They're Treated Differently To Other Road Users (Cycling)

Name: kenjohn

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Product:	Cycling
Date:	15/01/05 (119 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Safer roads and less deaths

Disadvantages: Less people will use bikes?

~ ~ This opinion is not going to make me very popular with the green lobby and tree huggers here at dooyoo, as to put it mildly, it isn’t very "politically correct”.
These days it would appear that anything that travels on our roads with four or more wheels and which uses petrol or diesel as a means of propulsion is fair game to the media. But God forbid that anyone would have the gall or the temerity to actually deem to criticise the poor eco-friendly cyclist, who is, of course, the epitome of all that is good and just in our society, and at the forefront of the fight to save the human race from extinction from a depleted ozone layer or poisoning from an excess of carbon monoxide gas!
In a complete turnaround from George Orwell’s “Animal Farm”, where two legs were good but four legs were better, it seems that nowadays four WHEELS are bad and two wheels are all that are evil. (Unless, of course, you stick an engine on the two wheels, and call it a motorcycle or scooter)

~ ~ OK. That’s my little rant over, (for the present!) so now lets return in a more rational manner to the topic at hand, which is whether or not it would be a good idea for cyclists to have to pass some sort of driving (cycling?) test, and whether or not they should be obliged to obtain third party insurance before they venture out onto the highways and byways.
First off, let me state that I have absolutely nothing against cyclists who behave in a responsible and sensible fashion, and who obey the rules of the road. For many years I was a cyclist myself, biking some 10 miles a day on my return journey to and from school when I was a wee nipper. But the roads and volume of traffic in the 1950’s and 1960’s were a very different kettle of fish to the dog eat dog jungle that exists on our roads today! The simple truth is that the majority of cyclists (and by that I mean 95% and upwards!) on today’s roads are quite simply a horrendous danger both to themselves and to other road users. The main reasons for this are twofold; firstly, the huge volume of cars and commercial vehicles that make the roads extremely dangerous for cyclists, and secondly, the seemingly complete ignorance of the cyclists themselves of even the most basic rules of the road and a total disregard for their own safety.

~ ~ Driving my taxi here in Dublin on a daily basis (well, almost daily!) I witness some totally appalling behaviour on the roads by cyclists. Traffic lights are not meant for them! A red light means stop ONLY if there is a clear and present danger to their own safety, otherwise they sail through with complete impunity. Amber lights mean go, plain and simple, and if the road itself is blocked with traffic, then not to worry. They simply take to the pavements and weave in and out of the throng of pedestrians!
Pedestrian crossings? Forget it! No room for a car to weave through the heaving masses, but there’s plenty of room for our intrepid cyclists, who treat them with the same disdain as the (non-existent) traffic lights.
Hand signals to let other road users know their intentions? The only hand signals I ever witness from our pedalling friends are of the two or one finger variety. In other words, “f*ck you”, or “up yours”! As for actually letting motorists know if they intend to turn right or left or change lanes, not only don’t they signal their intentions, but in most cases carry out the manoeuvre without so much as a backward glance over their shoulder to see if it is safe to do so.
One-way streets? Well, they’re only going one way, aren’t they, even if it DOES happen to be the wrong one, and against the flow of traffic. Lights at night time or in hazardous driving conditions? Lights aren’t for these brave warriors, who compound the difficulty that other road users have in actually seeing them by wearing dark clothes to even further disguise their presence.
Shopping malls, footpaths, pedestrian only zones, parks, you name it. Nowhere, or so it would appear, is out of bounds for our two wheeled eco-friendly warriors. Incidentally, the worst form of the breed seems to be the cycling couriers, (many of who appear to be Aussies for some strange reason!) who not only commit all of the above mentioned cardinal sins, but do so on highly tuned racing bikes which travel at ridiculously high speed on the city streets!


~ ~ And what is the reaction of the Government and the police to all this anti-social and potentially lethal behaviour? The Government, far from discouraging cyclists, actually compound the problem by encouraging them to use their death machines to travel into our inner cities by creating dedicated cycle lanes, and giving them permission to use bus corridors.
OK. I admit that the dedicated cycle lanes are an excellent idea, if only the cyclists would actually USE them. But the mindset of your average cyclist would appear to be that cycle lanes are only for wimps, and even where they exist (and there’s now a LOT of them here in Dublin) they are rarely used, the cyclists preferring their daily dice with the grim reaper.
As for allowing them to use bus corridors! Whose bright idea was that, I ask you? Don’t cycle out on the normal road folks, that’s not NEARLY dangerous enough for you! Instead get into the bus lanes and chance your hand with the kamikaze double-decker bus drivers, and the often equally impatient taxi drivers. (Myself excluded, naturally. Heh, heh.) But on a more serious note, I have often come very close to killing a cyclist riding in a bus lane, which despite my intense dislike of the breed is NOT something I particularly relish doing!
And our gallant police force? They can’t even be bothered getting off their fat arses for long enough to enforce the rules of the road for motorists, never mind bother themselves with what cyclists are up to. The only time I seem to see Gardai (the Irish police) these days is firmly ensconced behind their radar or Gatso guns on wide stretches of motorway or dual carriageway, waiting to pounce on the unsuspecting motorist who dares to venture a couple of miles per hour over the ridiculously low speed limits. (Easy pickings, isn’t it?)

~ ~ So what is the solution to this ongoing (and worsening) problem?
When I was a young lad the school used to run an instruction programme for cyclists, where you received a merit certificate after you had successfully completed the course. I would take this a step further, and make it compulsory for cyclists to undergo a course of instruction and a riding (driving) test before they were allowed to venture out on the roads. They would receive their “licence” to ride (drive) in exactly the same way as a motorist or motorcyclist does, and would then be subject to exactly the same penalty points (and disqualification) as other road users if they regularly abused the rules of the road.
As for age limits, I have to admit that I’m not entirely sure where they should be set. At present, there simply aren’t ANY guidelines, with children of any age whatsoever being allowed to ride their bikes on the streets as they wish, whatever the road and traffic conditions. Maybe 16-years of age for riding a bike in a city or busy urban environment, and perhaps 13-years of age if the kid lives in a country or rural setting. (Different coloured licences for each?)
I would also make it mandatory for cyclists to have at least third party insurance, in exactly the same way as any other road user. At present, if a cyclist and a car or commercial vehicle have a “coming together”, then it is the motorist who is ALWAYS held responsible from an insurance viewpoint, if for no other reason than they are the only party involved who actually HAVE insurance cover. I personally know a few taxi drivers here in Dublin who have lost their hard earned no claims bonus as a result of incidents with cyclists for which they were totally blameless!
If a cyclist is prepared to risk their lives by cycling in today’s hectic traffic conditions, then at the very minimum they should have insurance cover for third party risk!
It should also be made compulsory for a cyclist to wear a protective helmet in exactly the same way as a motorcyclist, as it is patently obvious that this is the area where they are at most risk of incurring a fatal injury.

~ ~ It’s long past time that the serious and escalating problem of cyclists on our roads were addressed by Government, and legislation put in place to ensure they are subject to the same rules and restrictions as all other road users.

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© KenJ

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Summary: Take a test and buy insurance!