At least no one was killed. I don't cycle a lot on the Cape Town roads (commuting a couple of times a week between Kenilworth and the city centre and some training on the weekends, mostly involving Constantia Nek, Suikerbossie, Camps Bay and such), but I must say that things don't always seem that bad. In terms of general driving I find drivers from all over South Africa are pretty much equally arrogant and inconsiderate. I've noticed quite a few cyclists being equally arrogant. So are many motorcyclists (of which I'm also one). Comments like, "he'll just get a new one next week and do the same thing again," are, I believe, part of the problem because they quickly become blanket statements about large groups. The guy may have lost control because he was riding recklessly, but not necessarily and just going fast is, to some extent, meaningless - I've seen people pose massive danger to themselves and others at 20km/h. There seems to be a fairly common assumption that everyone else, or at least most everyone on the road is an idiot. While this is clearly true of some people, it's not true of all. Last week while cycling to work I needed to change lanes. I looked over my shoulder (having yet to find a shop that sells a mirror that fits my bike and doesn't weigh a huge amount) and the driver coming up behind me noticed and slowed down before I even indicated. It's all very well to point fingers at the motorists and say they don't drive proactively or whatever, but what proactive steps do most cyclists take? I see very few cyclists in Cape Town with front and rear lights on their bikes, for instance. I see cyclists on the freeway. I see cyclists riding abreast when there are cars around (yes, I know that the given reason is that it's supposed to make the cyclists safer, but it will most certainly manage to make drivers angry, anger that will then be directed at cyclists in general). I'm not really sure if things are improving or getting worse, but I do know that they'll only get significantly better when both sides come to the party.
