[Gllug] Cyclists (off topic)

[Chris Bell]

On Mon 11 Aug, Jason Clifford wrote:
> 
> On Mon, 11 Aug 2003, David Damerell wrote:
> 

> > Yes; the Government publishes statistics for all collisions resulting
> > in deaths or serious injuries - reporting of which is clearly
> > near-universal regardless of how they are inflicted, because someone
> > seriously injured will attend a hospital.
> 
> Yet a great many legitimate compensation claims will never be so reported.
> 
> > Furthermore I think it is futile to deny that 200 pounds of bicycle
> > and rider travelling at perhaps 15 or 20mph is enormously less
> > dangerous than two tonnes of motor car travelling at 70mph (assuming
> > for one moment that the driver is one of the small proportion who obey
> > the law).
> 
> So? Really what relevance has that to the fact that 200 pounds of bicycle 
> and rider can cause serious harm if it strikes someone else?
> 
> Nobody here is denying that a collision with a car, van, truck or bus is 
> likely to cause more damage however that's not issue when discussing 
> whether cyclists should be required to demonstrate a minimum level of 
> competence and hold adequate third party insurance before going on the 
> road.
> 
   Apart from what was reported to be the busiest main road in London (A40)
by my front door, there is a very busy "B" road behind the house. It is a
link between the North Circular, the A40, factory estates, a hospital, and a
station, and has one lane of parked cars on each side of the road, (only
some of them belong to residents) leaving just room for one lane of traffic
in each direction. There is a very wide pavement on the side by a cemetery,
but all the cyclists travel at high speed along the side where the pavement
is so narrow that they continually brush against both garden fences and
cars. They can get very irate when they find a pedestrian, and risk hitting
residents if they dare to step outside.


-- 
Chris Bell


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