Following on from my rant about environmentalist’s complaints about the car without providing a viable alternative or correctly spending the tax on greener methods, I thought the two following things would be of interest:
1st: The BBC reports on a new inner-city transport device which would use the EU’s Galileo white elephant.
2nd: A couple of things that I experienced on the way home today that I think the government should tackle about driving. Please bear in mind that these comments in no way suggest that I think public transport is a more pleasant way to travel – it vehemently is not!
Cyclists. They are a danger to themselves and to driver’s guilt. On my way home tonight I saw separate cyclists ignoring traffic lights (because they could see it was free), undertaking cars indicating left at traffic lights and riding with no lights.
On the first, ignoring traffic lights, it makes sense that infrequently used traffic-light controlled junctions be replaced by flashing amber traffic lights when there is little traffic. This would tell drivers that no-one has priority (except pedestrians, who could press the pedestrian button, and buses, who must be given way to anyway) allowing light traffic to flow. Obviously these cyclists agree, but until this is done they should respect the rules like car drivers do.
On the second, if you pull up in your bicycle at traffic lights inside someone who is indicating left, there is a real chance that the car will turn across you. Cyclists, the highway code instructs, should be treated like small cars with a wide berth given when overtaking. If cyclists undertake, however, they are putting themselves in danger.
On the third, if I hit a cyclist with no lights I do not really see why I should be culpable.
The police target cars – people all over the place are convicted of speeding offences which, in themselves, hurt no-one, while violent crime is rising. The problem with speeding, if one accepts that it is a contributory factor in any significant proportion of accidents, is in the accident itself, not in it happening in the first place. The act of speeding where no accident occurs is a victimless crime. Cars are targetted, one must assume, because registration plates identify the car driver easily.
Cyclists, meanwhile, who frequently flout safe driving rules, have no identification tags and must not even register their vehicle.
The greatest peril when driving is not the risk of small children running out in the road – they are taught road safety well; nor is it hitting another car – most drivers obey the rules of the road. The biggest danger is cyclists who do not light up their bikes, wear black, jump traffic lights and undertake.
[Technorati: Road Safety, Cyclists, Politics]
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