Bicycle Riders - Road Safety Awareness

Writing I find allows you to create almost boundlessly. An idea to write can just pop up into your head when you are not even thinking of doing any writing in fact.

Great for when you have writer's block!

Yesterday I decided that I would take a break from doing such that and spend the day looking at the garden that had decided that, it was going to get its own back on us, for tidying & pruning it into some basic orderly fashion recently - however, our garden had very different ideas of its own!

- Given three weeks of, rain, wind, and sun, the garden is now beginning to resemble much of a wild amazonian undergrowth once more!

So sighing heavily over this and resigning ourselves to the fact that 'out the lawnmower and loppers must come,' the fridge interrupts those sighs and yells out 'milk!'

Yes, because we do not have one of these in our gardens at home!

But good god, having a cow would be very useful to have in our garden.

*** *** ***

Ok so PAUSE just for a moment here. No, I haven't completely lost my mind here by imagining that the fridge shouted out to me but, then perhaps I am... and am stuck in a world of insanity around me?

So, back to what I was supposed to be talking about...

Trip to the shops it was then - and this is where the idea for this article comes into mind.

Menacing Bicycle Riders!

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The opening image to this article shows a cyclist obeying the Highway Code - something which is quite contrary to what this article is really about.

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Why do youngsters and teenagers think that it is alright and acceptable to 'perform' on their bikes whilst on the roads today?

This is a rhetorical question because we all know that it is because nobody in authority seems to care enough to do anything about it - to control it, understand it, and make appropriate, active steps even stop it.

I said 'perform' on the roads, and I say that because these bicycle owners certainly do not have any clue as to the words 'ride your bicycle on the roads safely with due care and attention to other road users.'

Do any of these immature youngsters and teenagers alike even know what the Highway Code for Cyclists talks about?

Indeed have any of them bothered to read the information on this?

According to the THINK! cycling campaign, are you aware that the number of cyclists seriously injured has increased in recent years, faster than the increase in cyclists on the roads have?

This is one of the least offensive images I could find (courtesy of YouTube, and accessed by author dated 09/06/2021) showing just what can be the end result of a bicycle after its collision with a car driving on a road. Try to imagine the person on the cycle after this - if the bike ended up in this mess then how did the actual rider fare from it?

There are plenty of videos reporting incompetent cyclists ignoring the Highway Code whilst using busy roads but, it is not my intention to put fear into whoever reads this article by showing those images, but merely to get improper bicycle road users to THINK! in just the same way as the official campaign does.

Section 59 of the Highway Code explains the appropriate clothing cyclists should wear in order to make it easier for other road users to spot them and help to keep them protected in the case of a collision. Helmet – Your cycle helmet should conform to the current regulations, be the correct size for your head, and be securely fastened.

The Highway Code for Cyclists also goes onto discuss the use of appropriate clothing & reflective accessories. By stating that it should be tight so as to not get tangled in the chain or wheels, and that to wear fluorescent types. Use stripes, arms & ankle bands so that cyclists can be seen easily by car headlights when in the dark.

Section 60 of the Highway Code explains the necessity of cycling lights must have white front & red rear lights, with a red rear reflector, amber pedal reflectors, and wheel spoke reflectors to add to their visibility level too.

As the article cover image shows too, Section 61 of the Highway Code discusses cyclists should also use advanced stop lines on roads also.

Section 62 of the Highway Code covers the use of cycle tracks, which can be used to make a journey safer. If sharing a path, take extra care and give plenty of room to children, the elderly, disabled people. You should always be riding at a speed that would allow you to slow down and stop WHEN necessary.

Section 64 of the Highway Code states that in the Highways Act 1835 (HA) section 72 & in the Road Safety Act (RSA) 1984, section 129, cyclists must not cycle on the pavement.

The RSA goes on to say that, 'any person who in or beside any road leaves open and unfenced, or insufficiently covered or insufficiently fenced, an opening into a vault or cellar commits an offence, (see the two images below as examples to this.)

1 & 2.

Although it is acceptable for a young child (such as a parent with a toddler who is learning to ride a bike) as the next part describes does lead to some confusion when it comes to our police force -

- A report by 'We Are Cycling UK' (written by Victoria Hazael 9 March 2015) describes an incident whereby a dad who was with his toddler at the time, told the local paper that, '... police car pulled over and told him she had to get off her bike as it was against the law to ride on the footpath. He then drove off but said he’d be checking his mirrors, and if he saw her riding the bike again he would confiscate it.'

That report highlighted this ongoing confusion as it was a police officer in Lincolnshire who was involved here.

Moving along to one other rather pertinent rule here is another rule here is:

Section 66 of the Highway Code states that every cyclist MUST keep both hands on the handlebars except when signalling or changing gear. That cyclist MUST keep both feet on the pedals. Every bike rider MUST be considerate of other road users, taking extra care around blind and partially sighted pedestrians - using your bell when necessary to signal you are nearby. And finally, ride single file on narrow or busy roads and when riding round bends.

This section also states clearly what riders of cycles MUST NOT ride more than two abreast, ride closely behind another vehicle, or carry anything that will affect your balance or get tangled up in your wheels or chain making you more of a stability hazard and injury risk when on the road.

The very point to all this is because when my wife and I drove to the local shops yesterday, I had to bring our car to a dead stop very quickly yesterday because a young group of teenagers suddenly rounded a road corner very suddenly, riding four-a-breast on the road and must have decided that it was funny to ride rapidly swerving all across both lanes of the road, performing wheelie stunts, not holding onto the handlebars, and continued to 'free wheel' taking up the entire road as they did so. They were all laughing and shouting obscenities at other car road users who were appalled by their very obvious lack of danger & awareness.

After I had to stop very quickly to avoid clipping one of the cycle riders with the bonnet of our car, what did I get for my due care and attention to the idiot on the cycle - I was faced with two fingers up at me and a verbal tirade of swear words!

So if car drivers have their own Highways Code to abide by and a very strict practical driving test to adhere to, then is it not high time that these types of teenage bicycle riders be brought to the attention of their own Highway Code that they are supposed to abide by themselves.

This was not the first time that this occurred throughout the whole twelve years that I have held a full UK driving licence either. I recall my driving instructor (back in 2019) telling me how -

'once you pass and are driving on the roads alone, you will see why you must NEVER STOP looking out for cyclists because they think they own the roads you are driving on.'

- Never was a truer word ever said.

I will leave this article here with some frightening facts supplied by The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) who published a factsheet on cycling accidents in November 2020 -

-- Children between the ages of 0 -15 years of age (cyclist casualties, 2019) reported that,

-- 10 were killed

--462 were seriously injured

-- 1,522 were slightly injured

That is a frightening full total of 1,994 actual reported to the UK police. So that does not include any incidences that just were not reported - which potentially makes that total an even higher one at that too.

UK drivers can be convicted if they cause these issues highlighted and can face prison sentences, AND points to be placed on their driving licences.

So what of the cyclists who cause the accidents?

That is not even addressed.

Is it not high time that actions were taken to address these points?

WE have all heard the very valid & poignant argument that a driver is always in charge of a potentially very dangerous machine but, what of the uncaring cyclists who have no regard for their own responsibilities toward due care and attention when using the road system.

It is more than about time that their own disgraceful bad habits were seriously looked into NOW.

As well as 'THINK BIKE!'

we also need,

CYCLISTS THINK CAR!

They Must be made ACCOUNTABLE for their actions when using the road system to0...

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