Jennifer Pittorino
BikeWest is “horrified” and “not surprised” that a cyclist was involved in a hit-run collision on Dynon Road last week.
Victoria Police said the cyclist was hit by a truck about 8.55am on May 8 and was taken to hospital with serious injuries.
Police said the truck driver left the scene of the accident and that the circumstances surrounding the incident are under investigation.
Community organisation, BikeWest, has been advocating for safe cycling infrastructure in Maribyrnong since 2016, amid “serious safety issues” with existing bike lanes on Dynon and Footscray roads – the two roads that carry the most cycling traffic from the inner west to the city.
“Broadly speaking we are asking for safe bike lanes everywhere, but especially on two big roads from the inner west to the city,” BikeWest spokesperson Pierre Vairo said.
Mr Vairo said that over the past year, BikeWest had been campaigning for improvements to Dynon Road and for its intersection with CityLink to be fixed urgently. Cyclists are given a green light to move through the intersection at the same time as cars.
“We are not surprised in any way that [the hit run] has happened,” an emotional Mr Vairo said.
“We are just horrified that these intersections still exist.
“We are calling for this intersection to be fixed, but we are also highlighting problems at the other end which we want fixed.
“We want a safe corridor for people to be able to do a simple activity like ride from the inner west to the city without dying.
“Why do we have to wait for people to be killed or seriously injured on each of these black spots before we do something.
“We can proactively go and fix these things, we don’t have to wait to run people’s lives.”
A Department of Transport and Planning spokesperson said, “We’re working closely with Victoria Police to support their investigation and to better understand the circumstances of this crash”.
The state government was contacted for comment.
