I am forever amazed at the way people behave in the street with regard to their personal safety and that of others. I have today witnessed various acts of stupidity, carelessness and recklessness by drivers, cyclists and pedestrians alike.
There has been a great deal of publicity recently about the sad deaths of a number of cyclists in central London. In almost every case, these had been cyclists that were riding along the left hand side of large lorries which then subsequently turned left and crushed them. Inevitably, in a contest between a 10 stone cyclist and 10 ton lorry, the cyclist comes off worst.
Now I don’t know whose fault these accidents were (was the lorry indicating, was it stationary and suddenly moved, did the driver not see the cyclist because they were too close to him etc), but if you listen to the cycling lobby it is always the demon lorry driver and never their fault. But I have seen cyclists do some absurdly careless things; crossing red lights (including pedestrian lights when people have started to cross), weaving between stationery traffic likely to move at any moment, sneaking down the left when vehicles are indicating left and so on. All these things are much more dangerous than not wearing a helmet, which is all they tend to get told off for by the press. And don't even get me started on motorcyclists, who are the most reckless of the lot.
Today, I have also seen pedestrians who are clearly not keen to live much longer be absurdly reckless – running over a pedestrian crossing when the lights are green and fast moving traffic is approaching them, darting in between slow moving buses, stepping into the road because the pavement is crowded without looking and so on.
Of course cars and other vehicles have by far the greatest potential to cause harm and some drivers are more than cavalier about safety even in the city when traffic moves relatively slowly. But I am getting a little tired (as a driver –although not often in London) of being blamed all the time. Personally I (and most other people I know) drive considerately and carefully with full awareness of pedestrians, other vehicles and road users.
I think it’s time for a little balance in what we hear about this and also for all the user groups to stand up and take their share of both the blame and the responsibility. If you are in the wrong place or doing the wrong thing and you get hurt, well then it’s very sad but it’s your own fault. Don’t seek to push the blame onto others; think how those lorry drivers must have felt when it may not have been their fault in the first place – after all they’re not all the typical cartoon-ish ‘White Van Man’. Most of them drive for their livelihood and take good care not to do anything which will endanger that. Those that are pictured on ‘Police, Camera, Action’ (my step children have low taste in telly, which is how I have watched that programme) are not typical.
So if you are a pedestrian or cyclist in London remember that you have as much responsibility for using the road network safely as drivers do. Or you may one day regret not taking more care.
Don't you just love the blame culture? It is pretty universal I'm afraid. Here in the Great White North, the roads are not very crowded, even in town, but we still get our share of idiots. For instance, cyclists who seem to operate to a different set of rules than the rest of us, crossing red lights being only one that gets my blood boiling. Drivers who do not slow down in icy conditions - a common problem here. This morning we had freezing rain, the highway to the airport was littered with jack-knifed lorries, cars in the ditch, on their roofs. We live in Canada for Chrissake, how many winters do you need to understand that ice and snow is slippery stuff?
ReplyDeleteI actually think that some of the safest drivers here are the truckers. They operate these enormous rigs, driving huge distances and the vast majority of them are excellent drivers.
The biggest problem here? Pedestrians. No bloody sense at all. In the UK, there is at least an awareness of traffic. Here, people saunter across crosswalks, perambulate in parking lots and generally feel that all vehicles will see them, stop and allow them to continue on their blind, unaware way.
How I do agree with your main point though. People should take more responsibility for their own and others safety and stop blaming third parties and inanimate objects for what, is often, their own faults.