Maurice Blackburn

Near fatal accident results in bike lane improvements

The near death of a Viewbank man who was hit by a car when cycling down Auburn Road  has caused VicRoads to bring a well known and dangerous bike lane up to Australian Standards.

Anthony McCulloch was riding to work on March 4 this year when he was hit by a motorist near the corner of Molesworth Street and Auburn Road, Hawthorn.

Mr McCulloch had no time to avoid the car and suffered injuries to his shoulder and broke his neck.

"One minute I am riding down Auburn Road on my way to work and the next I'm flying over the handle bars of my bike and knocked unconscious," Mr McCulloch said.

"I spent 12 weeks wearing a halo and had to take a significant amount of time off work.

"And it was all due to the poorly designed on road bike lane constructed along Auburn Road  which had no bike logos on the road surface which failed to meet the current Australian standards for road marking.

"It appears that bike lanes are just slapped down across Melbourne willy nilly without any consideration for cyclists' safety. It shows a lack of duty of care from VicRoads."

Mr McCulloch's lawyer, Hugo Moodie of Maurice Blackburn said his client was entitled to significant compensation for loss of income and medical expenses through the Transport Accident Commission.

"At Maurice Blackburn we deal with dozens of cyclists who have been left with serious and at times permanent injuries as a result of drivers not paying attention or inadequate cycling infrastructure," Mr Moodie said.

"Mr McCulloch was supported by the driver of the car which hit him with the driver
complaining about the validity of the bike lane on Auburn Road. It was following his complaints that the bike lane was brought up to standard.

"Cyclists are legitimate road users and improvements need to be made to increase rider safety.

"But many cyclists don't know that if they are involved in a road accident, they may be able to seek compensation through the TAC to help them recover both financially and physically from the effects of their accident."