My Account
Cyclists on the Matakana to Omaha cycleway are being urged to take more care on e-bikes. This follows reports that four people in the last six months have been taken to hospital after falling on the stretch of pathway between Takatu and Tongue Farm Roads.
The path includes a steep hill and a wooden boardwalk which gets slippery when wet. After the last injury in June, which saw a woman in her 60s stretchered off the pathway with head, hip and elbow injuries, Auckland Transport water-blasted the wooden surfaces and has laid mesh on the boardwalk until the boards dry out and a non-slip surface can be applied.
Matakana Volunteer Fire Brigade deputy chief Jeremy Gibbons said at least two of the cyclists were riding new e-bikes and may have been unfamiliar with how they brake on steep hills.
“People may be used to riding e-bikes on the flats at Omaha but not know how to brake properly with them on steep hills. Signs warning riders to be careful could be useful,” he says.
Adding to the problem for first responders is the pathway is too narrow for most vehicles. The Matakana fire brigade had to resort to using a local farmer’s four-wheel drive mule to get to injured cyclists.
Bollards at each end of the pathway have also added to the problem, with confusion over who holds the keys so they can be removed in an emergency.
