This weeks we could do more rant… well not really a rant just a call for common sense. Bit long winded but bear with me. Over the last few weeks there have been some tragic accidents involving cyclists and heavy vehicles – namely busses and lorries in some of the countrys citys. There will always be blame and accusations thrown one way or another but I am sure there is one thing that can be agreed upon is that a bike is no match for a 10ton+ lorry. Imagine if you can that there are no roads, no pavements, no train tracks but we are starting from fresh and we need to provide for those forms of transport that deliver people, goods and services, roughly that would include those that wish to: 1 Walk 2 Cycle 3 Drive a car/ride a motorbike 4 Use a heavy goods vehicle for deliveries 5 trams and trains 6 Busses and so on… Trains would definitely need their own space – no argument about that. Trams would need their own tracks but they can run alongside cars etc so long as signaled well. It would not take a rocket scientist to arrive at the conclusion that a pedestrian cannot walk in the same space as is required for cars, motorbikes, busses and lorries. So good so far. Cycles, well they can be dangerous to pedestrians, that is true so they cannot go on the pavement – in fact its against the law – trust me I have been cautioned by the police for riding a bike on the pavement! Remember we are doing this from scratch – if you were then to suggest that its ok to place those cyclists on the same surface as a vehicle weighing in at over one ton let alone 40 ton, traveling in city centres at speeds of between 10–30 mph and on main roads upto 40–50 mph you would be laughed at. Ridiculed. To then suggest that it would be ok, simply wear a plastic hat with some padded foam and a chin strap, a high visibility top and you will be safe. That too is absurd, it will simply mean that the larger vehicles can see much easier what they have hit. The solution would be obvious, these peddle power vehicles need their own space. It should in fact be against the law for cyclists to be on the road – heaven above we even encourage our kids to take cycle proficiency tests so that we can place them on the same surfaces as heavy goods vehicles, now I might be hamming this up a bit but that is just asking for trouble. Its like give a child a sharp knife and telling them to go an have a play sword fight with their brother but be careful. Sadly we are not doing this from scratch. Roads exist already, pavements exist already but there is no acceptable in between for cyclists of any age. It is just the way it is and we have put up with this for too long. Only an idiot would place their child on a bike on a busy road even with their supervision or proficiency badge because you know what – as a parent if I was hit by a lorry I am no superman and I could not protect my child. City centres, villages, towns wherever, we need to make provision for cyclists so that they do not harm pedestrians and that they in turn are not get harmed by powered vehicles. We are an intelligent bunch of people, we can figure out immense mathematical problems, communicate around the globe in a split second, build great machines like the LHC. Yet we find it difficult to safeguard cyclist young and old. To the powers that be and to all parents I would say we can do more to make sure something sensible happens (not just painting roads blue Borris and calling it a cycle highway – idiot, thats what Eton buys you). Simple things like encouraging new developers that they must contribute when building their huge profit making developments. To lose one life because of our inability to say what is bloody obvious and has been since before Tarmac® was invented is insanity. Lorry + Bike + Road = Accident waiting to happen (again… and again… and again… 6
Posted on: Thu, 28 Nov 2013 10:39:04 +0000
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