Cycling: Stop The Blame Game: BENN
Tragedies occur when and where two or more hazards meet.
Riding in a traffic lane when there is an adjacent bike lane is a hazard. Kitchissippi Councillor Jeff Leiper acknowledges this with his many posts about how hazardous it is for cyclists using the roadways (legally or otherwise).
Overtaking slow-moving traffic, be it a two-wheeled or four-, when there is oncoming traffic is hazardous. Hazardous to the ‘offending’ motorist and any passengers in the vehicle. Hazardous to the approaching motorist and anyone in their vehicle. Hazardous to the vehicle, and that is what a bicycle is deemed to be when on His Majesty’s roadways, and its occupant(s) that is being overtaken.
In the Leiper incident, the two hazards passed by each other unharmed, but not unstressed. Next time?
To point the finger of blame solely at ‘the other guy’ is entirely self-serving. It is time for everyone to grow up and acknowledge that they contributed to this combination of hazards. It is time for those who claim to be adults to behave in a less hazardous manner.
Ron Benn, a finance executive, has been a member of the Centrepointe Community Association for the better part of three decades.
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As a frequent cyclist I operate by the following mantra “every time I step on my bicycle and head out into traffic I am putting myself at risk”. I have control of my actions but cannot control the actions of others. The weight ratio of a driver and automobile to a me and my bicycle is roughly 10 to 1 against me. If I’m struck by a car we all know who is likely going to come out on the losing end of the collision. Riding a bicycle safely is all about attitude, equipment (helmets and mirrors primarily), and communication (hand signals as one responder to this thread pointed out). Cyclists who take take a cavalier or dismissive approach to self-preservation walk a thin line to disaster and becoming yet another statistic. (As Talking Heads once said “This ain’t no party, this ain’t no disco, this ain’t no foolin’ around”.)