Article: 20051025
Two months after I thought I'd finally recovered everything after the great "Oops" way back in February, I discovered one more missing article that I could retrieve (by laborious means). This is, I think, it's entirety.
The Menace of Mad Road Users
The most vulnerable road users can be a menace themselves
Dateline: 18:00, Monday, October 24th, 2005 - Outside London Waterloo station.
It is rush hour on Waterloo Road which is a very busy road, passing alongside the eastern edge of London Waterloo station. Cars, buses, taxis, lorries, and cyclists all use it for access to the station, and as a principal route over the river Thames into and out of the City. It is never particularly quiet, except in the wee small hours of the morning, but in the middle of the rush hour it heaves with the additional burden of milling pedestrians. For this reason there is a major foot crossing right outside the station entrance, controlled by traffic lights. For the most part traffic and pedestrians patiently wait their turn. But not always. This particular evening, in spite of the traffic having been stopped, and the lights showing in favour of the pedestrians crossing the road, one cyclist decides he can't be bothered with waiting. Instead of stopping and waiting he simply rides his way into and through the throng, startling many of those crossing at the time and forcing some to have to step or even jump out of the way.
We're not talking some impetuous, wreckless yob on a ratty old BMX, here. This was a full-grown man. A well kitted out full-grown man, with his fancy bike, Lycra shorts, a cycling jacket and shoes, and a safety helmet. He's clearly not oblivious to the considerations of safety for himself, just - it seems - for anyone else. Probably some Gordon Gekko type making a mint in the city, and who comprehends nothing but self-interest. No regard for anyone else.
It is bad enough when cyclists ignore traffic signs and signals when there is no-one visibly at risk. They are as much road users, and as subject to the rules and regulation thereof as any other form of traffic, yet a significant proportion seem to consider themselves outside the law in this respect. They're quick enough to raise a hullalballoo when they're endangered by drivers, yet they ignore turning restrictions, stop signs, one-way streets, and no-entry signs often causing drivers of oncoming vehicles driving in the correct direction to slow, swerve, or stop in order to avoid hitting them.
Next time you hear a cyclist whining about how dangerous life is on the road, don't take it for granted that they aren't responsible for creating the threat.
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