Weird because I used to live in Armidale. I was a part of SES and one job I did for them was traffic control for a bike race similar to what you mentioned. Sounds like either SES were busy or more likely the organisers didn’t bother getting them out this time? At the very least you’d think a car would lead and follow the group. Definitely tempted to send the mayor a letter or get my remaining family down there to, since the mayor has taken it upon himself to defend dangerous driving occasioning death. Especially given the New Englands obsession with road cameras and “road safety”.
I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the cost of closing roads has gone up enormously as governments and councils prioritise cars more and more, and as they increase requirements of how much security & police you need to pay to manage closed road events.
The mayor is apparently a keen cyclist himself, so I think it’s quite possible that there’s a genuine belief that this may have been some other cause…it’s unlikely for a driver to end up hitting a tree if they’ve attempted a dangerously close pass and misjudged how close they can get, for example. Possibly a medical episode or dodging a roo. I’d wait for the coroner’s report or some other evidence before passing that kind of judgment.
But there’s no need to wait for that kind of thing to point out that no crash could have occurred if the driver were never near the cyclists to begin with, which is why I wanted to concentrate on that.
Weird because I used to live in Armidale. I was a part of SES and one job I did for them was traffic control for a bike race similar to what you mentioned. Sounds like either SES were busy or more likely the organisers didn’t bother getting them out this time? At the very least you’d think a car would lead and follow the group. Definitely tempted to send the mayor a letter or get my remaining family down there to, since the mayor has taken it upon himself to defend dangerous driving occasioning death. Especially given the New Englands obsession with road cameras and “road safety”.
I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the cost of closing roads has gone up enormously as governments and councils prioritise cars more and more, and as they increase requirements of how much security & police you need to pay to manage closed road events.
The mayor is apparently a keen cyclist himself, so I think it’s quite possible that there’s a genuine belief that this may have been some other cause…it’s unlikely for a driver to end up hitting a tree if they’ve attempted a dangerously close pass and misjudged how close they can get, for example. Possibly a medical episode or dodging a roo. I’d wait for the coroner’s report or some other evidence before passing that kind of judgment.
But there’s no need to wait for that kind of thing to point out that no crash could have occurred if the driver were never near the cyclists to begin with, which is why I wanted to concentrate on that.