NO! I Don't Like To Ride My Bike!

The things which are most irritating are the things which we can not change. It’s because we can’t change them that are annoying. This is doubly true when you're driving somewhere and you come across a cyclist who is literally all over the place on the road. This is what this rant is about - cyclists! As I far as I can see there is no such thing as a good cyclist on the road. If they are on the pavement, they get in the way of pedestrians and if they're on the road, they run the risk of dying.

Can they not see how much they just get in the way?

Why is it that bicycles get so much good press and the riders are portrayed as some kind of heroic martyr. Their argument is that by riding their bike, they are reducing their carbon footprint. The fact of the matter is that cyclists dice with death each time they put their foot on the pedal. Official statistics from the Department of Environmental Transport and Regions (DETR) estimate that you are 30 times more likely to get in an accident using a bicycle and 500 times more likely to not live to tell the tale. This works out that for every kilometre travelled on a bicycle you are 14 times more likely to be seriously injured or die than either walking or riding in a car.

Cars are much safer today than what they were 50 years ago. For instance, emergency breaking and airbags have all been introduced, where as the so called ‘humble’ bike has not. It is still just two wheels and a frame. What is more insulting is that despite the safety ratio between cars and bikes, you need a licence to drive a car and nothing to ride a bike, raising the question of whether it should be the other way round? This also sends out a message that bike riders do not need to know the highway code, when really they are the ones who need it the most.

The only thing that is more dangerous than riding a push bike, is riding a motorbike, and at least they are designed to crumble on impact to help reduce the level of injury. As a driver myself I have come across numerous erratic bicycle riders who simply do not have a clue, and heard of just as many stories of people being injured. This infuriates me because these are things which we may not be able to control, but we are able to implement measures to avoid them.