Western Cape residents have been invited to comment on new regulations to protect cyclists from motorists, and vice versa.
|||Cape Town - New regulations to protect cyclists from motorists, and vice versa, have been drafted and put out for public comment.
Transport MEC Robin Carlisle announced on Wednesday that the new regulations - first announced last year - would form part of the Western Cape Provincial Road Traffic Administration Act (6 of 2012), passed in December, which comes into effect on June 1.
The act, in terms of section 8, gives Carlisle the power to make regulations governing road safety matters in the province.
The regulations require drivers to:
* Exercise care passing a cyclist.
* Leave at least 1m distance between the vehicle and the cyclist.
* Maintain that distance until safely clear of the cyclist.
The regulations require cyclists to:
* Keep as close as possible to the left edge of the roadway.
* Obey traffic signs and rules.
* Fit and use effective front and rear lights when riding after dark and when visibility is limited.
* Not ride on the right-hand side of a vehicle driving in the same direction, except when passing it or turning right at the intersection.
* Not ride abreast of another cyclist riding in the same direction, except when passing that cyclist.
* Not ride while wearing a headset, headphones or any listening device other than a hearing aid; or while carrying another person on the pedal cycle, unless it is equipped to carry more than one person.
The public comment period opened on Wednesday and ends on May 24. The public can email malcolm.watters@westerncape.gov.za or fax 021 483 2166. - Cape Argus