2008-09-24 - Rider Down/Fatality, Holborn

This is brings it into sharp relief for me, and swings me more to Bill's way of thinking.

We can all feel in control of our destinies by thinking that our behaviour can save us from this awful death. Raise a bit of awareness, design a spoke card - all the while secretly thinking: this doesn't effect us; it's really for the benefit of those inexperienced fluro nodders. (And even worse, maybe actually that those victims somehow did something wrong that got them into the situation).

Bottom line is, no matter how experienced or proficient a cyclist you are, if a negligent HGV driver overtakes you and then turns into your path, you're toast. It just makes us feel better to think that we can have some control over the situation, rather than it being dumb luck that we get to our destinations in one piece.

Dunno what my point is really, other than to share some sort of epiphany: if I'm honest, I was labouring under the belief that this couldn't happen to me but in fact it's just a lottery that this was someone else and not me. So I guess Bill's right to take this to the hauliers rather than suggest its an indirect result of the actions of the cyclist.

That bit about dumb luck sums it up for me. I reworked my entire route to work as a result of one close encounter with an HGV that scared the shit out of me some years ago. The route I take now only mixes me with lorries for about 300 yards and I have a bus lane to ride in and they're stationary and won't be turning left.
Not everyone is that lucky to have a simple ride into work.