With the transitional relief of spring lighting up our lifestyles, we are allowed some space to refresh and relish our step, making room for hope, enthusiasm and a time for excitement.
This year, though, I am beginning to sense a potential conflict while moving around Nelson. I’ve observed two things: firstly, a fresh, wonderfully nifty sight of people travelling around town on their colourful electric bikes up, down and around our roadscapes at quite remarkable speeds with ease — both singly and with young passengers. Secondly, I’m becoming concerned about just what everyday drivers will see when driving around town without realizing or recognizing the surprising agility or speed at which these new breeds of electric bikes travel.
So it is imperative while entering or leaving intersections that vehicle drivers just take an extra long look around for that different, emergent kind of road user: the electrified biker.
As we all know in the past, some road users have misjudged speeds and situations, creating vehicle/cyclist/boarder collisions — resulting in unfortunate injuries or even tragic outcomes. So now, I think we owe it to each other for all to especially make time and take caution with an extra visual check while venturing around our city streets.
I’m sure we would all hate to be the one to devastate our sensational vibrancy of spring.
Glyn Humphries
Nelson
