When a car drives dangerously close to you as a cyclist, you barely have time to react, to process it. One second, you are riding along as normal, without a care in the world, the next thing you know, a tonne and a half of metal and its driver is passing at speed centimetres away from you, and all you can do is hope for the best. The violence of it is difficult to describe, but imagine being at peace, focusing on the road ahead, only for a big block of metal to come thundering past you at at least twice your speed. It’s terrifying every time, but you become numb to it, of course you do. It happens on almost every ride I go on, and happened on Sunday, on a normal country road.
Every time it happens, I’m reminded of my vulnerability as a cyclist. There are things that can mitigate the experience, whether that be rear-view mirrors or radars, but there’s nothing to stop a driver interrupting your flow state like this, in the moment. No matter what you’re wearing, or how brightly lit you are, a moment of inattention could cause disaster. This is true of all driving incidents, of course, but on a bike, you can feel particularly helpless sometimes.
News editor at Cycling Weekly, Adam brings his weekly opinion on the goings on at the upper echelons of our sport. This piece is part of The Leadout, a newsletter series from Cycling Weekly and Cyclingnews. To get this in your inbox, subscribe here. As ever, email adam.becket@futurenet.com – should you wish to add anything, or suggest a topic.
All this is to say, I know I’m vulnerable as a cyclist. I wear a helmet, I obey the highway code, I choose routes to avoid traffic, and yet that all might not be enough. So imagine my, err, amusement to hear that on Sunday, members of my cycling club on their usual ride were pulled over by the police to remind them of their vulnerability, and to suggest that cyclists should use rear lights to be clear to other road users.
Great, that’s a problem solved then. There will be no more cyclists knocked down by inattentive drivers in the west of England, thanks to this campaign by Avon and Somerset Police to make riders aware of what they’re going through. My friends told me that the police officer said that they were stopping everyone on two wheels as part of a campaign for safer roads, but it feels more than a little bit victim-blaming and ignoring the bigger problem – those in cars.
This is apparently part of a bigger campaign called Operation Apex, aimed at reducing the number of motorcyclists killed or seriously injured, which has somehow caught us non-powered two-wheeled riders in its net too. It’s about education, but is every driver being stopped to remind them of their responsibilities on the road? Heightened responsibility, too, given the hierarchy of vulnerability, which has pedestrians at the top, with cyclists just below, and those in the largest vehicles at the bottom.
Operation Apex will see cyclists and motorcyclists engaged “directly”, according to the police force, while action will be taken against drivers “when offences are identified”. This does not feel equal, even if they say “our focus throughout is on reducing harm, improving road safety and protecting some of the most vulnerable people using our roads”.
It is outrageous to tell cyclists that they are vulnerable and not try and educate all drivers too. I hope that work is being done, but it’s probably easier to lecture riders than stop every driver, so I somehow doubt that the message is cutting through to every person behind the wheel. The best way to do this would be to bake the rules for drivers on interacting with cyclists at every opportunity, but instead we are left with victim-blaming.
Yet again, the police have gotten their approach to road safety wrong. They still don’t seem to fully understand where the danger comes from on British roads, and therefore who needs to be educated in order to improve the situation.
Close passes or near-misses might be non-events to drivers, but to cyclists every one is violent, and might force people off the road. I know people who have stepped back from cycling, or prioritised off-road, or never even started riding, because of the fear of dangerous driving. It’s not something that’s a theory, but a reality for all of us on two wheels. In a time where there is so much anger directed towards cyclists for simply existing, there is more to be done than using a rear light.
Next time you’re close passed, just remember you’re vulnerable. That’ll solve the issue.
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