Road Wars

Bicycles, Love them or hate them they are a popular form of transport for many people across all Continents.

In the UK however there appears to be an ongoing silent war between Motorists and Cyclists of all ages, just a quick search on YouTube reveals a plethora of videos featuring road rage, near misses or stupidity in general between both these groups.

Some of the groups on Social Media dedicated to "Bad driving in the UK" seem to be full of car drivers with a hatred for anyone who chooses two wheels and no engine as a form of transport, to the extent I have personally seen comments such as:

"All cyclists should die"

"If I see someone cycling close to me I'd run into them"

"F**k giving them room, I'll speed past the c***ts or knock them off"

"They (cyclists) should all pay road tax"

"Cyclists should be insured"

"All cyclists break the laws of the road"

"F**in cycles shouldn't be on the road"

"F**k cyclists they're all W****rs"

"Should be made to take a test and have a license to ride a bicycle"

"They (cyclists) never use cycle paths"

So on and so forth, a barrage of derogatory comments aimed at cyclists, many of which seem to be misinformed, misguided and prejudice against the two wheeled commuters and those who ride bicycles for fun.

Lets break some of these comments down for those drivers who have a massive chip on their shoulders where riders of bicycles are concerned.

ROAD TAX.

Road Tax NO LONGER EXISTS!!!!!!!! it was abolished in 1937 and a tax was introduced based on a vehicles emissions (VED), Electric vehicles and bicycles pay nothing because these vehicles do not emit any pollution into the air, unlike a motor vehicle.

Cyclists DO pay toward the upkeep of the roads, as much as any vehicle user, we all pay Council Tax and there are also many cyclists who themselves own and drive cars, and as such pay their own share of VED.

GIVE ROOM WHEN PASSING CYCLISTS

It is now the law to give a cyclist as much room as you would a car when passing, this is approximately 6ft or the width of a car, in fact the Highway Code is introducing several new laws which will include extra safety measures for pedestrians and cyclists.

BICYCLES ON THE ROAD/NOT USING CYCLE PATHS

Bicycles are allowed on any road other than Motorways, it is also not against the law for cyclists to ride two abreast, in fact it is much safer for a small group of cyclists to do this than riding single file on roads which do not have cycle paths.

There is no law which dictates that cyclists should use a cycle lane, it is only "suggested" that they use one when available, this does not take into consideration obstacles such as broken glass swept to the side of the road from car crashes/broken bottles, it does not take into consideration vehicles parked in the cycle lanes either (although I believe this is actually illegal to do unless there is nowhere else to park safely).

CYCLISTS SHOULD BE INSURED

Now this one I actually agree with but not for the reasons that motorists do, car drivers believe that cyclists should be insured, and I quote from memory of a post on one of the aforementioned Facebook groups, "Who's going to pay for the damage to my car when a cyclist hits it".

My concern would be more for the human life that could be lost hitting your 1.5 tonne killing machine on wheels than a few scratches or a dent.

Insurance would be a good idea though because many bicycles can be very expensive, some run into the thousands of pounds mark, as much as a small second hand car.

CYCLISTS AND THE LAW/HIGHWAY CODE

Now this is a controversial subject, as there seems to be a good mixture of terrible road users among both groups, arrogance, impatience and prejudice are regular factors on the road and I have seen my fair share of law breakers among both cyclists and car drivers.

All cyclists and car drivers should be familiar with the Highway Code and if not they should familiarize themselves with it immediately.

In fact why is the Highway Code not on the school curriculum? after all it is a life skill that just about everyone should be aware of, even pedestrians should understand what vehicle users can and can't do on British roads.

CYCLES AND LICENSES

Now this one I do not agree with, for one it would mean having to fit license plates to a bicycle where there is very little, if any room to put anything other than a rear light.

The costs of this alone would also price out many people who cannot afford other forms of transport, would this include children too?

Perhaps a compromise would be to charge a fee for racing bicycles on the street or for those training for bicycle races, after all it seems that these cyclists are responsible for a lot of the complaints of motorists, they tend to ride in large groups not allowing anyone to pass, become arrogant and sometimes violent toward drivers, even if the driver made a simple mistake.

Maybe charge those who use bicycles to commute to work and back? again in London it seems there is a big problem with commuters on cycles running red lights, acting as though they own the road, riding full speed on pavements and being general nuisances.

But to put this on those who ride purely for fun or in my case as my only way of getting out of the house due to illness ( I use an Electric bicycle) it would only serve to make me housebound and enjoy life much less.

So what are the solutions to putting an end to this war of the roads?

Recently a friend of mine acquired a bicycle for the first time in years, he had ridden one before but had only ever used it for getting from A to B and short distances at that, he was always a driver up to the last few years, during a conversation a few days ago he admitted he now understood how vulnerable bicycle riders feel when riding on the roads.

He had experienced car drivers not looking, pulling out in front of him and one or two "close calls" where he just missed a potential catastrophe.

I believe that one solution to the above issues is to have a bicycle ride as part of the national driving test, take the driver out on a bicycle for a day or two and let them experience the vulnerability, it may not convert them completely but it may make them think twice about their actions as a driver.

As I already suggested making the Highway Code available in schools, introduce it at an early age and keep peoples minds refreshed on the Highway Code until they leave school, when I was young we had Cycling Proficiency tests which taught us how to be safe on the roads and how to obey the Highway Code, something like this should be mandatory.

One of the most simple forms of solution is to be kind and courteous to all road users and pedestrians, whether you are a driver or a cyclist, giving way to oncoming vehicles, pulling over to let faster moving vehicles past and thanking those who do this for you doesn't take a lot of effort and could save a life or avoid a potential conflict.

If you are a cyclist, don't take chances, if the light is on Amber slow down and stop, if its on Red stop, if you must ride on a pavement ride slowly and cautiously, stop and give way to oncoming pedestrians, be polite and say "excuse me" if someone is walking in front of you.

Bare in mind it is technically illegal to ride a bicycle on the pavement over the age of 16 although few Police Officers enforce this law these days and sometimes it is safer to ride on the path or embark onto a pathway to avoid holding traffic up.

Make sure your bicycle has lights if you intend to ride at night and wear a hi-vis jacket or bright colored clothing and cycle helmet, use an action camera at all times (day and night) this is for your safety and the footage can be passed on to the Police to help in an investigation if there were an accident you were involved in.

Little things like the above could save your life as a cyclist and gives motorists less evidence that cyclists are "all the same,breaking the law"

If you are a driver of a car, van or truck or even a motorcycle (although the latter tend not to have as much of an issue with cyclists) breathe and don't let your emotions rule your head, your actions behind the wheel could result in serious injury or much worse.

Open your eyes and look for cyclists, stop being impatient if a cyclist is in front of you and slowing you down, wait those extra few seconds for the cyclist to pass before pulling out, your impatience is dangerous, and as I suggest for cyclists, be kind and courteous to ALL road users.

It isn't a war if the soldiers refuse to fight, everyone makes mistakes that is a fact of life, holding in our anger and letting go of whatever sparked it on the road will help to avoid conflict and/or accidents from occurring, and remember not all cyclists are bad road users, not all motorists are bad road users, in fact I have seen more polite, courteous drivers than I have bad ones and the same goes for cyclists.

It seems that it is a minority of drivers who are under the impression they have more right to be on the road than anyone else, many of these have probably broken the law speeding, running red lights, passing too close to cyclists etc and have no regard for any persons life.

In conclusion the simple solution to avoiding road rage is to obey the law and the Highway Code no matter what your form of transport is.

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