It is easy to paint the world in extremes and to make gross generalisations. All drivers cut cyclists up and are inherently evil. All cyclists jump red lights and are self-righteous eco-hippies. Take your pick.
We allow our media to establish and to reinforce these myths. We allow their well-honed skills to manipulate our emotions and we react accordingly. We reinforce them ourselves by the allegiances we make. Arrogant Top Gear petrol-heads versus Lycra Louts. And vice-versa. So it goes on.
I thought the reaction to what Bradley Wiggins said this morning about the latest cycling tragedy in London was fascinating. One minute a cycling hero, the next a pariah. I bet it brought a wry smile to his face.
I pointed out to a friend on Twitter that Wiggins had been riding behind Andrei Kivilev in the 2003 Paris-Nice race when the Kazakh rider crashed and died. This was in the era when helmets were not compulsory in UCI races. She suggested that parallels between racing and commuting were spurious, and on that I don’t disagree. However what we should remember is that often we have personal, emotional reasons for our beliefs which over-ride anything else. Showing respect for those reasons is crucial.
And no, racing is not commuting. So why should we be so shocked when a racing cyclist doesn’t spout the typical commuter party line? Especially when it’s Bradley Wiggins. It’s interesting, isn’t it, how we can admire someone for their sense of individualism and contrariness right up until the point when they don’t agree with us.
There is a real danger that this so-called ‘popularisation’ of cycling leads to a homogenisation of the sport in the public eye; that it will blind us to the fact that people cycle for a multitude of reasons, some of which may be mutually exclusive. I think it’s wonderful that so many people in cities like London want to commute by bicycle and those people are right when they say that the provision of well planned infrastructure is more likely to save lives that making helmets compulsory. I have no argument with that. What I’m wary of, as I have noted previously, is how segregation of bicycles and other traffic might similarly become compulsory. As someone who cycles primarily for health and fitness instead of commuting (although I do ride to work fairly regularly in term time) this idea fills me with dread. I mean, I’m a long way from being a super-fit athlete, but even I will often ride at double the speed of those I pass on the cycle paths around Exeter, enjoying a leisurely pedal in the afternoon. It may be a sci-fi nightmare scenario to imagine bicycles being banned from all roads, but to those eco-warrior hippies I mentioned earlier I say be careful what you wish for. And don’t assume that just because I ride a bicycle I’m automatically in your gang.
Ultimately though, regardless of these arguments we should remember that cycling deaths are always tragedies, regardless of context. They are tragedies because they leave behind grieving family and friends. Lives ripped apart. In that respect the cycling is secondary. It’s the tragedy that matters. In these moment it’s really not about the bike.
It’s a personal safety issue – in much the same way that you shouldn’t HAVE to be careful with using your iPhone while walking down the street in some of London’s less salubrious neighbourhoods – but you are not going to change things by insisting on your right not to take any responsibility.
And it just makes sense to wear a helmet, in the same way it makes sense to wear a seatbelt / strap children into car seats. But people are very resistent to things that make sense, and have strange notions of what are important freedoms.
(As for bike only routes – I’d much rather take my chances on the A10 than ride through the Hackney Marsh cycle route after dark. As with walking, there are many ways in which a busy public road is a lot safer than the road less travelled).
Have you seen the Swedish invisble bike helmet yet?? Basically an air-bag worn as a collar, and apparently much safer than a helmet.
Thanks for this Julian. I never wore a helmet when I was younger and only started when I got a mountain bike and was riding off-road a lot more. It made so much sense there because the chances of a spill were much greater I suppose. And then it just became habit, so that now if I don’t have a helmet on it feels wrong. I don’t have a problem with people who choose not to wear one though, and to be fair, around these parts it’s usually the older, more experienced road riders who do that. And to be honest experience and confidence in bike handling skills are probably more important factors in keeping you safe on the bike than a helmet… Maybe different in a city, but I’m not best placed to judge on that.
Haven’t seen the air-bag Swedish idea. Sounds good though.