Cape Argus Cycle Tour Start - South Africa

Daily Travel Photo: The starting line to the Cape Argus Tour - the largest timed cycling event in the world which is in early March each year. The next one is on the 11 March 2012.

Cycling has been a little bit topical in Australia in the last few days, with former Australian cricketer Shane Warne being involved in a road-rage incident with a cyclist.

From the reports of the incident, both parties were in the wrong - the cyclist for weaving through traffic, and Warne for running into him.

Warne now seems to think the rules need to change by creating a system of registration for cyclists, and stopping them riding two abreast. For cyclists in traffic, its often a good idea *not* to ride right by the side of the road. Doing so increases the chances of impatient drivers squeezing past when there isn't room and clipping them on the way through. In most Australian states, the road rules specify that cyclists should keep at least one meter away from the curb and parked cars. In turn cars must keep at least one meter clear of cyclists when passing.

Any situation where cyclists have to share road space with cars is dangerous for cyclists. Warnes attitude that cars have a right to the road is simply wrong - they have a duty to be patient, and only pass when its safe to do so with one meter clearance. There's no obligation for cyclists to move out of the way for cars to pass, even if it is sometimes polite to do so. A much better solution for all concerned is to create separate room for cyclists.

Unfortunately Australia is still a long way behind many European countries that have dedicated lanes for cyclists. We don't need registration for bicycles, we need more bike-lanes and better facilities to integrate cycling with public transport.