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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Cyclists without helmets on..

259 replies

Writerwannabe83 · 06/10/2013 09:52

Am I the only one who gets really annoyed about this?

If it is the law that us drivers have to wear seatbelts why is their safety choice an optional one?

IF we knocked a cyclist of his bike and he suffered irreparable brain damage or death as a result of a head injury it is us who would have to live with that guilt, even though they made the choice not to wear a helmet.

And then you see some parents out with their children on bikes and although the children always have helmets on, not all the parents do. It is great they are protecting their children, but why do they think their own brains don't matter? I don't mind cyclists on the road at all, but I wish they would wear helmets and keep themselves safe.

Maybe I'm just overly anxious about hitting one....or do they think it will never happen to them?

OP posts:
LessMissAbs · 06/10/2013 19:42

Personally, I think the roads would be far safer if it were made compulsory for drivers to ride a bike to a reasonable level, pass a social empathy test or test designed to assess whether or not they have anti-social personality disorder, and cover motorway driving.

Things that annoy me in a similar vein:

  • Although I'm currently in Belgium, I'm still a UK taxpayer - what the fuck are they doing with all my taxes, since the infrastructure in the UK is third world standards compared to here?
  • Cars with faulty lights/no MOT/insurance
  • Boy racers
  • Middle lane, 55mph drivers on the motorways
  • Unrepaired potholes
FavoriteThings · 06/10/2013 19:45

Agree with Shenanigans. I am imagining the uproar though! Shock

But I think the uproar would calm down after about a year, and most people would not then dream of saying, "right, we have now decided it is a good idea to reverse the law".

VinegarDrinker · 06/10/2013 19:46

Let's be clear - lights are a legal requirement. Hi viz is not. I do all my cycling to get somewhere, not just "going for a ride" and what I wear depends on where I an going from and to, and what I need to be wearing when I get there. Popping a mile up the road to nursery really shouldn't require a full change of clothing just to keep drivers happy. Do the hi viz evangelists think pedestrians should do the same?

I do tend to wear a hi viz jacket if it's jacket weather (too warm still here) because it happens to also be the best water/windproof one I own.

Pan · 06/10/2013 19:46

And stop parking in cycle lanes! One one route in Manchester a parade of shops has a cycle lane running outside of it. Every day, twice a day, I have to pull out into main road traffic to get past. Bastards will still consider themselves 'good drivers' if asked.Hmm

and the green/red boxes at traffic lights. At least half of you think it's just pretty paint to cheer up the environment.

Original poster
Writerwannabe83 · 06/10/2013 19:53

I'm actually surprised that seeing as how popular cycling is there aren't more roads that have specific cycle lanes. I'm trying to envision the streets where I live and I can't think of any that have cycle lanes. Mind you, that might cause problems with people who don't have garages/driveways to park their cars and so have to use the street outside their home.

Do people really park in cycle lanes? - that's bad!

Does anyone know what criteria must be reached for a road to have a designated cycle lane as opposed to another road that doesn't have one?

OP posts:
Pan · 06/10/2013 19:55

"Mind you, that might cause problems with people who don't have garages/driveways to park their cars and so have to use the street outside their home."

FFS Sad

Original poster
Writerwannabe83 · 06/10/2013 19:57

What was wrong with me saying that?? I was agreeing with you that it would be a nightmare (and pointless) if cars were forced to park across cycle lanes...

OP posts:
Pan · 06/10/2013 19:59

"if cars were forced to park across cycle lanes..."

stop it! It's just too funny.Grin

VinegarDrinker · 06/10/2013 20:00

A bit of paint on the road means nothing and gives a false sense of security. A young woman was killed this year (by yet another HGV) while cycling on one of London's supposed "cycling superhighways"

Original poster
Writerwannabe83 · 06/10/2013 20:01

I think you are deliberately being argumentative. My point still stands though, I do think it would be much better and safer if most roads had a cycle lane but due to poor parking in residential areas it just wouldn't be feasible.

OP posts:
Original poster
Writerwannabe83 · 06/10/2013 20:04

vinegar - how awful, was she knocked off? I have seen some people make reference to cyclists being crushed by HGVs. Are the HGVS drivers just not aware of how wide their vehicles are??

OP posts:
Pan · 06/10/2013 20:04

Sorry OP, I'm not being deliberately argumentative. But your car-centricity is breath-taking. Why would anyone be 'forced' to park in a bike lane?

