Women's Safety in Traffic

Q: When riding to work I often see women cycling with their headphones in, filtering down the side of lorries and generally being dangerous. It's common knowledge that proportionally female cyclists are killed more often than male cyclists. So... How do I tell them to stop without sounding like a patronising prick?

Bloody good question. What if you just hit them with the truth and sod the consequences? It's a (sad) fact that statistically women are more at risk of injury or death on a bicycle than men.

I remember ages ago having a word with a young lady on a scooter (I was on my motorbike at the time) because she wasn't wearing any gloves but had perfectly manicured hands. We'd stopped at some lights and I asked her what the first thing you do is if you fall over? Put your hands out to save yourself. Then said it's no different if you come off a motorbike or scooter and she had such pretty hands it would be a pity if they got mashed up. She seemed to take it in. I may have come across as some sort of patronising hand-fetishist but what the hell it was sound advice.