Rotary Club of Plimmerton
Donna gave us her Viewpoint tonight. She said ,,,
'I've been thinking about how we may prevent cycling accidents lately as I've been amazed at the families biking up the Whitby ramp to Transmission Gully, on both sides of the barrier fence line. Of course, there is no cycling pathway yet. They are giving cycling a bad rap.
'It took a Principal's 13-year-old nephew 10 years to die as he lay in a coma after he hit a car with his cycle and his helmet was not done up correctly.
'A few weeks ago it was road safety week. It reminded us to keep tamariki safe on our roads.
'One of the first times I met Sose Allandale, who later became principal of Russell School, was as a filmmaker. She was upset about the number of Porirua children being killed on the roads and driveways as they played. She invited my group of Maori and Pasifika tamariki from the school I taught at in Tawa to the film launch about road safety with children.
'A great book was recently reviewed on the Good Morning radio programme. It's called 'My Mum Is Queen Of The Road' by Jennifer Beck. It is also in Te reo. The children wave to the Stop-Go people The Stop-Go Mum is the Queen, because of her waving. It reminded me of Aunty Jan and how much her smiling and dancing made sitting in a queue of traffic around Te Ara Piko so much fun.
'Did you know car door opening causes the most cycling deaths? The wind may catch the car door and fling it open. Or the cyclist is obscured from view as the door opens wide.
'My viewpoint is to suggest that you use 'The Dutch Reach' when you open your car door. Using your inside hand means that your body turns to the right which allows more time to check on the oncoming cyclists and vehicles coming from behind you. It may save a life.
'Nga mihi'.