Sep 19 2009
A vicious cycle
There’s been a lot of vitriol exchanged between cyclists and motorists (and even between different kinds of motorists, but that’s a different story), not just here but around the world.
A celebrity chef in the UK just got slammed for creeping up on cyclists with an electric car and scaring them silly – certainly not behaviour to be condoned, but the message behind it is clear.
I’m an occasional cyclist myself, but I keep mostly to park connectors and avoid riding on the street – call it a holdover from motorcycling, where the mentality that keeps you alive is the one that says everyone else on the road is a homicidal maniac.
But I also have seen professional-looking cyclists in a huge peleton on public roads, which is honestly, shameful behaviour. Bicycles aren’t paying road tax, and they’re not allowed on the footpath, so it’s kind of an in-between issue here, but taking up whole lanes of traffic is just silly, dangerous and bound to cause more ill will.
People who behave without thinking of others are always infuriating. But whether its a group of cyclists, an illegal U-turner or a taxi who decides the best place to pick up a fare is the middle of the street, we always have to keep the safety of everyone else in mind.
2 responses so far
Cyclists are irritating. They don’t pay road tax so why are they allowed on the road? And they are not fast enough to keep up with regular traffic so why – again – are they allowed on the road? And it is stupid for cyclists to ride on the road. That helmet is not going to protect them severe bodily harm should they get run over.
Well it’s still a thorny question, but I think the main thing is everyone has a right to use the road as long as do so in a responsible way. Motorists, or any road users for that matter, can be equally irritating at times, but seeing motorcyclists and cyclists endanger themselves needlessly is tragedy waiting to happen.