Original poster
Writerwannabe83 · 06/10/2013 20:07

Maybe forced was the wrong word - I was referring to how it would be great to have cycle lanes on most roads but in residential areas where most houses don't have garages or driveways it wouldn't be feasible as people use the street to park their cars. I.e if there were cycle lanes on those sort of streets it would mean that people would either not be able to park outside their house or they would wrongly park across the cycle lane.

OP posts:
Pan · 06/10/2013 20:10

yes, I'd thought that was it. Another option would be for a car owner to not park outside their house, and park somewhere else where it was legal to do so.

I wouldn't advocate bike lanes on all roads at all, fwiw.

Pan · 06/10/2013 20:15

VD - I think the paint does provide a sense of security, but not totally, as you say. Most of the time, ime they are observed and so helps re safety.

Original poster
Writerwannabe83 · 06/10/2013 20:21

Pan- what kind of lanes do you think should have them? I'm guessing you are a cyclist, do you feel more safe on some roads as opposed to others?

OP posts:
Pan · 06/10/2013 20:33

OP - dual carriageways, compulsory. Bendy, wind-ey roads. Town centre roads. Off the top of my head. Yes I bike a lot and also drive. And yes, some roads are safer, but as I'm sometimes no more than a few inches from a knob-ish driver it isn't the road lay out that is most risky, is it?

LessMissAbs · 06/10/2013 20:37

writer I'm actually surprised that seeing as how popular cycling is there aren't more roads that have specific cycle lanes

Presumably because of the same reasons the railway network and service is so poor in the UK, the road surfaces are appalling, there is a lack of proper motorways from north to south (the A1 isn't even dual carriageway the whole way fgs), etc.. As I say, I have no idea what they do with the taxes, but they certainly aren't spending them on things that are taken for granted in normal countries on a similar latitude in the rest of Europe.

Hence people feel unsafe cycling, and use their cars more. Hence the country becomes more reliant on cars, even for short journeys, and less people use other methods of transport. People become dependent on cars, and like the OP, develop really rather strange notions about people who cycle, "us" and "them" attitudes, etc..

I also notice that where I am in Belgium, road repairs are carried out frequently, and really quickly. Theres no "3 weeks to repair 10m of pavement".

LessMissAbs · 06/10/2013 20:38

Although in answer to your question, it should be possibly to cycle relatively safely on rural roads. Unfortunately they are so busy, and the incidence of boy racers and mad drivers so high, you still take your life in your hands.

Even when driving, the likelihood of meeting someone coming round a corner on a country road on the wrong side is quite high, or drive at 60mph and you will invariably be overtaken by someone doing 80mph.

VivaLeThrustBadger · 06/10/2013 20:42

Maybe one day we'll be like Holland and have proper segregated cycle lanes everywhere.

Original poster
Writerwannabe83 · 06/10/2013 20:46

I completely agree with you about the dangers of rural roads!

I think if I cycled on the road I would be constantly worried about being knocked off. When I see buses or lorries passing cyclists I find myself holding my breath until I see the cyclist has remained unscathed. I always give cyclists quite a wide berth but obviously larger vehicles can't always have that freedom. Is it not nerve wracking when a big bus/lorry drives past you?

OP posts:
colleysmill · 06/10/2013 20:50

God I'm so tired I've just misread the title of this thread as "cystitis without helmets" and was thinking what?!?

Original poster
Writerwannabe83 · 06/10/2013 20:51

Hahahahahaha Grin That sounds like it would be a very interesting thread though... Smile

OP posts:
bearleftmonkeyright · 06/10/2013 20:52

Can I just say I had a lovely bike ride today. My bike is an old frame, Reynolds tubing. I love it. I did 30 miles in the sunshine. Since I have rediscovered cycling I have lost a ton of weight, feel less depressed and enjoy life more. That is what cycling does to you. For all you people out there moaning about cyclists and how they should be on the road I say this. Get on a bike yourself. For all you joyless motorists out there who pass a cyclist with hatred I know the person on two wheels is getting far more out their life than the person on four. And you should be jealous.

breatheslowly · 06/10/2013 20:55

I find it very odd that some parents put helmets on their DC (on a child seat on their bike) but then don't wear a helmet themselves. It is as if (and apologies that this sounds crude/shocking) they love their child enough to protect them, but don't love their child enough to prevent them having to live with a brain injured parent or with one fewer parent.