Aarrgghhhh! This makes my blood boil.As a car driver, cyclist, and past motorcyclist I simply cannot accept that cyclists are the totally innocent party in all of this.To adopt a very broad brush approach for the sake of brevity - there are two types of cyclists – sane ones, and insane** ones. [** Of course the same applies to all other road users as well, but we are dealing with cyclist here.]I will spend no more time on the insane fraction of cyclists, as they have been adequately covered in other posts to this topic.But as a car driver who tries very hard not to hit stuff – whether it be a cyclist or anything else – I WOULD LIKE TO ADVISE ALL CYCLISTS VERY CLEARLY THAT THEY ARE EXTREMELY DIFFICULT TO SPOT AT TIMES, and no amount of righteous hogwash about drivers not taking enough care is ever going to change that. Therefore it is absolutely imperative if accidents involving cyclists are to be reduced that they start to take more responsibility for their own safety and ride accordingly.Over some thirty odd years of driving I have had half a dozen or so near misses with cyclists that I have not seen when I should have done. Fortunately, disaster has always been averted to date, but I live in dread of a day coming when the cyclist and I are not so lucky. The plain fact of the matter is that cyclist *ARE* extremely difficult to see at times and it simply cannot be avoided by brushing it under the carpet and trying to ignore it. All that will happen as a result is that cyclists will continue to be maimed. Cyclists therefore need to take this into account as they move about on the roads.For many years in my twenties I rode high powered motorbikes. At times I rode very fast. I never had an accident (plenty of speeding tickets but no accidents). This is down to one simple mantra that I used to repeat to myself every single time that I got on the bike – referring to car (and other) drivers (and pedestrians as well!): “Remember, they really *ARE* out to kill you!” Of course this is not literally true – it simply reflects the reality that, even on a large motorbike, presenting maybe four times the profile of a cyclist, and with its headlight blazing wherever it went, a significant fraction of drivers of other vehicles would simply not see you. Speed is not a factor here by the way – a car driver can look straight through you as if you are not there all the way from stationary to seventy miles an hour. As a consequence, I rode everywhere on the basis that I was effectively invisible to all others on the road unless and until their actions proved otherwise. I am clear that adopting this simple mindset every single time that I left the house was a significant aid in staying alive where so many other motorcyclists had not been so lucky. Cyclists need to adopt this approach as well.I continue to practice it today – regardless of what I am driving or riding - and it stand me in good stead, as the standard of car driving (and cycling) on the roads seems to be getting worse as time goes by. Barely a week goes by without me being responsible for averting a collision or other adverse event which it really should have been the “responsibility” of the other party to have prevented occurring in the first place had they been adequately attentive. But it is no good me getting self-righteous about this situation. I simply accept it as a fact of life. To do otherwise would be to sustain dents and bumps (or worse) to my own vehicle which I otherwise manage to avoid. And of course the whole point of this policy is to recognise human failing – including my own – and hope that in those occasional moments when my own senses fail me the guy coming the other way is looking out in the same way that I always strive to. Other road users (well at least the sane fraction of them anyway) really would prefer not to cause cyclists any harm but the realities of the way that the human vision system and brain works means that cyclists would be very unwise to abdicate responsibility for their own safety to others. You cannot buck the physics & biology of the situation however much you might like to. Result: those that try get hurt!We all have responsibility to look after our own safety all of the time.BTW – whilst I’m on the subject of being seen – I understand that it is no longer illegal to sport flashing lights on your bike, but cyclists should be under no illusion that it makes them easier to be seen if their lights are flashing. It doesn’t!This is why the authorities rejected the idea of flashing lights for so many years. Again, as a car driver, I can advise that cyclists sporting constant lights are much easier to see – especially in London, where there are so many other visual distractions in the driver’s eye-line at all times. By all means carry additional lights which flash, but never as your sole light. Having white lights which flash at the front are even worse – especially with some of the very high powered LED models now coming onto the market – as they have a tendency to render the oncoming driver blind for the duration thus increasing the risks for all concerned until they pass.
Tony Colliver ● 5185d