Cyclists need to play their part on the roads

DAVID Stillaman’s letter about cyclists (ODT, 12.2.19) merits comment. While there are no doubt motorists on the open road who are indeed ‘‘Neanderthals’’, there will be many others who are simply frustrated.

One wonders if a young New Zealand cyclist, holidaying in Germany, is free to cycle on the autobahns in that country. I would think not, and with good reason.

While a typical New Zealand state highway is not, in the main, structured like an autobahn, it is in fact a proxy for one, in that it is a vital vehicular artery for the supply for goods, services and folk.

Truck and bus drivers, in particular, are inevitably running to a timetable, and having to slow down frequently to wait until it is safe to pass a cyclist will readily become a source of frustration, especially in the case of some cyclists I observe who seem reluctant to pull over to let the accumulation of traffic behind them pass.

It is indeed important to value the lives of cyclists, but that need applies equally to the cyclists themselves; courtesy and consideration needs to be a twoway street (excuse the pun).

In aviation, recreational microlight aircraft are not permitted, and sensibly so, to share the same airspace as commercial air traffic.

Is there a teensy parallel here?

Your readers can decide.

Jack Crawford

Dunedin