^^^^^^^^^^^
Ahhh Karen Pini she was a real sort in the late 70's, from good old West Oz too, my old man was a fan, remember he had a signed pic of her in a bikini hanging up in his office.
That cyclist proposal is a bit silly, So the cyclist with a catheder down his willy wonker and fractured skull or dead can say "yeh baby I was in the right", not to mention the upheavel to our legal system of innocent until proven guilty, we wouldnt need courts anymore.
I ride a motorbike and a pushbike to work. All motorists should be made to do it. Nothing like walking in someone else's shoes to see the other side of the argument.
Australian drivers in their tin tops are the rudest most self indulged ignorant on the planet. Original post was made up cyclists do not overtake on the outside FFS. How did they disappear with wrecked bike??? Dented panels!!! done that you do not walk away. Good troll you got a bite. Fn sick and tired of being run off the road everyday, not once in a while.
Just give us a couple of feet that is all we ask.
I stopped riding bikes about 10 years ago, I got sick of the abuse, the half full choc milks in the face, cars bumping into me. I wasn't a pack rider just a commuter.
One trick motorist like to do is scream out as the drive past to scare ya. I'm usually deep in thought then a group will drive past and scream. One time a group drove past me holding a meal rod and tried to wack me. Just missed.
seriously ride to work a few times a week bob a job see the other side and I still gon't buy that story. Too busy looking for a parking spot than driving I reckon. No indicator or indicated at the last second. Plus female driver in SUV.
There was a fatality last week of a cyclist in Cottesloe.http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/mp/13123160/cyclist-dies-in-hit-run-road-crash/
www.perthnow.com.au/news/western-australia/man-charged-over-cottesloe-cyclist-hit-run-death/story-e6frg13u-1226294497814
Didn't even call emergency services.
There are idiot road users driving/riding all kinds of vehicles on the road.
We need not discourage cycling with impractical registration rules. Cycling should be encouraged for reasons of congestion, health and pollution.
Would you prefer more cyclists driving cars instead?
Tune out now if you're alergic to harsh language!
The best solution I can come up with is a LBT. Luxury Bike Tax ! 25% after $2k...
But that does open a can of worms... 
(Edit: And we could also apply it to Lycra, maybe call it the a BLT - Bike & Lycra Tax!)
At least it would be a simple upfront transaction... I would think that most cyclists would already be paying for car taxes... guessing 90%+. So an extra rego system would be cruel, and costly to maintain...
The other option would be for Adult Cyclists to as least have to carry their drivers license by law. At least the police could stop a cyclist and have identification... Running a red light tied into their drivers license, "drink riding", etc... In the rare situation of no drivers license, then they should have to pay an annual license and registration fee equivalent to a small motorcycle.
Just trying to come up with a constructive solution !!
No extra fees, but need to apply for a smaller version ( for free) of their car rego plate and can get multiples which can be used for the kids too.
The government would reap a fortune in red light camera offences alone!
okay first things first,
let's apply australian road laws.....
your wife has pulled into oncoming traffic and was hit in the side.
the law says her fault.
now here is the other thing, you sound like you weren't there, so this story is a second hand account and does not include all the facts, such as road width, road conditions, etc.
thirdly, while i cycle to work every day (and own three cars and a boat - so i don't agree with paying any more registration) i absolutly agree we are surrounded by people with no brains be it either cyclist, driver, kite surfer, wind surfer, jet skiier, etc.
yesterday for instance,
riding up johnston st in fitzroy, road conditions good, 4 lanes wide, bikes are allowed by law to ride 2 abrest. (heheheh brest)
i don't encourage or want to partake in it as it's a busy road and people in 1+ tonne metal shells are in a hurry to wait to get into the queue to get through the five sets of lights. (wee, i'm straight through)
anyway, some guy rides up next to me and starts having a chat about how a car came reasonably close where the bike lane dissapears, now drivers that would normally get around now have to que up behind us and pull out around.
queue horns and yelling......
anyway moral of the story is pretty simple, we are going to be surrounded by idiots and @sshats no matter what we do. if you don't provoke by being a massive jerk, i'm sure we will all get along fine. I know the car was close, i was the one riding. i don't need to have a discussion about it on a busy road during peak hour, even if the law says i can.
unfortunatly common sense is too hard a thing for most people.
^^^ WTF?
Oncomming traffic?
No one mentioned on comming traffic.
Australian road rules? Next time wear a helmet as per the rules and save yourself some brain injury.
okay bob,
let me try to paint a picture for you but this time i'll use words.
car that your wife is in, intending to turn right.
