READ MORE:
• National Party wants to fine cyclists who don't use dedicated cycleways
• Outrage after Wellington Tranzurban manager mocks cyclists in shocking post
• Auckland best large city in the world for cycling
• Cyclists are using pool noodles to keep themselves safe on the roadTheir proposal to fine cyclists who refused to use a cycle lane where there was one available got MAMIL haters out in full force.
Of course they should use the cycle lanes, they thundered, after all that expense building them. Cyclists needed to stay in their lanes and stop holding up good, honest motorists from going about their lawful business.
When a few brave road racing cyclists rang in to say that actually, they go too fast to use the cycle lanes, and really the lanes were for the pootling commuter cyclists, they got short shrift from the callers.
No, said one, cyclists all belong in the same group and they're called the word that rhymes with bankers.
I thought that given laws pertaining to cyclists aren't enforced now — helmets, going through red lights — it would be a bit pointless creating another law just for the sake of it, but there we go. Monday's lines were chokka from 9 'til midday with the anti-cycling brigade in full cry.
And then the government announced there would be road side testing of drugs as of 2021 — cue the stoners who wanted to tell the world that having a joint makes them better drivers because they're more relaxed — then we had the sexual abuse report into a Labour staffer that wasn't — it wasn't apparently sexual abuse and it wasn't really a report.
Speaking of sexual abuse, we had the story of the 37-year-old who'd groomed and sexually abused 14-year-old boys in her care when she was teaching at a boys' school in the South Island and that got people, quite rightly, fired up.
On Friday, we had Associate Transport Minister Julie Anne Genter who unveiled a long-term Government road safety strategy aimed at reducing driving deaths and injuries by 40 per cent by 2030 and which involved spending $1 billion on things like road humps, rumble strips and roundabouts.
That provoked a discussion on our appalling manners on the road and brought Craig out of the woodwork, who thundered that he had a very high-end car, all specced out, and he would do 180km/h if he wanted because he wouldn't be held up by lesser mortals in inferior vehicles and he could pass 10 cars at a time because he had the skills and the motor to do it.
They walk among us, people. What is worse, they're driving among us.
So, yes, it was a busy old finish to a busy old year and now it's time to click into holiday mode.
By the time you read this, I should almost be landing in London, to spend Christmas with my family. I have the silly Christmas jerseys and the flashing earrings at the ready, and although it will be cold and dark, I'll be with my daughter and son-in-law and the grandchildren and I couldn't feel more grateful.
It's been a funny old year, book-ended by tragedies that have affected me deeply, and I know that some of my friends can't wait to see the back of 2019 as they have suffered personal tragedies as well.
If you are one of those, Christmas will be a tough old time for you and I hope next year is better.
If you're travelling to a holiday destination, please, please take care on the roads and I'll pray you don't encounter Craig or one of his kind coming at you at 180km/h.
And to all those people working Christmas: the police, the hospital staff, the retailers, the emergency services — you know who you are — thank you very much for all that you do. Have a wonderful Christmas and a spectacular New Year.
* Kerre McIvor is on her Christmas break and will be back on NewstalkZB in the New Year.
