Another “Cyclist” Died on Britain's Roads a Few Days Ago.

This sad, horrific, pointless, needless event occurred n Hull, the nearest city to Beverley. The newspaper headlines spoke of “a cyclist” and only by reading on in the article, like the others covering such fatalities, do you begin to see that a person died. Someone’s son, daughter, brother, sister, mother, father. Too often coverage of these horrific events become a debate about blame, and “motorists” and “cyclists”. As I have said before, these issues are far too serious to be allowed to become simply a motorists versus cyclists argument about supposed rights and wrongs. The debate is about safety on our rids for road users, whether they are people on bicycles, walking on the pavement, crossing the road, or driving a car, lorry etc.  It is also about the nature of our towns and cities. Do we want them to be for people, pleasant places to live and work in, or places that are fume ridden and traffic congested. The news created the usual motorist versus cyclist blame debate, but there were also a few calls for segregation of bicycles from motor traffic. A transport minister, who happens to be a Yorkshire MP, defended the status quo and used the opportunity to talk about how the government had increased spending for cycling and claimed Britain's road are the safest in Europe behind only Sweden. Wrong. Cycling is a relatively safe means of transport in Britain, but the fact is that death and serious injury rates are significantly lower in Holland and Sweden where many more people cycle, many more people of all ages and both genders, and many more journeys are made by bicycle than in the UK. The dominant culture there is of cycling being everyday transport, not a sport as is the case in the Britain, and virtually everyone in Holland or Sweden wears everyday clothes and doesn't wear a helmet. The press have also reported that the number of cyclists being killed or injured is expected to increase because of the extra number of people cycling due to the popularity of the Tour de France. Transport Minsters apparently still believe that more people cycling on the road will make it safer because drivers will see more around. Wrong. there is an increasing amount of evidence to show this is not the case. The statistics also hide the fact that many people who would otherwise like to ride a bicycle are put off because of not feeling safe on Britain's roads, which itself is a terrible indictment of our roads and is often overlooked. British Cycling also commented on the news; an organisation that is a sporting body, which really is like Formula One commenting on driving on the roads.

 

On a lighter note, I have recently been looking at the Pashley cycles website, and salivating over their new models, particularly the Speed 5. Another classic, traditional, piece of cycling art and craft that will challenge the Guv'nor for my pound notes in the not too distant future. Oh, dear what a dilemma. I might also be disappearing into the shed to build something using an old roadster frame I have in there.....