Community Attitudes Research

Victoria

The Amy Gillett Foundation commissioned Galaxy Research to conduct research into community attitudes and awareness of cyclists, cyclist safety and attitudes towards proposed minimum passing distance legislation.

The study was undertaken following the Victorian Parliamentary Inquiry into Road Safety Road Rules 2009 (Overtaking Bicycles) Bill 2015. In the final report, tabled in September 2016, the Parliamentary Committee recommended to the Victorian Government that the road rules be amended to specify that drivers be required to provide a minimum distance of:

  • 1 metre when overtaking a bike rider in speed zones at or below 60km/h
  • 1.5 metres in speed zones above 60km/h

The study, an online survey, was conducted in October 2016 with 500 randomly selected Victorian residents aged 18 years and older, living in both Melbourne and regional Victoria.

Queensland

The Amy Gillett Foundation has commissioned community attitudes research into awareness and perception of the minimum overtaking distance trial in Queensland and the accompanying Stay Wider of the Rider campaign.

The Queensland trial road rules, which began in April 2014, require motorists to leave a minimum of one metre when overtaking bike riders at speeds of up to 60km/h and 1.5 metres at speeds over 60km/h. The trial will end in April 2016.

The trial has been evaluated by an expert road safety research team, led by Prof Narelle Haworth at the Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety – Queensland (CARRS-Q) at Queensland University of Technology.

The evaluation was conducted after the trial had started and while the researchers acknowledge there were some challenges and limitations to the study, this is the most comprehensive evaluation of minimum overtaking distance legislation conducted in Australia.

A link to the report will be available as soon as it is publicly available.

Summary of Findings

South Australia

We commissioned research to benchmark South Australian attitudes towards bicycle riders and the minimum overtaking distance road rule, prior to the release of the changes to cycling laws in South Australia on 25 October, 2015. As part of these changes, drivers are required to give a minimum of one metre when passing a cyclist where the speed limit is 60km/h or less or 1.5 metres where the speed limit is over 60km/h.