My heartfelt condolences to the family over their tragic loss. May they be given the strength to continue with their daily tasks in this very sad time. I speak from the heart having lost a son in a cycle accident 27 months ago and have contemplated this issue for a while now and feel I need to put pen to paper I am astonished that there are so few cyclists injured or killed on our roads due to the blatant disregard of basic road safety by certain elements within the cycling fraternity 1. Very few stop at stop streets today in fact I nearly hit a man on a bicycle who popped out from behind a truck and rode through a stop street. After jamming on breaks to miss him I got finger signs from him (Basic Safety), This seems to be the norm in my area. 2. A 4 way stop is for cars only and if a car stops the riders ride into the intersection and you have to wait while five, six or ten riders all travel through without stopping 3. Riding two abreast on narrow roads and you dare not toot to let them know you are coming along as once again it is finger language from them and then they stay in the middle of the road 4. I have actually have a stone thrown at my car causing damage when I hooted at two riders riding abreast on a narrow road. 5. The keep left rule of the road is nonexistent in the mindset of the cyclists (again I emphasis it is only certain elements) I feel all cyclist should fist practice what they preach and adhere to the rules of the road before pointing a finger. If you recall years ago all motorcyclist were classed as scum and it has taken numerous projects to change the mindset of motor vehicle driver towards motorbike riders. It seems to me that cycle riders now have now been classed in the same bracket as motorbike riders due to certain elements portraying the ?I have the right of way?. Coming back from Durban last week I was listing to the radio and this was the subject (Cycle riders) and it astounded me to hear the same complaints over and over. Let?s clean up our act as cycle riders and then point fingers. As a cycle rider and motorbike rider for years I have experienced the best of both worlds
