Does everything and nothing change when a cyclist dies?

Two weeks ago today, Arzu Baglar died while cycling in Melbourne’s inner west. She was hit by a truck turning the corner of Somerville road and Whitehall street in Yarraville.

Arzu was just 36, and a married mother of two young children. She was cycling through the area on her way to visit a friend – an ordinary everyday activity that shouldn’t have ended her life.

One report described Arzu as the ‘first cyclist to die on Victoria’s roads this year.’ Sadly, we all know there will be more. And many of us are wondering again just how safe the roads are for cyclists.

As someone who cycles regularly around Melbourne, I’m not easily unsettled on the road. But I’m also a father of three children, and I’ll admit I haven’t ridden much since hearing about this recent tragedy. It’s like the observation Greens Senator Janet Rice made this week:

For those of us who ride regularly, it was a moment of it could have been me.
For our friends and families, it could have been our loved ones.

More than just numbers

The available figures tell us the relative risks for cyclists are low. Australian Government Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport, and Regional Economics data show the number of cyclist deaths has fluctuated from 28 to 50 per year since 2007 – just 2-4% of total annual road accident deaths. And a recent University of New South Wales trend analysis has shown the risk of cycling related death (multi-vehicle crashes) in Australia decreased between 1991 and 2013.

Such figures can help us better understand cycling risk. They may even help us feel a little better about cycling in traffic. But looking too closely at the numbers can also serve to distance us from the everyday human reality behind them.

Arzu Baglar was more than the just first number in Victoria’s cycling fatality count for 2017. Her recent death on that inner city Melbourne intersection changed everything for the people around her. The truck driver and the people around him will be impacted by this tragedy too.

Life has changed forever for everyone involved.

Source
Pushbikewriter
The Conversation