This morning I woke up to the sound of my hero Bradley Wiggins falling off his pedestal. I have spent all July watching the Tour and trying to grow side-burns. I spent all yesterday afternoon shouting WIGGO and lobbying the Queen to get him knighted. Then this morning I hear this:
"Olympic gold medallist Bradley Wiggins has called for cycling helmets to be made compulsory after a man was knocked down and killed by an official London 2012 bus ... the driver was arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving." The Independent
Promoting helmet laws after a cyclist is killed by a bus is rather like banning short skirts after a woman is raped: blames the victim and entirely misses the point.
I ride my bike every day to work and back. I wear a helmet. I don't jump lights. I (hardly ever) never ride on the pavement. Yet all of this sensible and law-abiding behaviour appears to have no impact on the behaviour of my fellow road users. Almost daily someone in a car/bus/truck runs me into the gutter, or cuts me off by turning left in front of me, or drives past me at a speed that knocks the breath out of me. Will forcing the few people who don't wear helmets to do so make any difference to these idiot-drivers? I don't think so.
Really Bradley, you should stick to what you know: being amazing at racing on a bike. Leave the comments on road safety to those who are using their bikes for commuting and transportation. You sports guys accept that there is some level of risk in what you do, cycling can be a dangerous sport. But I am not participating in a sport, I am just trying to get to work and home again. My behaviour is not the problem here, the problem is lack of dedicated bike lanes, lack of understanding from car/bus/truck drivers and lack of fellow cyclists.
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