Saturday 16 November 2013

Cyclist deaths mount in London

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/nov/15/boris-johnson-adviser-deaths-cycling

I agree with Andrew Gilligan' sentiment that a little risk is acceptable when deciding whether to cycle as a form of transport. People do get injured and even die while cycling but the health and environmental benefits are fantastic and if more people took it up we would ease congestion in our cities and possibly even meet those emissions targets we are meant to be working towards.

However, what a bone headed way for the London authorities to react to the spate of recent deaths caused primarily by buses and large lorries. Blaming the victim is not the way forward and will do more to discourage cycling than any number of infrastructure failures.

A far more realistic approach is that of Police Commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe who, while hinting that cyclists should be considerate to other road users, accepts the statistical fact that cyclist deaths are not primarily caused by bad behaviour but by the 'killing machines' that they are forced to share roads with due to a totally inadequate network of cycle paths.

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