This morning while cycling to work, yet again YET AGAIN, I almost became a cycling accident statistic.
I was cycling out of our small residential road and there was a parked car on the other side near the T junction. A car came round the corner into the road I was travelling along, and despite me coming the other way, he just accelerated onto my side of the road around the parked car. I skidded my wheels as a result of panic braking, and I managed to come to a halt just as his front offside wing missed my leg by inches. The driver shouted something through his closed window and sped off.
There is no way he could use the excuse he didn't see me, because I use high quality Cat Eye lights and hi-vis Altura Night Vision jacket, the reflection of which equals the brightness of any lights from any oncoming vehicle.
Unfortunately, it was the one of the few times I forgot to switch on my helmet camera!
Since giving up my car, I have tried so hard to not be tempted to revert back to car use, especially with 2 young children and a wife. But as adamant as I am about continuing with cycling, I have this terrible fear my young children could one day lose their Dad!
There are so many generalisations from motorist about how cyclists are a nuisance and jump red lights etc. While I agree there are some (or even a lot of cyclists) that jump lights, the generalised attitude towards us seems to be rife and equating to an assumption towards cyclists as if we deserve to be knocked off, maimed or even killed.
I just wish motorists that generalise about cyclists took a step back and looked at pedestrian and road accident statistics and come to realise that we are not the biggest risk to the public’s safety instead we are amongst those most at risk.
I wish the government would clamp down on this attitude towards us, and give cyclists more priority and better protection. But just to balance the argument, I do NOT condone cyclists being a law unto themselves, even though we are still statistically hundreds of times more likely to be killed than kill.
