Heading Columns of Traffic Since 1987 (part III)

A Call to Arms

So I haven't continued my cycling series yet because I've actually had to drive to work the last couple of days. I don't feel so bad about it since there were five in the car for most of it, but still. Anyway, as I've been thinking of ways in which motorists annoy cyclists, it seems to have made me a bit more aware of a few things that cyclists do that might endanger themselves. In the interests of balance I'm going to randomly insert a few of these in the mix here.

Postscript (2013-12-05): I appeared to have opened up a can of worms with this one. My brother pointed me in the direction of the CTC's collection of evidence relating to wearing helmets. It's not going to stop me wearing one, but in the interests of balance I'm adding this here. Make up your own mind, but remember that it might be harder to do this if your head gets squished.

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The first one is pretty simple. I have noticed an awful lot this week that a huge bunch of cyclists don't wear appropriate armour. I'm not talking about full BMX body armour, or even full cycling lycra. Seriously, just put a helmet on, and if it's dark, or even if it's not, a bit of high-vis.

There's a bit of a debate at the moment as to whether wearing helmets is safe or not, but I know of at least one chap whose helmet was completely wrecked in a head-on collision with a car. If he had not been wearing said helmet, then that would have been his skull. The photo of the wrecked safety gear made me strap my helmet to my head even more resolutely than usual.

Look at it this way: If you come off your bike and hit your head against something, chances are that it's going to be something pretty hard; a car, the pavement, a wall etc. Hard things mean force passed to your head is pretty serious (I'm simplifying it somewhat). Head trauma is bad for you and bad for people you care about, because they'll end up having to care for you.

Seriously. Put a flippin' helmet on.

(On a side note, if you're planning to rent a Boris Bike in London, I'd also carry a helmet, especially if you're not used to cycling in London. It seems aggression is key when motoring in London, and if you're a tourist not used to where you're going, you'll end up at the hospital.)

As for high-vis, it's about making yourself visible. If you dress from head to toe in black and wonder why drivers don't see you, then you've missed something yourself.

All-in-all, do yourself a favour and dress appropriately. It doesn't need to be expensive or hard, and it could massively save your life. Because as we all know, motorists are pretty stupid.

Heading Columns of Traffic Since 1987 (part II)

As of this morning there'll be some probably pretty regular posts about cycling. Mostly this'll be an angry tirade against motorists (and perhaps occasionally other road users) because, let's be honest, most of them are pretty stupid when it comes to cyclists. I welcome requests for features, but you might have to wait until your particular gripe happens to me.

I will preface all of this by saying that, contrary to when I wrote the first part of this series (about seven years ago), I can drive and do so for long journeys and for shopping. For shorter journeys, like commuting, I cycle or walk, partly because getting public transport is impossible for me, partly because it's cheaper than gym membership but mostly because it's a bunch of fun.

On the other hand, motorists make it a lot less fun and a lot more dangerous.

With that said, here's today's rant: Gap Closing.

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One of the main (and they are few and far between) advantages of cycling in cities is that you can zip around traffic when it's queuing for lights or for whatever other idiotic reasons people queue. This is great fun. I tend to count the cars that I pass. On one particular occasion I passed 60 cars before I got to the lights, and some of these were buses with dozens of people on so really it's like a billion people that I beat overtook.

Normally roads on which queues develop have lanes wide enough for cars and cyclists to share the road. When I say share I mean there's enough space for cyclists to pass on at least one side. But occasionally one particularly unintelligent driver thinks it's funny to close the gap on the pavement side.

This is not funny. If you took the time (and it doesn't have to be much time) to look in your near-side mirror you'd notice a cyclist or two in a high-vis jacket. Then either you'd think twice about moving in, or you'd do it anyway (it's okay to be a vindictive eejit if at least you're honest about it).

Being squeezed into the pavement is no laughing matter. For one, I could damage your precious vehicle - nice long scratches down the side maybe, or a broken wing mirror. This would probably count (in your eyes) as being my fault for not being more careful. Furthermore, if my front wheel scrapes the kerb at even relatively low speed I run the risk of coming off and going under your wheels. Probably I'd have to pay to have my innards scraped out of your wheel arches then. Not to mention that hitting the kerb at high speed might cause my wheel to buckle, which is a bit more expensive to repair than getting minor scratches to your crappy little car sorted out.

So next time you're in traffic and are thinking, for whatever inexplicable reason, of closing the gap between you and the kerb, remember: Please look in your near-side mirror first. It's a lot cheaper than scraping lycra out of your brake pads.