Why do Lycra louts refuse to use bike routes?
The Government is looking at the idea of enforcing a minimum distance when a vehicle passes a bike. I would generally agree with this: care must be taken by large vehicles negotiating junctions in cities. however, my great concern is Middle Aged Men In Lycra (MAMILs) who can’t be bothered to use cycle paths,or refuse to do so. These paths have been paid for by taxpayers. Motorists pay taxes to use roads’; cyclists don’t. Neither do they need a licence or insurance — for their own safety. Cycle paths are a very sensible idea, if only they were used by MAMILs. Ordinary cyclists — women going to work, children getting to school — will use them, but not MAMILs. Why not? There are two such paths near where I live in Lincolnshire, one between Barrow and Barton and the other South Killingholme to east halton. The latter route has a lot of hGVs and the former has dangerous dips and is narrow. Cyclists should be required to use these facilities when provided, for their own and others’ safety. I know the arguments for not using them. They aren’t kept clean/clear and the bike might get a puncture. Near the gutter of a road isn’t clean/ clear and debris can be found that will cause more damage than a puncture, possibly buckling a wheel. If there’s a problem, it should be raised with the relevant local authority. Why be so stupid as to risk their own lives and those of others? I’ve seen drivers take avoiding action to miss a bike and then nearly hit another vehicle when a cycle path has been available. The other argument used by MAMILs is that pedestrians might step into their path or that they have to take action to miss pedestrians. Motorists have to take similar avoiding action to miss MAMILs. And in a worstcase scenario, which is better: a coming together of bike and vehicle or a bike and pedestrian? I wish for neither, but one is more likely to cause injury and one is more likely to cause death. Where provided, cyclists should be legally required to use safety facilities such as cycle paths and routes, for their own safety and that of others.
D. ANDERSON, East Halton, Lincs.