A Wellington Coroner wants hi-vis flouro vests compulsory for all cyclists, as noted in his ruling on the cause of death of road safety cop Steve Fitzgerald.
It's not the drug-ignorant Gerry Evans who's making nutty claims this time, but Ian Smith. But Coroners' Logic is presented in its standard position of being arse-backwards and upside down.
NZ Transport policy has long dictated that people in cars and trucks are more equal than any other people. NZ Cultural Policy has reinforced this bias by blaming the most vulnerable when things go wrong. In this light, Coroners' Logic seems quite reasonable. In the normal light of reality however, it boils down to "screw the walkers and cyclists".
Cars causing bicycle mayhem and roadkill? Put a polystyrene tit on the bikers' heads. Trucks totalling safety cops? Make the cyclists wear a twat jacket. Yeah, that'll stop the truck.
When will someone blame the road design? Why not go Dutch and separate the traffic flows adequately? Or, just for novelty's sake, put the blame on the inattentive wheel jockeys behind the Steel Death Machines? Go Dutch and put the onus on driver liability.
While we're at it, I've always pondered why bus and taxi drivers are licenced to buggery if they transport members of the public around, but any mad cow on a general licence can pilot a God Mover packed to the rafters. Maybe you wouldn't get so much street pizza if you made a separate licence for that class of Steel Death Machine.
