What does that sign mean to you?
If, like me, you are a fine upstanding bipedalist it’s obvious: it’s a picture of a man (yes, we could quibble about the everyday sexism of using a generic figure of a chap to stand for humanity in general, but let’s save that for a different post) and green means “Go”. Seems to me that this sign would indicate that it’s safe for us to walk across the road.
It’s not the same for cyclists, however. To our two pedalled chums the sign is merely a suggestion, no more than a hint, barely worth blinking at. To many cyclists it is an invitation to play. The sign says, heads down, close eyes and spin those wheels: it’s time for pedestrian skittles!
I’m not a member of the two-wheeled fraternity so I’m not party to the rules of this peculiar sport, though by a process of reverse engineering I think I may have managed to discern the rules. Five points for scaring the elderly and infirm, ten for making a child in a buggy soil its pampers, and twenty for causing a disabled person to wish they’d never ventured out of the house and into the public street.
Yes, I’m being facetious. But only a bit.
I’m all for people getting out of cars and choosing the healthy, environmentally considerate and morally superior mode of transport. I wish cyclists no harm. Some of my best friends have been known to straddle a Chopper. But the thing is my saddle-sore brothers and sisters, that you svelte lycra-clad solipsists of the streets are a complete bloody menace to the likes of me.
You see I don’t see very well. In fact anything beyond a 45% angle on my right side disappears into a black hole of blankness. And the rest of my vision is a bit fuzzy (imagine you were looking at the world through a crumpled sheet of greaseproof paper and you’ll get the idea). I can see the green man all right – he’s stable, he’s illuminated, and he’s at the right height straight in front of me. And I can hear cars (and smell too many trucks, eugh!) But you cyclists, you come at me silently from unexpected angles, at unforeseeable speeds, with unpredictable movements … whoosh, then you’re gone.
To be fair, mostly you do manage to miss me – apart from that chap on the Headrow the other day who darted out from the far side of a stationary bus with the late afternoon sun directly behind his back who somehow believed that I ought to have anticipated his arrival and considered himself the injured party. Let me take the opportunity here to apologise for having wasted so much of the rubber on your brake pads sir, and it really must have been traumatic for you to have to scrape the torn, bloody flesh of my right shin off your front fork. Yes, I really did deserve to be called “a blind bastard” and next time I certainly shall be careful to “look where the fuck I’m going” when I cross a road at a reasonable pace while the green man is flashing. How remiss of me. And how grateful I am of your incredibly fast reaction times and fabulous agility, young man. How fortunate you are to be in possession of all your faculties. I feel all the safer as a partially sighted pedestrian that our roads are graced by the likes of you and your able-bodied ilk. If people like me were on our bikes the roads would be a really dangerous place!
Seriously though cyclists, you make a big beef about drivers not noticing you; isn’t it about time you stopped complaining about the mote in the motorists’ eyes and removed the spoke from your own when it comes to us pedestrians?
Else I’m gonna carry on getting cross when the green man is flashing.
I am neither svelte, or lycra-clad – but I do like to go about on two wheels! I can only apologise for the behaviour of other cyclists. As with drivers, there’s good ones and bad ones who give the rest a poor name.
I don’t jump red lights, I don’t try and run people over and I ride with a helmet on, wearing high-vis and I respect the rules of the road. I’m aware that this makes me somewhat of a minority.
Of course I’ve had plenty of nearly-accidents with pedestrians who are trying to cross the road when the man on the lights is red, or who just stride from between two parked cars into the middle of a busy street and expect me to know they are there. The abuse I’ve had from some of them has been lovely!
It boils down to good manners and respect ultimately – it’s a shame that a bit of common decency seems too much to expect from some people, whether they’re on two legs, two wheels or four.
I know. Pedestrians are just as bad. And the ones that run across the road when the lights are red are always the people with nowhere to go and nothing to do (oops, Daily Mail moment there, ha!)
Seriously, it’s a problem everyone has. Drivers dont see cyclists, cyclists dont see pedestrians, pedestrians dont see cyclists. I’ve had pedestrians step into the road between cars when I’m a foot away from them. I’ve almost been knocked over by bicycles before.
Everyone makes a perceptive error occasionally, I know I have. Luckily I’ve never been hurt or hurt anyone.
All we can do is all try to obey the rules of the road, and do our best at being aware of all types of traffic, and deal with errors in a calm manner without resorting to swearing at people when we dont know all the facts involved.
The cyclist in your example shouldnt be crossing the road when the lights are red.
I know, I’m just being provocative. All this cycling stuff happening right now makes me want to be contrary.