![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Cyclists vs the world
Apr. 13th, 2011 01:03 pmAccording to the BBC, MPs are discussing introducing a new offence of causing death by dangerous cycling.
Personally, as someone who cycles pretty much everywhere I can, I think this is a great idea. I've seen so many near misses in my time, and if I'm honest not all of them have been the car driver's fault!
If I'd been hit yesterday by the stupid bastard yesterday - he wanted to turn left at a crossroads while I was going straight ahead, but too slowly for his liking (it's on a hill) and so he decided to speed up and turn left around right in front of me, not only nearly killing me but the guy in the car behind me who was just trying left - then he'd have been done for dangerous driving, and that's as it should be. Cyclists that cause accidents and at worse deaths pretty much get away with minimum sentences.
I just hope that should it be introduced it is introduced fairly and not as a way to demonise all cyclists. Some of us stop at red lights!
This article about deaths of female cyclists being much higher than male cyclists by lorries is interesting. It suggests that it could be because men are more likely to jump red lights, while women wait at the junction. How about this for a revolutionary thought. If there is a lorry, or a bus, or ANY big vehicle that could crush you if it turns left, at a junction, DON'T CYCLE DOWN PAST THE LEFT OF IT. Wait for the big bugger to turn left, THEN go.
I also don't think that cycling up the right hand side of it is necessarily a good idea either. Just a few weeks ago I saw a cyclist knocked off her bike as the back of an HGV side swiped her as it turned left and she just passing up on the right hand side to go straight ahead. She was unhurt, but pretty freaked out.
It makes some intersting points about road rage from drivers who don't always seem to know about correct cyclist behaviour. Part of my journey to and from work involves two roads which are one way for cars, but two way for cyclists. There are clear signs at either end, and at the "wrong end" for cars there's a little feeder lane for cyclists too. Roughly once a week I get drivers honking and shouting at me that the road is "one way".
Personally, as someone who cycles pretty much everywhere I can, I think this is a great idea. I've seen so many near misses in my time, and if I'm honest not all of them have been the car driver's fault!
If I'd been hit yesterday by the stupid bastard yesterday - he wanted to turn left at a crossroads while I was going straight ahead, but too slowly for his liking (it's on a hill) and so he decided to speed up and turn left around right in front of me, not only nearly killing me but the guy in the car behind me who was just trying left - then he'd have been done for dangerous driving, and that's as it should be. Cyclists that cause accidents and at worse deaths pretty much get away with minimum sentences.
I just hope that should it be introduced it is introduced fairly and not as a way to demonise all cyclists. Some of us stop at red lights!
This article about deaths of female cyclists being much higher than male cyclists by lorries is interesting. It suggests that it could be because men are more likely to jump red lights, while women wait at the junction. How about this for a revolutionary thought. If there is a lorry, or a bus, or ANY big vehicle that could crush you if it turns left, at a junction, DON'T CYCLE DOWN PAST THE LEFT OF IT. Wait for the big bugger to turn left, THEN go.
I also don't think that cycling up the right hand side of it is necessarily a good idea either. Just a few weeks ago I saw a cyclist knocked off her bike as the back of an HGV side swiped her as it turned left and she just passing up on the right hand side to go straight ahead. She was unhurt, but pretty freaked out.
It makes some intersting points about road rage from drivers who don't always seem to know about correct cyclist behaviour. Part of my journey to and from work involves two roads which are one way for cars, but two way for cyclists. There are clear signs at either end, and at the "wrong end" for cars there's a little feeder lane for cyclists too. Roughly once a week I get drivers honking and shouting at me that the road is "one way".
