Web Analytics

Opinion : Are cyclists a danger on the roads of Wycombe?

| May 2, 2017

Driving around the roads of Wycombe can be a very hazardous experience.

Over the years my good self has seen other motorists engage in some very dubious and dangerous practices indeed it makes one wonder how some of the road users ever got their licence.

From quad bikes racing along Green Street on their way to Castlefield to taxis that pull out without warning, it amazes me that there aren’t more accidents on Wycombe’s roads.

Yours truly arrived home this evening to read an article on a nation news site entitled ‘Cyclists should be given priority over drivers on the roads, MPs say‘.

Really? From what I have seen the cyclists are some of the most dangerous road users in existence. Weaving in and out of traffic, riding bicycles without lights or bells and overtaking up the inside of stationary traffic at traffic lights are just some of the dangerous manoeuvres that cyclists perform.

Let’s not forget the young cyclists who cause a nuisance doing ‘wheelies’ in the pedestrianised area of the town centre as well as racing around on the pavements of the town coming within inches of knocking down innocent pedestrians.

As far as yours humble servant is concerned everyone should be equal on the road and the rules of the road should apply to all without a special group being given priority.

What I would like to see is for cyclists to have to take a test before they are allowed on the highway and for them to have insurance too so any damage they cause is covered in the case of an accident.

How about introducing a MOT test for bicycles too and forcing bicycles to display registration plates if they are ridden on the road?

Maybe it’s time a speed limit was imposed on cyclists too, after all quite strangely there is no speed limit for a cyclist riding on the highway. Indeed once upon a time, many years ago, the young men of Wycombe would regularly achieve some quite hair-raising speeds on a bicycle when coming down some of the steep hills in the town.

My good self has, in my younger day, achieved over 60mph on a bicycle with no need for insurance, no need for a MOT check on the bicycle and no need to display any form of identifying registration plates either.

Quite simply, in my opinion, many of the cyclists are a danger to everyone else on the road including themselves. The motorist is protected in their vehicle in the case of an accident, however the cyclist is likely to be badly injured in a collision.

If the law is to be changed to make cycling safer then it’s the cyclist that needs to be the one that changes and not the other road users.

What do you think?

My blogs are published every Tuesday and Friday evening around 8.00pm here on the WycombeToday.com website.

You can also follow me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ivor.wycombe or on Twitter at https://twitter.com/Ivor_Wycombe.

Comments are closed.