
Well,
February might be a short month, but it still managed
to rack up its fair share of 'invisible' moments.
The unofficial title of Episode 3 of the Invisible
Cyclist is 'impatience' - something which can take
a number of forms around cyclists, but in the main
it tends to combine with a lack of understanding of
just how fast a bike can go, or a belief that waiting
for the cyclist will incur a time penalty of several
minutes, rather than roughly 4 seconds.
And
so it is that a taxi coming in the opposite direction
turns right, straight across the path of two cyclists;
a Mini just has to get past some roadworks on her
side of the road as the cyclist approaches; and a
Ford Focus pulls out, waving goodbye to the person
he has just dropped off, not bothering to take the
time to look in his mirrors or over his shoulder.
The
Invisible Cyclist is not about wanting to make the
roads seem dangerous for cyclists, after all removing
us to some off-road path out of the way is an unpalatable
cure rather than a pre-emptive prevention, whcih is
simply making sure that everyone understands their
rights and, above all, responsibilities on the road.
While
the cyclist is seen as a moving obstruction, rather
than a legitimate road user, this impatience will
continue and aggravation will mount on both sides
of the 'divide'.
The
one thing we really need to remember is simply this.
We're all just trying to
get somewhere.
