By Mik,

Yesterday I popped to the shops with my wife. A quick pop to Sainsbury’s. As I push out onto a crossing I notice two Lycra-clad cyclists deep on conversation sped towards me, despite the lights on the junction being at red. I froze as it was obvious they weren’t going to stop or even slow down. They shot past me one going one side of me, the other roaring past on the other side, meaning if I hadn’t frozen one would have hit me. They didn’t slow down or even shout a sorry. I got to the other side shaken.

My wife and I did our shopping and decided to take a different route home. Crossing at another junction, with a no left turn from Parkway into Camden High Street, another cyclist decided the rules of the road didn’t apply to them and turned left into the crossing, again causing me to stop suddenly to avoid being struck. Not a Lycra clad type but a young woman on a pink bike with a basket. Again, no acknowledgement or apology. If I’d been visually impaired instead of a wheelchair-user I know I would have been hit without doubt on both occasions.

I’m very much in favour of creating safer, easier cycling infrastructure but please, if you ride a bike ensure you follow the rules of the road.

Before you cry “what about bad driving?” I say too right. But as I was told as a child “two wrongs don’t make a right”. Let’s make our roads and streets safer for all.

END

For an amusing story on the ‘nine types of cyclists you can find in London’ click here