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Source: Reuters -
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It's happened again.
Flashing lights, an ambulance and a bike lying abandoned on the roadside. There's a policeman. People talking in small groups. People writing in notebooks. To be fair, I don't know who was at fault, but as a cyclist myself, the scary thing is, the cyclist is usually the one lying in the ambulance.
Last week three cyclists were carted off to hospital in just one morning - and that was just in Christchurch.
So here I am, on my not-very-cool-but-functional mountain bike, pedalling down Colombo Street. Nothing flashy or intimidating about my get-up. No lycra. No headphones. No high speed manoeuvres. Just a pair of tired legs hanging out in a pair of baggy long johns. The pace is sensible and sedate.
But there's no room for complacency. I'm not going to rave about irresponsible drivers. Not so long ago a local motorist got into a lot of bother for his online comments about annoying cyclists. Let me simply say motorists can be just as irritating. Just the other night a woman opened her car door in front of me. She didn't seem bothered. Or startled. Or sorry. If I'd slammed into her car door things might have been different - but luckily when there's enough room, I bike a metre out from all parked cars to avoid just such a disaster.
She probably should look before opening the door and getting out. But many motorists don't. They don't look and they don't seem to care.
Its like a person on a bike is worth less than a person in a car. The week before last a motorist turned right, right in front of me. Visibility was perfect. My yellow reflective jacket was easy to see. I had a vision of mangled body and bike on the roadside, but managed to brake in time. Was he oblivious? Was he arrogant? Who knows.
In the central city I often cycle on the footpath. And yes, pedestrians will argue that puts them at risk. But I show respect and courtesy to others. In five years no one has been bowled over, hit, hurt or even startled. If the footpath is busy, I get off the bike and walk.
But really it should be safe to cycle on the road. We're all allowed to be there. Buses, trucks, cars and bikes. Some cyclists break the rules. So do some motorists.
Some cyclists do stupid things. So do some motorists.
But the reality is, if someone driving a car has a bad day, it could be my last.
