A report, by the University of Surrey, in today’s BMJ confirms that cycling is proportionally more dangerous than driving.
Apparently in a collision between 70kg of flesh and bone, 9kg of flimsy metal, and two tonnes of people carrier, the cyclist will come off worse. I wonder how much that study cost, to make a statement of the bleeding obvious.
But whose fault are these accidents? In Guildford, it is possible to conceive of a Miss Marple style cyclist, in 1930’s garb, wearing a perky little hat, with a proper ‘Ladies bike’ with a basket on the front…unfortunately city centres are full of lycra-clad fascists. These fools seem to think that they have to ride their bikes like an eco-warrior in a Mad Max film.
In the space of one week, I have seen the following transgressions:
1. Cycling the wrong way down a one way street.
2. Cycling the wrong way down a cycle lane.
3. Not actually using a perfectly good cycle lane.
4. Cycling on the wrong side of a main road.
5. Cycling through a red light, then swearing at the motorist who had right of way.
6. Jumping on and off the pavement repeatedly, scattering pedestrians.
7. Cycling with the MP3 player on full blast.
8. Cycling and talking on the mobile (Professor of Vascular Surgery, you know who you are).
9. Gratuitously abusing motorists, or thumping their cars because you ‘disapprove’ of their gas guzzling nature - for which read, jealous that they can’t afford a new 4×4.
Feel free to add your own to the list. Worse still, half of these idiots don’t wear a helmet, and some operate the Darwinian principle of cycling carrying a helpless toddler as a potential additional victim.
It’s fine to go round taking the moral high ground about saving the planet, and getting fit, but when are cyclists going to start thinking about sensible road use?
Stuff like one way streets, and traffic lights are there for a reason, which is TO PROTECT YOU.
Cyclists are not licensed or insured, and therefore almost impossible to identify and prosecute for dangerous driving, unless they are sufficiently injured to hang around the scene. But, I suppose the victims of dangerous cycling, apart from a few old biddies who get knocked over on the pavement, are pretty much exclusively the cyclists themselves.
So wise up you two-wheeled warriors - cycle safety is for your own good, not mine.
Tags: Cycling
I could add an even longer list of the transgressions of motorists - jumping red lights, speeding past primary schools, parking on pavements, swearing at pedestrians/cyclists/other motorists, driving without insurance, etc etc etc, but, strangely, not one words of criticism of these. Truely, the motorist is king……..no wonder cyclists get a bit fed up.
@the Governor - cyclists do all that and more…do motorists DRIVE on pavements? No. Do they wear unforgivably stupid clothes? No. Do they deliberately piss themselves rather than get off their stupid bikes? No.
@Sarah, did you see this a while back? http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1214856/Motorists-blamed-accidents-cyclists-fault–says-Government-advisor.html. So even if I reverse over a cyclist a few times because he pissed me off, it’s my fault! Bloody nanny state gone mad.
PS. I still bloody love you (hic)
Jerry - are you the Sarah Burnett fan-club???? I think you should declare a conflict of interest here!.
I would have thought being a ‘consultant radiologist ‘ would convey a degree of intelligence but obviously not. Appalling attitude.
It’s an ‘appalling attitude’ to expect cyslists to be responsible and stick the highway code? Hmmmm….