Welcome to my Friday’s Rants from the Soap Box in my Living Room. A small space in the week where I can have a chunter about things that have made me twitch with annoyance or made me question if the world has gone mad or not….
This week, I have handed the blog over to LSH for him to have a mini rant about his fellow cyclists….
I have cycled as part of my daily commute into London for 5+ years now and after spending much time watching the insanity of some of my fellow cyclists I thought it might be time to put pen to paper, especially given the spate of cycling deaths in recent months.
When asked a lot of us will admit to dangerous cycling habits as per the article below
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2144472/More-half-cyclists-jumped-red-lights-ahead-road-users.html
Trucks… I am staggered by the number of us who take on trucks instead of giving them a wide berth. Truck rules are simple, stay well back and let them go on there way, hop onto the pavement if you need to. It really doesn’t matter who is right or wrong, no one has ever won a fight against an 8 wheeler. I have to say that I have my doubts as to whether the trucks are as much to blame for cycling incidents as we make out.
Helmets… As a survivor of a nasty fall several years ago, with my helmet saving me from brain damage (or worse) the wearing of said items are near and dear to my heart. Sadly many of us choose not to wear them and it seems envogue to skip these safety items particularly for the casual cyclist. PS perching them on the back of one’s head doesn’t count as wearing a helmet!
Red lights and other road rules… Why o why do we believe the lie that the rules of the road somehow don’t apply to those of us on two wheels? Red means stop and green means go with only one exception, if a cyclist dismounts and walks across with the pedestrians. I see the most scary road behaviour regularly in London, we jump red lights, undertake turning vehicles, cut other cyclists off, don’t indicate when turning. I think we can really raise our game here.
Lights… Lights need to be charged to work and need to be visible from more than 4inches ;)! It’s really worth investing in more than £10 worth of safety in the form of decent lights.
Fluorescent Clothing… worth its weight in gold and makes a huge difference to a driver’s ability to see us in low light conditions.
So I suppose this is a small call to fellow cyclists not to go out of our way to make life more difficult for other road users than it need be, to shoulder some of the blame for the accidents and to take road safety seriously. Be safe!