Cyclists - the need for legislation

George G. Debono in his letter titled The Case For Proper Cycle Paths (December 14) makes no such case. Instead he spends most of his letter imputing words and senses I never meant or said, ridiculing everything and nitpicking anything he fancied. He was right on one thing.

Yes, I am against cyclists who break the law, against their going one way against the traffic, against cycling on the wrong side of the road, against riding their bikes unlit at night, against their wearing dark clothing in the dark, against protecting themselves by not putting on crash helmets, against riding in tandem with other riders, against wobbling in the middle of the road and otherwise executing manouvres endangering themselves and others.

I am also against cyclists getting priority and preference on the roads without having insurance and not paying road taxes. Dr Debono is right about my attitude but for the wrong reasons. That is why I think he is "seriously worried" about the issue. It is bad enough he might have to wear a helmet in hot weather because this is "inconvenient and uncomfortable". Tough!

Dr Debono says he worked in a hospital's casualty ward. I have no reason to doubt that but it does not mean he is an expert on head injuries. He should research the subject by surfing the appropriate websites where no doubt he will find that a cyclist can sustain fatal injuries riding at 5 kph as he would at 50 kph. A careless cyclist can also injure his head falling off his bike and when getting knocked off his bike by an equally careless motorist even when the cyclist is motionless.

The gentleman's grasp of basic economics is as weird as his logic. He has little faith in the ADT's policy of having the car driver abandon his car in preference to his bicycle. He argues that if people prefer to ride a bike there will be no change in car use. He goes on to contradict himself by saying that "car ownership will remain the same". Neither will the Transport Authority wish to hear that given their declared policy nor will the car importers wish to know that their businesses will become stagnant. It is Dr Debono who is spouting nonsense.

Dr Debono did not wait to hear the details of the accident that killed a cyclist before rushing into print. He may not wish to hear that the reason for this tragedy may have been one of the factors listed above.