Ms BURNET (Clark) – Honourable Speaker, from one mode of transport to another: much has been said on bike lanes in the past few weeks, whether it be about safety, use of the urban commons, benefits to the environment, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, general fitness and health and wellbeing improvements. At the public meeting on Tuesday 25 March, even though there was a strong argument and vote that evening in favour of installing bike lanes, there is another push for an elector poll against the Collins Street bike lanes.
This evening I will focus on safety. Whether we support bike lanes or not, safety is something we can all agree on. In the decade from 2014 to 2024, there were 718 crashes between vehicle and active transport users in Hobart, which is a phenomenal amount. Of those incidents, 207 involved bikes, and that is probably a lower calculation than it should be.
Road safety is a huge issue. The Road Safety Advisory Council spoke to members of the crossbench today at a briefing and told us that the year-to-date fatalities on Tasmanian roads is 13, compared to seven deaths this time last year. That is too many lives lost and, overall, there are too many injuries. The Greens acknowledge these tragedies and the hole this leaves for affected families, friends and communities. I also acknowledge one of the champions of road safety, Peter Fraser.
Peter Fraser, the president of the Safer Australian Roads and Highways group, SARAH, was in Hobart on Tuesday to promote the council’s two-year Transforming Collins Street trial, which is expected to officially begin next month. Mr Fraser, whose 23-year-old daughter, Sarah, was killed in a roadside crash on the Hume Highway in New South Wales in 2012, said vulnerable road users such as pedestrians and cyclists should be able to be safe on every street He told the Mercury:
Having experienced the loss of our beautiful daughter, Sarah Fraser, which took me into this space 13 years ago, you realise that the grief that people suffer either from being seriously injured themselves or from losing someone is a lifetime thing.
We need to recognise that all of us have to actively look after each other on our roads and highways. What is going on in Hobart on Collins Street is the start of saying, ‘We are changing the behaviour of people. We are going to make certain that people are safe on the street.’ Peter Fraser said:
The work that is happening right here in Collins Street is going to not only save injuries and potentially lives but will also improve the amenity of the city.
Let us invest in the infrastructure and make biking safer for everyone.
Bike riding is a bit like elections and swing voters. Just like the major parties, votes are declining. We need to get people out of cars and on a functioning bus system, onto bikes or walking. For bike riders, that percentage will only increase once people are confident to ride. You need to target the people who would cycle but are not confident enough to ride. Adding separate bike lanes would benefit these people and attract many of the 60 per cent of people who are interested in riding but who have concerns about safety. They are your swinging voters in the comparison.
Cyclists bring enormous benefits to our community. They reduce the carbon footprint, congestion and invest in local businesses. I put a challenge to local businesses: Many of your employees, your customers, your clients, your family and friends and even perhaps you are bike riders. Why not present the problem of the Collins Street bike lanes as a huge opportunity for better patronage and for a healthier and safer city?
