Rachel Holdsworth

If We Talked About All Road Users The Way We Talk About Cyclists

After cycling deaths and serious accidents it's common to see people talking about red light jumping, pavement cycling and so on – and yet this rarely happens when pedestrians get knocked over or there are multiple car pile-ups. So we wondered: what would it be like if we talked about everyone else the way we talk about cyclists?

"I know the woman crossing the road was in my blind spot, but if she'd been wearing a high-vis jacket I'd have seen her - in my blind spot."

"I nearly got knocked over by a bus on a zebra crossing once. It was a dual carriageway, the van in the lane nearest to me had stopped but this bus went sailing through and missed me by inches*. I now hate all buses and think they shouldn't be allowed on the road."

"If the pushchair didn't have lights on then I'm not surprised it got hit. What? Yes, even at 2pm."

"I've got no sympathy for the little old man knocked down at the crossing. If he wasn't wearing a helmet he should take what's coming to him."

"I see buses jump red lights all the time. Just look on YouTube, there's loads of videos. Therefore all bus accidents are the fault of buses jumping red lights. I bet all the buses that hit people in London (one a day) jumped red lights. Bastards."

"1.2m drivers don't have insurance. I think police should wait at big junctions to check all drivers' documents."

"Did you hear about that horrific accident? Where the car ended up under a low loader and the driver was killed? Bet he was texting when it happened."

"Bloody mobility scooter on the pavement! Get on the road where you're not a danger to pedestrians!"

"Bloody mobility scooter on the road! Get on the pavement where you're not a danger to motorists!"

It's almost as if road users are individuals who sometimes do stupid things but can't be held representative of that entire transport mode. Perhaps we should just concentrate on making infrastructure safer for all vulnerable road users.

* This actually happened

Photo by Homemade from the Londonist Flickr pool