Anyone who has ever swung a leg over a bike and taken to the city's roads will know that it can be hazardous. It's not just other road users - the car owners, bus drivers and motorcyclists - who think bikes aren't valid roadworthy vehicles, not even the Transport Department seriously believes bikes have a place on the highways and byways. Martin Turner, who cycles daily, knows plenty about the hazards and keeps careful note of every incident - from bad-mannered honking by impatient drivers to run-ins with aggressive bus drivers. 'I keep a record of the more egregious driving that I encounter,' he said.
Since September he has noted 102 incidents - cars passing too closely, buses almost side-swiping him, scooter-drivers running him off the road and drivers swearing while tailgating inches behind him. He has another list of 85 earlier incidents and has passed details of the more serious encounters to police or bus companies. The note-keeping isn't just for personal use - he plans to use it as a basis for guidelines for fellow cyclists and to supply the Transport Department with some data that may make it take cyclists seriously and realise they use the roads, whether others think they belong there or not.