We
don’t get a whole lot of respect on the roads,
and a lot of that’s the fault of cyclists. We’re
perceived as pavement cycling, red-light jumping,
ninja-stealthy menaces to society, and people like
Jon Snow don’t help. Less than a week after
being on Richard & Judy cack-handedly ‘making
the case’ for cyclists, whilst advising people
not to cycle in London, I bump into him cycling down
the footpath on the Grays Inn Road by Kings Cross.
Well done that man! Good PR!
But
we’ve got to stand up for ourselves. Read Cyclecraft
and follow the rules. Stick to the road unless you’ve
got a compelling reason not to, but never on the footpath.
But at the same time, show the badge. I don’t
need to re-hash the accident
statistics, do I? Anything that reduces them (short
of removing cyclists from the road) can’t be
bad.
We’ve
sent press releases out, but obviously the mainstream
press aren’t particularly interested. Sir George
Young (Con, NW Hants) suggested we emphasise the obeying
the highway code bit. Thanks, George! We are sponsoring
the letters page of Cycling Plus next month, though.
But
the campaigning has started. The Highway Code is under
review and is seems that the motoring organisations
got to it before cyclists did. We’re supporting
the CTC’s campaign to rebalance the rights and
responsibilities and making submissions to that effect.
We’re also supporting the Rhyl Cycling Club’s
Memorial Fund through sticker sales and looking for
other grass-roots cycling charities to support.
Will
it change the world? Hell, no. Will it buy us all
a little more road-room? Maybe, but it has got to
be worth a punt!
.justin
beattie 
