8°C rain
The Lycra louts
This story appears in the press every so often. There is a new(ish) law making on the spot fines possible for cycling on the pavement. Ironically it’s been illegal in Britain to cycle on the footpath since
before the invention of the bicycle!
the legislation has caused a lot of arguments in some circles, largely fuelled by misinformation. The term "lycra louts" itself is ignorant of the reality. Those considerable numbers of cyclists who do ride on the pavement never ever wear lycra. Pavement cyclists are mainly teenagers, male, often carrying newspaper delivery bags. Their sense of risk is clear from the rare sight of a crash-helmet amongst them.
Personally it makes little difference to me what legislation is aimed at them. I keep off most pavements because it’s not safe there. Pavements are full of thorns, broken glass, people walking their dogs on long leads and child cyclists who can’t hold a straight line.
I value my safety too much to ride on a footpath. While I’m on, and I am on one, cycle tracks are too dangerous to use for the same reason.
There is some irony in this story. Lycra wearing cyclists are possibly less desirable to be struck by. Teens living the urban cowboy image tend to ride quite slowly, less than 15 mph in the main. Lycra cyclists will more likely average 18 to 22mph, I know because I am one, and cycle with others. We wear lycra because we can ride faster, feel less sweaty and offer less wind resistance.
The big headline in the Mail On Sunday cites the number of pedestrians killed when struck by a bicycle. It seems that there have been 8 deaths over the last 4 years. Compare that with
3,500 people killed by cars each year.
Found some figures here:
The figures below for casualties arising from collisions between pedestrians and relate to all collisions, including those that occurred on the road. They relate to the year and, in order, the number of pedestrian deaths, pedestrian serious injuries, pedestrian slight injuries, cyclist deaths, cyclist serious injuries and cyclist slight injuries.
| |
Pedestrian |
Cyclist |
|
death |
serious injury |
slight injury |
death |
serious injury |
slight injury |
|
2001
|
0
|
53
|
162
|
0
|
4
|
46
|
|
2002
|
3
|
40
|
127
|
1
|
9
|
29
|
|
2003
|
4
|
38
|
172
|
0
|
7
|
42
|
|
2004
|
1
|
42
|
167
|
2
|
6
|
51
|
Stats from Hansard. There is nothing that i could find that recorded who was judged at fault. The one time I have read of a story locally, a pedestrian stepped out on a cyclist wo was riding down a hill at about 20mph. this pedestrian lost his life through their own poor judgement. But anecdotal evidence is a small part of our reasoning.
<>
clear & bright. But there’s a long streak of mustard brown coming over from Rugely power station.
As before, I will pass on the photograph today, you’ll have to wait.
Micycle 