Er, admin...feel free to move this over to the 'debate' section..!!
Barnton to town...I've seen all of that stuff, I'm not denying for a second that it happens. I commuted in and out of town by bike almost every day for 15 years, and have been on the receiving end of it many times.
But I honestly do see just as much 'bad' cycling. Most of these incidents are themselves quite minor and have no immediate consequences. However in the event of a collision, while the consequences aren't as severe as the result of bad driving, there are consequences.
There was the guy who I hit on Princes Street some years ago who stepped out from between 2 buses...straight into a collision with a pushbike. Blame was probably apportionable 70/30, favouring me...he was an idiot, but I'd left myself nowhere to go should someone step out from that gap (which they did) so I have to accept some responsibility. Anyway an almighty head-to-head impact ensued...only my head was wearing a helmet, and his head took two hits as it also bounced off the road as he went down like a sack o' tatties! That had some pretty serious consequences for him.
And I myself have been 'clamped' recently in an argument with my mate Dave, a private hire taxi driver (sorry...I can't help my friends' career choices). I was trying to defend cyclists using, among other things, the 'severity of the injuries' argument (I didn't mention the above incident). It seems Dave, and a lot of other non-cycling drivers see us as merely unlicensed, untaxed and uninsured road users...read untraceable, not paying our way and not covered for any damage to their vehicles in the event of a collision which IS our fault. Like Dave found when some idiot went arse-over-tit and scraped a bar end right along the rear wing and passenger doors of his car, having mis-judged the gap. And then got up and hot-footed it. Now that wasn't cheap for Dave to fix! I can understand there being some animosity when you've had that sort of thing happen. And I had no good answer to it in said argument, other than 'Aye, but nobody died'. But then Dave pointed out that he was well over a grand out of pocket through no fault of his own...and that somebody might be dying if he ever 'bumped into' them again!!
And although, unlike the above incidents, most of the bad cycling has no immediate consequence, it definitely has an effect on all of us. The amount of red-light-running by cyclists, the direction/lane changes without checking and/or indicating, the apparent lack of regard for their own safety and others' right to be on the road, lack of general courteousness (like a thank you/wave when someone does let them out/in), ranting and raving/hitting the car after an incident...this all leads many car-drivers to believe ALL cyclists are idiots. I don't think your average punter distinguishes between those of us who know what we're doing and obey the rules, and those who don't. They see one cyclist going through a red light and they get angry...then they catch up with you, doing everything correctly, think "bloody cyclists, doing whatever they want" and YOU get someone else's punishment pass!!
So we should be giving the bad cyclists as hard a time as we do the bad drivers. If there's a general negative attitude towards us, surely these bad cyclists are the ones (at least partly) responsible for it? How can we expect drivers to give us more respect when so many of us so obviously don't ride well, safely or considerately?
Now I'm not suggesting that any of us on here ride in such a manner. Far from it! But when you see people riding badly, if you feel it was stupid, catch up and point out to them (in a reasonable manner) that they've just waived their right to complain about anyone's bad driving, any near misses they experience or any apparent lack of respect from other road users, as they themselves have just acted like a dick. As well as endangering ALL cyclists by noising up the drivers. And as, it seems, they all want to kill us with their cars, noising 'em up probably isn't the best way forward! Like I said in my first post, best if this advice comes from a fellow cyclist as it may be taken as constructive criticism. When it comes from a car driver it's generally not accepted so...!!
I honestly believe that if we want to improve the standard of driving, we must also, collectively, improve the standard of riding!
Oh, and also...
Bad driver of the day nomination: ME! For nearly driving into the back of a Mondeo on Drumbrae South while admiring some amazing lenticular (I think) clouds over the Pentlands. D'oh!!
Matt...
sticky
posts
