CYCLE COURIERS DEFEND THE KAMIKAZE LIFE
By AMANDA MEADE
Pictures By ANDREW TAYLOR From the Sydney Morning Herald
The police, traffic officers, the Sydney City Council, bus drivers andcabbies simply loathe "pushies". Pedestrians and drivers seethem as a danger to life and limb. However, Sydney's 200-odd intrepid bicyclecouriers who incur the wrath of the public say their fearless negotiationof the busy city streets is necessary. After all, a successful bicyclecourier is a fast one.
The kamikaze lads weave in and out of traffic, run red lights, travelthe wrong way down one-way streets and ride on footpaths.
The introduction of licence plates for bicycle couriers last Septemberhas not curbed the number of complaints made to the council by the publicor, for that matter, the behaviour of the daredevil riders.
Couriers can voluntarily register with the city council and purchasea number plate for $20 which enables the police and traffic ordinance officersto identify them if they breach the regulations.
However, from behind their cool reflector sunglasses, the "pushies"see life on the streets from a different point of view.
"When we ride on the footpath, we are really careful," a seasonedbicycle courier, Mr Geoff Scammell, 24, said "It's the people whostep out onto the road that are dangerous - we nearly clean them up."
A friend of Mr Scammell's was forced to take a few months off work torecover from the shock of killing a person who stepped out in front ofhim in Market Street last year.
However, the operations co-ordinator of the traffic section of the Cityof Sydney police, Sergeant Danny McConville, said that bicycle courierswere "horrid things".
The introduction of the licence plates was an initiative of the councilwhich had helped in the identification of offenders but had not decreasedthe problem, he said.
A spokesman for the city council admitted that the situation with bicyclecouriers was "not satisfactory". He said that the council hadissued 170 voluntary plates and most of the big courier companies had beenhappy to comply with the new regulations for the sake of public image.
Mr Mark Dutton, 25, who has been working as a bicycle courier for threeyears. said: "I liked it when I first started but compulsory helmets,number plates, unions and hassles from the police have made it very difficult."
Mr Scannell said that a bicycle courier had to be intelligent enoughto juggle six jobs at a time, watch for traffic aad listen to the two-wayradio.
He - most are male - also had to be extremely fit and dedicated enoughto work in heat and rain.
After a few weeks, the body got used to the arduous nature of the joband riders could earn up to $600 a week, he said.
In spite of the hostility of the public, the pushies do have a few fans- female office workers who hang around "courier corner", atthe Circular Quay end of Pitt Street near Bridge Street at lunchtime fora closer look at those skin-tight shorts.
The "pushies" say they know how women feel when they walkpast construction sites. They maintain they are a hit with women officeworkers because they are "half-naked, fit, tanned, healthy and sweaty".
Mr Dutton said: "If you walk into an office in the city, the firstplace the receptionist looks is down."
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