2 Wheeled Menaces
As some of you may already know, I have some opinions about
cyclists on the road. Not the family of 3 going out to take the air on a sunny
Sunday afternoon, or the school kids saving their parents from the ridiculous
“school run” (more on that particular subject in another post, I daresay)
No. The cyclist I’m referring to are the lycra clad,
30-somethings who who have taken a pleasant form of exercise and aggressively
turned it into a nuisance.
It’s bad enough that these morons seem to think that they own
the roads when they don’t contribute to their upkeep, it’s bad enough that they
have a total disregard of any traffic law (and indeed any other traffic) and it’s
bad enough that they roam in packs on weekends, blocking roads, but now these
menaces have come out with their latest ridiculousness – lights.
Not ordinary lights, oh no, but flashing ones. But not just
flashing ones, either. Nope. Bloody great , bright, flashing lights.
We live in a society where TV programmes and films have to
have flashing light warning in case of setting off epilepsy attacks, so why are
these cretins allowed to use these blasted strobes?
There are rules in force for when motor vehicles can use
flashing lights, so why shouldn’t these menaces be subject to the same rules?
In fact, isn’t it about time that road-using cyclist are
legislated far more than they are at the moment? If they want to use the roads
then let’s make sure that their machines are safe and have an equivalent to an
MOT, let them have to get insurance and let them pay tax. Let’s make sure that
they always carry lights and that they are bright enough to be seen but not too
bright as to blind on-coming traffic. Bring back the Certificate of Proficiency
and make it compulsory if you are to ride on the road
If cyclists insist on using roads then they must follow the
same rules as other road users….
Totally reasonable on all counts. To some degree it is less the fault of the cyclist and more the fault of the government that there are no measures in place ref MOTs for bikes, tests for proficiency and the requirement for insurance (even though cyclists would moan like hell if the government woke up to these massive oversights). As for enforcement, the police in theory could stop cyclists now for the lights and for ignoring the highway code etc. - but they don't. While manufacterers make flashing lights, there will be no slow down in the adoption of these 'moving hazard indicators', and certainly no action by police; these appliances will be accepted as the norm. Cops don't now even both stopping pillocks driving cars with fog lights on when there's no need. I fear that nothing will be done on all counts, and cyclists will be a nuisance, often enjoy being a nuisance, and feel hard done by on every score whilst claiming to be the good guys.
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