Cycle road safety is not just the responsibility of motor vehicle drivers.
A team of 10 students, supervised by Laurie Mahoney, spent several weeks working on a community health project for the Taieri Plains. After finding out what they could about the district, they carried out foot surveys in Outram and interviewed key members of the community. One of the health issues they identified was a question of road safety. Although there are not high volumes of traffic, there is a high proportion of trucks and of cyclists, who comprise both locals and also visitors to the area for leisure or training.
Some of the students focussed on this issue and continued their research to consider what they might be able to do to reduce the risk of a serious accident. Their solution was to develop two posters for display in The Wobbly Goat Cafe in Outram, which is popular with cyclists of all demographics. The posters were aimed at encouraging cyclists to ride safely and in compliance with the road code. The poster messages were:
- "Let the local cafe be your only WOBBLY encounter" and
- "Good Things Come in Pairs", with information about riding no more than two abreast, and when to ride single file.
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