Ever had that feeling you are being watched, that you are riding down the road and just know someone somewhere is watching your every move? Well, you are more likely doing the watching these days with cameras becoming more and more prevalent on our bikes and helmets. We are becoming George Orwell’s ‘Big Brother’ by ourselves and, let’s face it, there is a good reason; we need to record what is happening in order to report an incident and have it believed.

We have seen a few of these lately and more and more as we go along. But we also hear the stories about how the police ignored your report, even of being turned away or after the ambulance arrives it just no longer seems important.

Well, I am going to tell you something. You are probably right on the mark when trying to make a report, so we (including a copper that is very active on Cycle) decided to help you out. So here is our list of what to do and a list of what not to do. We have even included the recommendations for turning up to court to help out a fallen rider.

Firstly, the right way to handle a complaint, and a little sad truth about what is going to happen when you turn up.

If you are ever involved in an incident don’t call it an accident as there is no such thing. You either have had an incident or a crash. Use the one you are comfortable with, but accidents don’t just ‘happen’ on the road, there is always someone at fault.

Stay calm. If you are injured, but have the sense to do something, ask someone to help; get them to record as much information as possible. If you are slightly injured but walking around make sure you get the witnesses’ names and details. Make sure you get the driver’s information, but don’t trust anything to your writing; use your phone and record everything. Photograph the car rego, if you can; photograph the driver.

I will never pay for bike registration – NEVER.

December 6th:

I will never pay for bike registration – NEVER.

Yes, we have heard it all before - we don’t pay our way, we have no right to the road, we can’t be held accountable, and we will behave better if we can be identified.

Then we have the bicyclist that says ‘bring it on, if I pay for it I will take the full lane’ or ‘it will give us legitimacy to be on the road’ or finally ‘it’ll only be a buck fiddy so it doesn’t matter.’

I hope in a few short paragraphs to answer these opinions. I have no problem with these points of view; they just are not mine. Feel free to add yours in the comments.

Carlton Reid is a UK reporter, a very smart man who wrote a very good book called ‘Roads were not built for cars’ which is truer for the UK than for Australia. In Australia most roads were built for cars. So this argument doesn’t work for me, wish it was that simple. http://www.roadswerenotbuiltforcars.com/ 

If cars and trucks did pay their way, it would be in the form of a huge fuel tax or duty charge, but taxes from fuel really don’t build roads, in fact even the tax break down on fuel is not an exciting amount to build a park bench to watch the cars go passed.

A while back a man by the name of Mikael Colville-Andersen tweeted this simple message:

“The people who worry about how much their bicycles weigh are probably not the people you want advocating cycling”

It is a basic message that says sports only cyclists do not understand the requirements of utility and commuter bike riders (see, I made a segregating separation there).

I think he is dead right!

When I first got involved in Advocacy, I was full of beans, I had great ideas to go with it, AND YOU WERE ALL WRONG. If you disagreed with me, I not only told you how wrong you were, I was a zealot, and I had to make sure you wouldn’t say it again. In doing so I alienated a number of people, lost some good friends and hurt people I didn’t mean to. Some of these people are now allies, some . With all my crazy ideas, some I still like, I went and hit the pavement.

I had ‘Drive to Work Day,’ not the first to have this idea, but 200 registered and a number of people did it.

‘Respect 4 Riders’ – this was a bad idea, it was saying that we needed to earn respect in order to get respect, but soon changed to motorists need to show respect before we return the favour.

And more things are coming, hopefully better ideas.

I loved all things safety, Hi-Vis and Yellow were my favourite colours, right up till being hit by a car wearing the LiveStrong kit. Let’s not even talk helmets, but a few poor buggers got an earful from me about how dangerous they were without them. Oh, and Red Light Runners? I once chased one down to tell him off, how ironic it was that I ran a pedestrian red in order to do it (but it was only orange when I got there was my excuse).

I was angry, I was frustrated and everyone had to know. But then a change happened, I saw someone advocating that was angrier than me, in fact more angry than other people I knew. It struck me that this is not what I want people to see from cyclists. I don’t want them to fear I may scratch their car or yell through their window. I certain do not condone it any more.

It's not your job to police the roads, we do it, but we shouldn't

December 4th:

Every time you complain to others about bikes running a red light; an angel gives a facepalm.

Despite what people say, riding a bike is not dangerous - sharing the road with some motorists is. When a bike runs a red light, they risk themselves; if they are caught, they deserve to be fined.

Every time I read in a paper "I ride a bike but..." or "Bike riders are a menace, because I am one too" I die a little inside, because that person is not a bike rider, they are someone that wants to associate with cycling with out doing the hard work. ie Someone that rides a bike once every 3 months or less doesn't really qualify as knowledgeable about road issues in cycling.

And here is why; bikes don't kill. Yeah, no they don't. I know, you are thinking of the one pedestrian death in Victoria on Beach Rd (most of you will know his name), or the pedestrian killed in NSW after being punched by a guy on a bike. Well I stand by my statement - BIKES DON'T KILL. People do. The case of Mr Gould was a tragic incident that will never be forgotten, the case of the Ms Touma was death by an arse who probably rode as he drove - angry.

Yesterday I rode in Melbourne City, I counted the following offenses in a 5 km ride.

- 34 people using their mobile phones while driving

- 6 cars running red lights in high pedestrian areas

- 1 close call when a taxi ran a red light

- 3 taxis encroaching the bike lane (drifting)

- 1 motorcycle using the bike lane to avoid traffic

Sadly I also saw 11 bike-lane sections closed causing me to move into heavy traffic. I have now chosen not to bother with separated bike lanes, but that is a personal choice.

So Logan City Council has a Councillor, and this councilors name is Cr Phil Pidgeon - Your Local Bloke.

Cr Phil's portfolio includes being the Chairman of the Roads and Water Infrastructure Committee. This means he needs an understanding of the roads and how they are funded. It would also be expected that he would have a minimal respect and understanding of all road users.

It would seem this councilor does not respect vulnerable road users.

The sadness continues as our ex-Director from Cycle had an online altercation with him on a Chanel 7 article. In this altercation Cr Phil Pigeon expressed how he really feels about cyclists:

The problem is now that under the Logan City Councils own Social Media commitment, Cr Phil (our local bloke) has gone too far. As the councilor for roads he is talking out of turn trying to create a group that is for cycling registration and in showing his lack of knowledge.

We want to hear from Logan City Council's Mayor now. We want to hear from Mayor Luke Smith about what stance they really have on bicycle riding. We want to know if they think Councilor Phil Pigeon is allowed to discuss these issues when he shows a complete lack of knowledge on how roads are paid for and what the true cost of registration is. 

Mayor Luke Smith, what is your opinion on this issue? We all want to know!

Feel free to leave a comment on the Cycle Facebook page here