<please let me know if you don't get any of this>
she starts to turn right and gets hit in the front right quater panel.
this is oncoming traffic
<this could be anything - bikes, tractors, elephants>
as she has pulled out into oncoming traffic.... the LAW says her fault.
<end>
now as mentioned you have not given us anything except a third party account of an incident.
no facts about where your wife's car was, how wide the road was, you have only given us a rant to stir up the masses.
while i have had my head out of my ass this weekend i had a bit of a think about your proposal of registration for bikes.
it actually made me think about all the other things you need to register thanks to the nanny state we live in.
cars, boats, personal water craft (owners should be shot), motorbikes.
pretty much anything that people can hurt other people with.....
so here's the point.
your "bike registation idea" is solid and will gain backing ONLY if you also support luxury activity registration.
your grounds being a pack of knobs got hit on their bikes by your wife pulling out infront of them.
fine....
register your kites, there may be wind
register your boads, they float and may cause damage if un-attended
register your shoes, because you may run into someone and running shoes cost a premium
register your football, those things are hard
register your kids scooter, it's got wheels
register your kids bikes... same thing isn't it?
getting the point..... probably not but you cannot say i haven't tried.
p.s. those lycra clad morons are someone's kids, they are someone's partner, they are someone's parent.
what would your reaction be if someone turned their car into your kids while they were riding their bikes?
blame the cyclist????? have another think about it and get back to us.
Exarch- I dont like raining on your parade, but its illegal (and pretty stupid) to overtake a turning vehicle. Which is just what the bikes were doing in the incident that started this discussion.
I dont particularly agree with rego. of bikes- (it would be a pain to administer and maintain the records) but if it works so well for cars, motorcycles, trucks, boats etc- why not bikes as well if it encourages responsible riding.
For years, motorcycles here have got away with speeding offences due to no number plate on the front- now that cameras can take rear pics- and the bikes owner is held accountable the incidents have dropped markedly (or so I hear)
If it is too hard to rego bikes- why not apply the same logic- and scrap rego of everything else on the road? thats the last thing I would want to see myself, the hoons are bad enough around my area- without them being granted anonymity.
stephen.
yep i get that, there is clearly a reason for it, but Bob (remember was not there) couldn't tell us that.
so the only safe assumption we can make is his wife's car has pulled out into traffic.
i don't have all the facts just as much as bob dosn't. simply applying the law to what we have been told.
Yes- but Bobs wife has pulled out into traffic that would have been driving(riding) on the wrong side of the road- otherwise there is no way they could hit the r/h side of her car.
As much as I hate relying on assumptions- (and I really hate having to assume anything) from the info supplied we can work out the following.
she is turning right :I assume she was indicating.
:I assume she was in the r/h side of the r/h lane.
:she has waited for a gap in oncoming traffic before turning.
the bicycles have hit the r/h guard of her car- this would mean they have:
: tried to overtake a turning vehicle,
: been riding carelessly and not paying attention to thier surroundings,
:most likely crossed the dividing line (double lines?) meaning they are riding on the wrong side of the road,
:Left the scene of an accident (incident)
If the bike riders were the innocent parties, they would have hung around to claim damages to the bike (the bikes these fellas use can be worth thousands- and you dont find them in K Mart or Big W.)
The only reason for them leaving the scene is they know they were in the wrong, they didnt want to be busted for traffic offences and they know they can get away with it as they cant be easily identified.
as much as I hate relying on assumptions- I am siding with the car on this one.
Hmmm,. I wonder if it was flysurfer on the bike.
From recent reports he seems to have a penchant for this sort of thing. 
If the bike rider is doing something illegal and breaking the road rules it's not fair on other road users, or themselves/their familes etc.
Personally being rider I try to look out for idiots but there's only so much you can do if they come flying out of nowhere. The same behaviour is seen for both peddle and motor powered bikes. Cutting in between lanes and overtaking when unsafe is irresponsible behaviour, a quick short cut may see your life cut short.
The riders should be apologising when they break the rules and get caught out rather than blame the other road users for not seeing them.
BINGO,
we have road position and we can now point the finger :)
thanks bob.
1. cyclist at fault. no brainer.
they hocked it out as soon as they could, (tell me you have never done that in a non-cycling related incident before? )
not that i condone it, infact i'm pro mandatory minimum sentence --> here is a can of worms, do the crime, do the time.
registation only does so much when guiding the larger public.
If a reg fee was introduced , a solution would be to put the money towards moving the bike lane in between the footpath and the parking lane separated from the cars with a lightweight fence / rail to stop the passengers door banging the cyclist . This would also stop the door from nocking the rider into moving car traffic
As I said in another thread , it's a no brainer!!
The set up in Lygon st Melbourne is crazy . The bikes and cars should be separated as best we can .
