Tuesday, 21 February 2023

Cyclist safety

Ellen SANDELL (Melbourne) (19:13): (47) Today my adjournment is to the Minister for Roads and Road Safety. Before I ask it I would like to extend my deepest condolences to the family and friends of Angus Collins, the young cyclist who was tragically killed two weeks ago by a truck as he was riding his bike in West Melbourne, in my electorate. A friend of Angus’s reached out to me in the wake of this tragedy. I would like to read out something they sent me:

Gus was such a beautiful young man and the whole cycling community is mourning him. He was determined, funny, and always kind. It’s especially tragic that we have lost Gus unnecessarily – had the recommendations of the coroner following the death of Arzu Karakoc been followed, Gus would still be here with us today. I implore all those in attendance to do everything in their power to avoid yet another avoidable death. We miss Gus dearly, and hope that no family ever again has to feel the pain that the Collins family is feeling right now.

The recommendations made by the coroner in 2021 included changing intersection lights to ensure vehicles are not given a green light to turn left into pedestrians and cyclists who also have a green light. Another recommendation called for an alternate safe cycling path to be provided while construction works occur. These recommendations were not implemented.

I note that the intersection where Angus was killed is still very dangerous. In fact I was just down there last night in peak hour. The only change that has been made is an additional sign, which is honestly pretty useless amongst a sea of existing signs, fencing and construction equipment. Even though there is a red arrow on the traffic lights, it has not even been turned on, so trucks are still sent on a collision course with cyclists, with both having a green light at the same time. Even the traffic supervisors that the West Gate Tunnel authority promised to implement were nowhere to be seen. This morning they were apparently on site but not actually doing anything to help with safety at the intersection. People are also rightly concerned about what happens when this cycle path closes, as it will soon, and cyclists are pushed onto the equally unsafe Dynon Road, as well as having questions and concerns about the long-term plans for this cycle path once the toll road is complete.

With a cyclist killed every nine days in Australia, it is clear this situation is beyond urgent. It really does not seem like rocket science to be able to make some reasonable changes to our roads in this area to keep cyclists safe. I am really not sure why the ministers involved have not responded to me or to the community when we have contacted them and told them that there are some easy fixes here. It just requires a bit of foresight, a bit of courage and the right priority. So today in Angus’s memory the action I seek is that the Minister for Roads and Road Safety urgently intervene to fix the lights and design at this intersection to implement the coroner’s report and make cycling safe across Victoria.