Cycling in the Australian state of Victoria (including its capital Melbourne) is a popular pastime, sport and way of getting around since at least 1896, as indicated by the Banjo Paterson poem Mulga Bill's Bicycle. Cycling in Victoria has been encouraged by the development of bicycle networks in town and cities throughout the state, and many regional rail trails. The sports popularity has been encouraged by the success of racing clubs such as the St Kilda Cycling Club and Victorian racing riders such as Cadel Evans, Simon Gerrans and Matthew Lloyd. Organised rides held annually including the Great Victorian Bike Ride, and races held in Victoria include the Herald Sun Tour.
Victoria also has many developed rail trails suitable for cycling [1] including:
According to VicRoads hazards that cause cycling fatalities and injuries include "side impact at intersections", "manoeuvring", "lane change" as well as collisions between car doors and cyclists in the door zone, commonly referred to as "car dooring" in Australia.
In Victoria it is illegal to "cause a hazard to any person or vehicle by opening a door of a vehicle, leaving a door of a vehicle open, or getting off, or out of, a vehicle" and it is also illegal to flee the scene of such an accident. [2]
While there were 1112 collisions caused by opening doors in the Australian state of Victoria between 2000 and 2010, the first fatality occurred in March 2010, when a car door opening caused university student James Cross to be propelled under the wheels of a passing truck. [3] Eight percent of serious injuries to cyclists between 2006 and 2010 were cause by car doorings. [4]
In July 2012 Victoria increased the on-the-spot penalty for car dooring from $141 to $352, also increasing the maximum court imposed penalty from $432 to $1408. [2] In March 2015 stickers were placed in taxis in the state, advising passengers to look for bicycles before leaving the vehicle; at the time 13% of car dooring incidents in the state involved taxis. [5]
Geelong is a port city in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay and the left bank of Barwon River, about 65 km (40 mi) southwest of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria.
Warragul is a town in Victoria, Australia, 102 kilometres south-east of Melbourne. Warragul lies between the Strzelecki Ranges to the south and the Mount Baw Baw Plateau of the Great Dividing Range to the north. As of the 2021 census, the town had a population of 19,856 people. Warragul forms part of a larger urban area that includes nearby Drouin that had an estimated total population of 42,827 as of the 2021 census.
Mount Baw Baw is a mountain summit on the Baw-Baw Plateau of the Great Dividing Range, located in Victoria, Australia. The name is from the Woiwurrung language spoken by Eastern Kulin people. It is of uncertain meaning, but possibly signifies, echo, or ghost.
Longwarry railway station is located on the Gippsland line in Victoria, Australia. It serves the town of Longwarry, and opened on 1 July 1881.
Drouin railway station is located in Drouin, Victoria along the Gippsland railway line. It opened on 1 March 1878.
Warragul railway station is located on the Gippsland line in Victoria, Australia. It serves the town of Warragul, and it opened on 1 March 1878 as Warrigal. It was renamed Warragul on 1 May 1879.
Yarragon railway station is located on the Gippsland line in Victoria, Australia. It serves the town of Yarragon, and it opened on 1 August 1878 as Waterloo. It was renamed Yarragon on 17 December 1883.
Dooring is the act of opening a motor vehicle door into the path of another road user. Dooring can happen when a driver has parked or stopped to exit their vehicle, or when passengers egress from cars, taxis and rideshares into the path of a cyclist in an adjacent travel lane. The width of the door zone in which this can happen varies, depending upon the model of car one is passing. The zone can be almost zero for a vehicle with sliding or gull-wing doors or much larger for a truck. In many cities across the globe, doorings are among the most common and injurious bike-vehicle incidents. Any passing vehicle may also strike and damage a negligently opened or left open door, or injure or kill the exiting motorist or passenger.
Drouin is a town in the West Gippsland region, 90 kilometres (56 mi) east of Melbourne, in the Australian state of Victoria. Its local government area is the Shire of Baw Baw, and is home to the shire council’s headquarters despite being the second-largest town in the shire, behind neighbouring Warragul. The town’s name is believed to be an Aboriginal word meaning "north wind". New housing developments have accelerated the town's residential growth in recent years. As at the 2016 census, Drouin had a population of 11,887 people.
Yarragon is a town in the Shire of Baw Baw in the West Gippsland region of Victoria, Australia. The town lies on the Princes Highway and the main Gippsland Railway line approximately halfway between the major towns of Warragul and Moe. Hills of the Strzelecki Ranges rise over 500 metres (1,600 ft) immediately to the south of the town, providing a spectacular backdrop, while the Moe River and the lowlands lie to the north and east. Mount Worth at 515 m (1,690 ft) above sea level is the highest near peak to the south in the Mount Worth State Park 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) SSW of Yarragon. Mount Baw Baw at 1,563 m (5,128 ft) in the Baw Baw Ranges as part of the Great Dividing Range to the north is approximately 85 kilometres (53 mi) NNE of Yarragon. The township sits at approximately 88 metres (289 ft) above sea level. At the 2006 census, Yarragon had a population of 1131.
Traralgon railway station is located on the Gippsland line in Victoria, Australia. It serves the city of Traralgon, and it opened on 1 June 1877.
Bicycle safety is the use of road traffic safety practices to reduce risk associated with cycling. Risk can be defined as the number of incidents occurring for a given amount of cycling. Some of this subject matter is hotly debated: for example, which types of cycling environment or cycling infrastructure is safest for cyclists. The merits of obeying the traffic laws and using bicycle lighting at night are less controversial. Wearing a bicycle helmet may reduce the chance of head injury in the event of a crash.
Around the Bay in a Day is a non-competitive fully supported recreational cycling fundraising event organised by Bicycle Network in Victoria, Australia. Cyclists register to ride a course which is 210 km (130 mi) either clockwise or anti-clockwise around Port Phillip Bay, starting and ending in Melbourne, though other distances, both shorter and longer, are available.
The Warburton railway line just outside Melbourne, Australia, was a railway branching off from the Healesville line at the present terminus, Lilydale.
The Gippsland line is a railway line serving the Latrobe Valley and Gippsland regions of Victoria, Australia. It runs east from the state capital Melbourne through the cities of Moe, Morwell, Traralgon, Sale and terminating at Bairnsdale.
The Sprinter is a diesel railcar built by A Goninan & Co in Broadmeadow, NSW for V/Line between 1993 and 1995.
The Victorian Railways' (VR) Royal Trains operated to transport members of the Royal Family on their numerous tours of Australia on the Victorian rail network. The same carriages were also used for a number of vice-regal trains for the Governor-General of Australia and the Governor of Victoria. The last Royal Train ran in 1988.
The Noojee railway line is a closed railway line in Victoria, Australia. Branching off from the Gippsland line at Warragul station, it was built to service the timber industry in the upper Latrobe River area, transporting timber as well as providing a general goods and passenger service to townships in the area. The final section of the line between Neerim South and Noojee traversed increasingly hilly terrain and featured a number of large timber trestle bridges. Extensively and repeatedly damaged by bushfires over the years, the line was closed in the 1950s and dismantled. The last remaining large trestle bridge on the line has been preserved and has become a popular local tourist attraction.
Cycling in Geelong, Victoria is common for recreation and competition, but less so for utility and commuting.
Transport Matters is an Australian political party. It is a party in Victoria, Australia registered by the Victorian Electoral Commission on 30 April 2018, after an application was received by the VEC on 9 January 2018.