting caught in tram tracks, although this is thought by several witnesses to have been the most likely reason for her fall.
Melbourne City Council’s principal traffic engineer is giving evidence this afternoon about why the council each day allowed an average 5000 cyclists, 1700 trams, thousands of taxis and hundreds of delivery vehicles to all compete for space on one of the city’s main north-south thoroughfares.
Between trams, tram tracks, buses, service vehicles, idiots in white vans, moronic taxi drivers, idiot commuters and those fucking speed bumps! It’s a fucking nightmare!!
Notice that that’s 9 riders seriously injured. From what I’ve seen of news reports, serious injuries normally means you’re in hospital for a while. I wonder how many riders have fallen with lesser injuries, because that’s unacceptable too. Nobody wants to put up with scrapes and bruises and buckled wheels just to get to and from work.
I let my housemate ride my bike, and he came back with massive grazings to pretty much every joint, because he was ok it was funny, but it had the potential for something really nasty as a taxi pulled out in fron of him an oncoming tram, he got caught in the tracks and fell and another tram behind him just managed to stop, quite the scary incident for him
Does anyone know how wide the tram tracks are, or what minimum tyre size would roll over them?
After recently moving here I’m inspired to build up a utility / cruiser / pub style bike and I’m thinking fat 26" tyres could be the go.
Cheers.
you get used to them. cross at right angles where possible, if just changing positions on the road over tram tracks then turn your wheel hard diagonal across the track so it won’t slip in as it crosses, then straighten up the steering and unweight the backwheel a little as it crosses over. if the back wheel goes in the gap, it’s not that big a deal, the front one is the danger.
when it’s wet and rainy is the dangerous time,and i don’t think bigger tyres will prevent the possibility of slipping anyway.
Love that bike ^.
I don’t have a problem with the tracks and love a bunny hop challenge.
But since I’m building up something similar to that ^ I just wondered what the smallest tyres are that would just roll over them. Especially if this is a pub bike also.
Would like fat tyres but that might be a bit OTT.
So does anyone know or am I going to have to get my verniers out? (Notaeuph)
