Acting Superintendent Trevor Kidd called on all road users to be considerate following three accidents - one fatal - involving motor vehicles and pushbikes in a one-week period about a week ago.
On April 11, 47-year-old cyclist Peter Berg was killed after he was struck by a vehicle about 15km east of Mount Isa on the Barkly Highway.
“It’s just a sad reminder of what can happen ... and a reminder for everyone to be careful and considerate when they’re riding on the roads,” Supt Kidd said.
“All the road users need to show some respect for each other.
“The responsibility goes both ways. The people have got to work together.”
He said cyclists had to be mindful of the traffic when they were on the road.
“We have heavy vehicles moving around, lots of heavy traffic on some of these main roads.”
A young male cyclist was seriously injured late last week and had to be flown to a Townsville Hospital after he was hit by a vehicle while training on the Barkly Highway outside of the city.
He was in an induced coma but regained consciousness earlier this week.
Last Saturday afternoon, a cyclist suffered a leg injury after he was hit by a car near the Coles Express Mount Isa service station.
Supt Kidd said one idea was if drivers of heavy vehicles and road trains saw a group of cyclists ahead of them on the highway, they gave a quick toot of the horn to let them know they were approaching.
“Just to give them a bit of a warning that they’re there. That will certainly be of assistance.”
He said there would be more riders on the city’s roads because of the cooler temperatures but they tended to ride in the early morning or late afternoon.
Cyclists have to have appropriate lighting when they’re riding at night or in low-light conditions, for instance by having a flashing LED light on the rear of their bikes and a headlight on the front.
A group of cyclists can only ride two abreast and can’t be more than 1.5m apart on the road. By law, riders must wear Australian-standard safety helmets. Isa Rats Running and Triathlon Club president James Coghlan said when it came to the three recent accidents, he thought a lot of the blame went back to the drivers because all three cyclists involved in the accidents were experienced.
He said the Barkly Highway to Cloncurry was “dodgy” and wasn’t wide enough for riders.
Supt Kidd said police encouraged people to join cycling clubs to better develop their riding skills and road awareness.