This article was published in the Argus on friday..the writer Murray Williams makes some valid points I think.. Should we cyclists look at our own behaviour? ARE RIDERS TAUGHT THE ART OF ANTICIPATION… OR TO RIDE DEFENSIVELY? AS THE global cycling community bid farewell to Burry Stander, his last seconds alive are still not fully understood. We know the taxi did not necessarily “hit” him, but that there was a collision after the taxi turned across his path. We know the precise cause/s may only become clearer – if at all – once the experts have concluded their investigations. Until then, as we desperately search for ways to make cycling safer, should we, as cyclists, perhaps also take a good look at our behaviour in the mirror? Are some cyclists’ deaths due to lapses in concentration – not only by drivers, but cyclists? For example, how many cycle-vehicle crashes involved cyclists fiddling with their GPSs, water-bottles or energy bars? Do cyclists ride too fast in certain areas, break the speed limit or bullet into “blind” space – like blind rises or corners – leaving too little time and space for motorists to take evasive action to avoid hitting us? Are riders taught the art of anticipation, as heavy duty drivers are, or to ride “defensively”? For example, are riders mindful that a setting sun can blind drivers – that we become “invisible” in the glare? Are cyclists sufficiently vigilant, on our toes – like being alert to vehicles’ indicator lights? Do we look two, three cars ahead, to see what may cause drivers to slow or swerve? Why are motorbikes forced by law to have their lights on, day and night, but not bicycles? Why should a bicycle travelling at 60km/h have no lights, but a motorbike at the same speed must? The same with rear-view mirrors – is this an anomaly we should consider? Motorists are banned from using cellphones – shouldn’t bike riders be too? Many riders train with iPods and other MP3 players pumping. Do they realise being “deaf” on the road is a seriously bad idea? Do enough riders on the roads have enough road training? We know that learner motorbike riders are particularly vulnerable, because they haven’t yet driven cars enough to appreciate just how invisible bikes often are. Should we be educating bicycle riders more expertly? And more questions like these… Some of these might seem outrageous as proposals. But they’re not proposals, they’re just questions. I am simply asking them because lives are so valuable that we are dutybound to be exhaustively thorough, to look at the full spectrum of cycle deaths’ causes, at every possible contributory factor. A profoundly wrong starting point, which dooms many arguments to failure, is to think about cycling primarily as a “sport”. No, cycling doesn’t deserve any special status on the public roads as a sport – unless in dedicated events, for example. Skateboarding and rollerblading are also sports, and yet are rightly banned from most public roads. Cycling doesn’t deserve any special treatment either. Instead, cycling is primarily a legitimate form of transport, and it is as such – and not as a sport – that cyclists should be protected like all other road-users, along with pedestrians, motorcyclists, car drivers, truck drivers and even taxi drivers. Perhaps, to honour Burry Stander, we cyclists need to ask ourselves some tough questions too.
