Ritesh Mani – Founder of Safer Cycling Foundation

Ritesh Mani established Safer Cycling Foundation in 2018 with a clear purpose: to help build a cycling environment in New Zealand where riders of every age and experience level can feel safe, respected, and supported on the road. The organisation was formed not as a large, well-funded institution, but as a community-driven initiative, led by a small, largely volunteer team that has grown around Mani's original commitment to the cause.

Since then, Safer Cycling Foundation has focused on four connected areas of work: raising road-safety awareness, providing practical cycling education, engaging directly with cycling and local communities, and advocating constructively with organisations and decision-makers on issues affecting cyclist safety. You can read more about these focus areas on the Foundation's Our Focus page.

Why Ritesh Mani Started the Foundation

The Foundation's origins trace back to a single, difficult week in 2018. Ritesh Mani was part of a group of nine cycling friends in Auckland. Within that one week, four members of the group were involved in cycling accidents — three after being struck by vehicles, and a fourth in a separate incident. For Mani, a father and committed cyclist, the experience raised a serious question: was cycling still worth the risk?

Rather than giving up something that had given him fitness, friendship, and an accessible, environmentally responsible way to get around, Mani chose to work towards changing the environment that had made cycling feel so dangerous. That decision led directly to the establishment of Safer Cycling Foundation later that year.

Personal Cycling Experiences That Shaped the Mission

Mani's motivation was also deeply personal in another way. His son was around eight years old at the time the Foundation was founded, and Mani found himself thinking beyond the immediate danger of that one week, towards what New Zealand's roads might look like in ten or twenty years — when his son, and other young people growing up alongside him, would be cycling independently.

The risk Mani was responding to was not abstract. While riding along Tāmaki Drive, one of Auckland's well-known cycling routes, a passing vehicle came close enough that its side mirror clipped his handlebar, causing him to crash. Experiences like this reinforced his view that general advice to “give cyclists some space” was not enough on its own, and that clearer, more specific standards were needed.

Advocacy for the 1.5-Metre Passing Rule

One of the clearest examples of Ritesh Mani's advocacy work has been Safer Cycling Foundation's long-running campaign for safer passing distances. New Zealand's road code previously recommended leaving around 1.5 metres of space when passing a cyclist, but only as guidance rather than a mandatory legal requirement. Over several years, the Foundation used social media campaigns, public polling, direct safety messaging aimed at motorists, and paid advertising to build awareness of this gap and to argue for a clearer, enforceable standard.

It is important to be precise about what this advocacy did and did not achieve. Ritesh Mani advocated for safer passing distances and contributed to the wider public discussion around cyclist safety in New Zealand. In February 2026, the Government opened a formal public consultation on a mandatory passing distance for cyclists, which drew more than 6,000 responses from the public. On 2 July 2026, the Government confirmed it would introduce a mandatory minimum 1.5-metre passing gap whenever a vehicle overtakes a cyclist, horse rider, or other vulnerable road user, expected to take effect before the end of 2026. Safer Cycling Foundation was one of many voices contributing to that national conversation; the change itself was the outcome of a government-led consultation process, not something any one campaign or individual brought about alone. You can read more in our article on the 1.5-metre passing rule campaign.

Ritesh Mani's Approach to Road Safety

Mani's public messaging around road safety has consistently avoided placing blame on drivers as a group. Instead, his approach centres on patience, awareness, and shared responsibility — encouraging motorists to allow a little extra time and space when passing a cyclist, and encouraging cyclists and drivers alike to see each other as people rather than obstacles. This is reflected across the Foundation's public communication, which consistently frames safer roads as something built through everyday courtesy as much as through legislation.

Working With Cyclists, Motorists, Communities, and Decision-Makers

Safer Cycling Foundation's work under Mani's leadership has never been framed as being only for cyclists. The Foundation has consistently sought to bring cyclists, motorists, families, and communities into the same conversation about what safer roads should look like, while also engaging with the kind of formal consultation processes that shape road-safety policy in New Zealand. This shared-responsibility approach is central to how the Foundation positions its advocacy work with decision-makers, rather than treating road safety as an adversarial issue between road-user groups.

The Work Continues

Mani has been clear that the confirmation of a mandatory passing distance is not a finish line. Cycling infrastructure across New Zealand still has real gaps — routes that end abruptly at intersections, for example, forcing riders back into general traffic at exactly the point where risk is highest. Safer Cycling Foundation expects to continue advocating for safer speeds and better-connected infrastructure wherever cyclists and motorists share the road.