Richard Tomkins, Richard, have you ever witnessed a cyclist cause a serious accident?
Asked by Londontowner on Nov 08 2007 7:23:31 PM and supported by 20 members
MORE!
No, but I don't think I've ever witnessed anyone cause a serious accident. The chances of witnessing a serious accident at the moment it occurs are small.
However, I do very often see cyclists riding in a way that threatens to cause a serious accident, usually to themselves. I'm especially concerned about the large numbers of cyclists I see positioning themselves on the inside of vehicles turning left. Only last week, outside the gates of our local primary school, I saw a taxi approach with its left indicator flashing and slow down to take the left turn - then watched in horror as a woman wearing iPod earphones serenely overtook the taxi on the inside, forcing him to stop in mid-manouevre to avoid running her down. She then went cycling straight on up the road, completely oblivious to the fact that she'd just nearly died.(The taxi driver did not sound his horn.) I think a fairly large majority of the cyclists I see on the road each day are completely clueless about the most basic rules of road safety. I'm also very concerned about the danger that cyclists present to pedestrians. Where I live, in the City of London, many cyclists seem to believe they are above the law and choose to ignore most road traffic laws. They go through red lights during the pedestrian crossing phase, cycle on the pavement when it suits them and simply ignore one-way streets. Although this behaviour does not kill pedestrians, it can injure them and it is also very intimidating, making pedestrians feel unsafe on the streets. For pedestrians, cyclists are much more frightening than motorists because motorists for the most part behave predictably and stick to their own space, while cyclists come at you from any and every direction and you've no idea what crazy thing they're going to do next. I accept that many cyclists are law-abiding but there are very large numbers who are not, and they give all cyclists a bad name.