By JOLENE OGLE
A LOCAL cyclist is outraged after he was fined $470 for riding a bike while on the phone and not wearing a helmet.
Tom Sendro of Noosaville was riding along Noosa Parade on Friday (31 July) about 9.45am when he took a phone call while riding his bike.
Mr Sendro said he was deep in conversation on the phone and “barely cycling” when he heard a beep from behind.
“As I was in the car parking area I kept going as I was riding my bike and could not look around and don’t have mirrors,” he said. “Then I heard a siren and simultaneously thought I would go to (Ravenwood Park) as something is going on.”
Mr Sendro said he pulled into the park to get out of the way of the police car because he thought there was a commotion behind him, but the police were trying to get Mr Sendro’s attention.
“I got off my bike and the police officers had pulled up (to the park) and were yelling out for me to come over and screamed at me as to why I hadn’t stopped,” he said. “They were terrorising me for not stopping, and told me I was running away from them.”
Noosa Heads Officer in Charge Senior Sergeant Steve McReight said he couldn’t comment on specific cases but said Mr Sendro failed to stop for the police three times.
Mr Sendro was then arrested and taken to the Noosa Heads police station where he was processed and fined $117 for not wearing a helmet and $353 for using a mobile phone while riding a bike.
Mr Sendro said he didn’t know it was against the law to be on the phone while riding a bike and he also believed helmets weren’t compulsory in tourist areas referring to a 2013 report that suggested a two-year trial exempting cyclists over 16 from wearing a helmet in low-risk areas such as parks, footpaths and shared cycle paths.
The report, A New Direction in Cycling for Queensland, was presented to Queensland Parliament in May 2013 and while suggestions for a minimum overtaking distance when passing a cyclist was adopted, exempting cyclists from wearing a helmet was not.
Mr Sendro said he was appalled at the treatment of the arresting officers and had lodged a complaint.
“This is supposed to be a tourist area and treating people like this is (bound to) mount to massive problems for Noosa tourists over really nothing,” he said.
Sen Sgt McReight said riding a bike on the road was the same as driving a car, so it was illegal to use a phone while riding a bike.
“We have issued several tickets lately for people using mobile phones while on a bike,” he said. “We want to remind people that it is an offence.”
In regards to helmets, Sen Sgt McReight said it was the law to wear a helmet regardless of where you were in Queensland, with the only exception being for medical reasons, because physical characteristics made it impossible or if the rider was a member of a religious group and wearing a customary headdress made it impractical to wear a helmet.
“As police officers, we don’t make the laws we enforce them,” he said. “And these laws are after extensive consultation with the public, medical authorities and other bodies.”
