Subscribe to Archivestuff Have your say One of three cyclists nearly killed when a drunk driver crashed into them last week is considering giving up the sport because New Zealand drivers are too dangerous. Jo Robson has been a competitive cyclist for 18 years and was enjoying a Sunday morning training ride near Hastings with friends Ray and Shona Brown, when they were hit from behind by an 18-year-old driver - allegedly still drunk from the night before. All three were hospitalised with serious injuries and Ray Brown, Hawke's Bay's fire chief and a firm road safety advocate, spent most of last week in an induced coma.

Although all three are expected to make a full recovery, the accident has raised their concerns about cycle safety in New Zealand and "appalling" driver attitudes. "Some of them almost see it as a joke or a challenge to see how close they can get to you," said Robson, who's in Hawke's Bay Hospital with severe bruising and 20 stitches to her head and arms. Last year she was almost knocked from her bike when a passenger leaned out of a passing car and deliberately hit her.

Last week's accident was the final straw. "I think about giving it up. I'm always worried about someone coming up behind.

" Neither Robson nor her long-time cycling buddy Shona Brown recall the accident, which happened after the youth's car allegedly swerved into the cycle lane on Havelock Rd at 8am last Sunday, collecting Ray Brown first then the two women. "My helmet has disintegrated. We all would have been killed without our helmets," Robson said.

Shona Brown, who suffered two broken ribs and a minor head injury in the accident, said her husband, who was still too unwell to discuss the accident, had taken up cycling only recently and she doubted he would ride again. Ray Brown's colleague and fellow cyclist Kerry Harford was following the trio. It pisses me off, because cyclists don't go out there to get themselves killed.

People think cyclists don't have a right to be on the road." Harford, who has represented New Zealand in cycling and won several national titles, said tourists who came here and tried to ride bikes found it "diabolical". Last year nine cyclists were killed on New Zealand roads and more than 830 injured.

Land Transport NZ spokesman Andy Knackstedt said more "mutual respect" needed to be fostered between cyclists and motorists, but roads could also be made safer. "In a lot of areas the infrastructure isn't as good as it could be." The government has budgeted $14.

5 million this year for walking and cycling projects; some of this would be spent on creating dedicated cycleways. No amount would be enough to compensate Ray Brown's friend and colleague Bob Palmer. His 18-year-old son Brendan was killed by a car on the same stretch three years ago.

Efforts to get a cycle/walkway on the busy road to Havelock North have been unsuccessful. The driver of the car has been charged with three counts of aggravated careless driving causing injury and one of excess breath alcohol under the age of 20.