Cycling: Healthy Unless It Kills You
I can’t even act shocked at this:
[P]edal cyclists are three or four times more likely to be killed than pedestrians.
The higher risk of death on bicycles is especially embarrassing since the Government is committed to increasing cycling because it “promotes good health”.
The discrepancies arise because of the different ways figures can be collated. The Department publishes fatality statistics based on deaths per kilometre travelled. This makes faster modes of transport, which are used for longer journeys, look safer…
There are 153.45 deaths per 100 million by motorcycle, 13.05 by bicycle and 3.68 on foot. (The Times)
Cycling is dangerous because motorists don’t pay any attention to them. The number of cars who have come so very very close to knocking me off my bike is legion, and buses are just as bad - if not worse - since their very size makes them far more dangerous when driven badly. As too many are.
It really doesn’t help that most cycle lanes are next to useless. They are almost all in the wrong place, plonked down where the road is wide enough for a bike anyway, just so that the council can claim to have this much cycle lane. This means that the areas in which cycle lanes are actually needed rarely have them. The worst kind of cycle lanes imaginable are those that go onto the pavement - dangerous both to the pedestrians and, since they are almost always designed about as well as a two-legged tripod, to the cyclist when he tries to regain the road.
Also, cars rarely leave enough space for a cyclist to get down the inside whenever there is a traffic jam - like in every rush hour - forcing cyclists to take risks by cycling on the right hand side or taking to the pavement. And then there are the idiots who park in cycle lanes.
Of course, it’s not all the fault of motorists. Cyclists have to look out for their own safety - and jumping a reed light is an annoying and potentially fatal habit of many. Cyclists need to use their own brains and take responsibility for their own travelling.
I don’t blame motorists, but do I think that, as a whole, they need to be more considerate of cyclists. Remember that they can’t move as fast as you. Pay attention to them - we move around drains and potholes that you can’t even see. And be courteous - you can make up any time you lose behind a cyclists in seconds. We can’t make up the time we lose because you’re too damn inconsiderate to leave enough space for cyclists to pass you in a queue.
Source: The Times
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