I understand where Clive Chipperfield (Cyclists, Show Some Respect, July 24) is coming from. However, it is important to make one or two points clear. It is not really a case of motorists not respecting cyclists; they just don’t respect anyone, even each other. Cyclists are just further down the food chain.
However, that said, I do hope that both he and the readers understand that in the case of the two recent accidents involving cyclists, both were victims of hit and run accidents caused by other road users. In both cases, the cyclists concerned were hit from behind and were cycling quite legally. In one case, the cyclist was actually so far off to the left he was in the roundabout’s cushion area and, therefore, actually not on the carriageway proper. So even when one tries to cycle as legally and as respectfully (to other traffic) as possible one is still potentially at risk.
That garners a whole different mindset to the question of cyclists demanding respect and the appalling driving skills of those who hit these two quite innocent cyclists. They have a right to respect. Possibly. Should it be mutual? Agreed. Should they have a right (one enshrined in EU transport policy) to safely navigate our roads? Certainly.
Yes, criticism aimed at a few individual cyclists may be justified but should we generalise? Because most cyclists don’t do the things Mr Chipperfield suggests, only some bad apples do. Yet, and other cyclists please note, these are the ones who get noticed (in the same way that bad drivers get noticed). Not forgetting that I wonder at the wisdom of generalising, for if we tend to blame individual good cyclists, they may well in turn eventually not see the point in being good anymore.
I, however would tend to concur that, more often than not, these errant riders, two abreast on the coast road, are likely also to be car drivers as well. This tends to underpin the notion that car drivers and cyclists are all socialised into a set of habits and norms and, therefore, it is our road culture that needs to change.
Where do we start that culture change from? Lowly cyclists, bottom up, or car drivers, top down? After all, lowly cyclists are more likely to follow the rules and most actually do as the consequences of not doing so are quite serious. Yet, we have two cyclists down in the space of a few weeks, who, following the rules of the road and benefitting society, should have garnered our respect.
They were following the rules. The fact that they were not seen, as other minding-their-own-business-riding-lawfully cyclists go unseen, is not a case of visibility but an unwillingness to simply recognise that they are there. Much like the king with no clothes, that lack of recognition is the key and, unfortunately, it permeates our road culture from car-centric public to road designers and right up to ministerial level.
Yes, good cyclists need our respect but all cyclists need to be recognised.