Do Cylists irritate Motorists & Vice Versa?

[allabouteva]

Well, most of us are both cyclists and motorists and can see both sides of the story. As a cyclist, there are moron drivers, and as a driver, there are moron cyclists (not as many!) The number of non helmet wearing, footpath riding, no-lights-in-the-dark cyclists, I've lost count of.

However, I think the situation is exascerbated (sp?) in Singapore, where road taxes are super horrendous. I visited S'pore last year, and found that motorists paid an outrageous amount for road tax. I think a basic 4 cyclinder 2 liter car was something like S$120,000? which was roughly the same in Aussie dollars, or about US$85,000. So say the worth of the car is around $20,000 then you're paying S$100,000 for 'licensing' the car (another word for tax).

I think the Govt should take a proactive role in this, and encourage more people to ride bikes, Singapore is not a really big place, but it's not very bike friendly (no lanes I could remember etc) as it could be. There's no public message about the benefits of cycling etc. In Beijing where I visited this year, it's very different where cycling is really very entrenched into the fabric of the city. Tons of cycling lanes, etc (but very kamikaze cyclists!!!)

My 2 cents worth..

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[allabouteva]

The number of non helmet wearing, footpath riding, no-lights-in-the-dark cyclists, I've lost count of.

Sorry, Karen, no offense meant..

I should remember that rules are different around the world. In NSW, Australia, it's illegal to ride a bicycle on the footpath that are for pedestrians only, unless you are under 12. There are shared paths, but they have to be designated (signposted).

Generally most suburban footpaths are pedestrian only.