THE other morning, one of my colleagues suffered a hit and run.

My friend was left reeling with blood running down her arm from a gash on her elbow. Fortunately, the collision was witnessed by a security guard in the nearby building. Recognising that she was in shock he took her inside and bandaged her up with his first aid kit. A visit to the doctor was also required.

I’m a great fan of cycling. It’s a great form of exercise. It’s environmentally friendly. The introduction of bike paths and bike lanes on our roads has been a great thing. The more people riding to work, school, to the shops or just for recreation the better.

As a motorist, I am always on the lookout for people on bikes. This has been especially the case in recent years when we’ve been living in a suburb with a higher-than-average number of very serious, I won’t say obsessive, cyclists taking advantage of the roads towards Mt Stromlo and beyond for training. I’m a great fan of flashing bike lights, high-viz vests and lots of reflectors.

I know that plenty of cyclists have concerns about the behaviour of motorists and we need more work in improving the awareness of drivers to the safety needs of cyclists.

That said, the incident involving my friend isn’t an isolated one.

Over recent years I’ve seen plenty of aggressive and anti-social behaviour by predominantly male cyclists riding with little or no care for the safety of pedestrians. My kids have had near misses from speeding cyclists and I’ve seen elderly pedestrians startled and effectively shoved out of the way.

There does seem to be an increasing element of testosterone-charged, lycra-clad belligerence that’s a menace on both roads and footpaths – especially to the elderly and young children.  

Although the incidence of collisions involving cyclists and pedestrians that result in serious injury still appears pretty low, it’s likely to rise with an ageing population and efforts by government and politicians to promote cycling as a healthy, environmentally responsible activity.

Cyclists in the ACT are permitted to ride on footpaths. I think sharing this space is pretty sensible as the risks to cyclists in heavy or speeding traffic can’t be denied. But there needs to be rather more emphasis on getting cyclists to give way to pedestrians, as they are required to do, and to cutting down their speed.

Pedestrians ought to be able to stroll on the footpath without looking over their shoulder for fear of being hit in the back by a cyclist.

Motorists are required to stop after an accident. A hit and run on the footpath is just as unconscionable.

All this is common sense, though one should never presume that is in oversupply, and there certainly seems to be a shortage between the ears of some of our lycra-clad speedsters.