By DARREN SNYDER
About a month ago the Rescue Squad had to inform Mudgee Cycle Club it could not provide its services at the August event. As the cycle club could not viably make alternative arrangements the two-day race weekend had to be cancelled.
On Monday Mudgee Rescue Squad president, Geoff Hawes, said the decision was not made lightly by the squad’s members but there are “grey areas” that the squad feels need clearing up.
“We’ve had incidents where motorists have gone around stop signs thinking they can beat cyclists or decide to verbally abuse us because we’ve stopped them” – Mudgee Rescue Squad president, Geoff Hawes
The rescue squad is unsure about their legal position if a traffic accident occurred during an event under their control,
The rescue squad volunteers are accredited for traffic control by the NSW Roads and Maritime Service but the accreditation often limits their duties and operations to emergency situations.
The local rescue squad is also unsure if their accreditation covers authority in non-emergency situations.
Mr Hawes said recent incidents involving motorists and cyclists had led to some nerves among the rescue squad. The nerves are not only for cyclists and motorists but also for the volunteer members themselves.
“We’ve had incidents where motorists have gone around stop signs thinking they can beat cyclists or decide to verbally abuse us because we’ve stopped them,” Mr Hawes said.
He said the rescue squad had made a recent decision to cancel their traffic control of local triathlon races and it was obvious the next step was stepping away from the cycle races.
On Friday there was discussion on Twitter about the race weekend’s cancellation and that motorists in the region were causing problems for cyclists.
Mudgee police recently posted on Facebook pleading with residents to “be considerate and patient when you are travelling on the road.”
“Bike riders, pedestrians, drivers and motorbike riders are all legitimate road users,” the police statement said.
“Acknowledge good behaviour [and] remain calm, don’t react to road rage.”
The cancellation is expected to create a hole in the region’s tourism calendar as it normally attracts between 400 to 500 entries over two days.
On Sunday Mudgee Cycle Club president, Carl Holleman, thanked the rescue squad for their work and said many cyclists would have supported local businesses over the past seven years.
The club is working towards hosting the event again in 2015.
Mr Dawes said the rescue squad has been in discussion with Mid-Western Regional Council to work towards varying requirements for traffic management plans, which on occasion, the rescue squad exceeds.
The rescue squad’s not alone in an era where it is difficult to recruit volunteers but it is becoming close to a situation where there is not enough volunteers to operate traffic control points as well as keep an emergency response team on standby.
Currently if an event is to impact local traffic and transport, event organisers must come up with a Traffic Management Plan. It is then submitted to Council at least three months prior to the event and the Local Traffic Committee assesses a report before being considered by Council.
Event organisers are then required to ensure all conditions are met before, during and after the event, including sending debrief documents to Council.
The recent death of Jill Bryant, who was cycling along Ulan Road on a Sunday morning before being hit by a utility, occurred about an hour before local triathlon races were to begin nearby the accident site.
Comments are closed.