Saw a bike get creamed going through a red light today

urban-commuter

London's RLJ'ing has become such a problem that it is only a matter of time before the tabloid press launch a big anti-cycling attack, as soon as there WILL BE a big incident / fatality solely BECAUSE of RLJ'ing.

The problem is, although astute riders with high levels of roadcraft can RLJ safely, there then follows a gaggle of desensitised ipod-wearing bomb-dodgers who see the advantage gained, copy what they see, but have none of the roadcraft, so trust only to luck and assumption. In the overview, if you are a talented rider, people will look up to you; and RLJ'ing is an irresponsible example to set.

dondare

urban-commuter wrote:

London's RLJ'ing has become such a problem that it is only a matter of time before the tabloid press launch a big anti-cycling attack, as soon as there WILL BE a big incident / fatality solely BECAUSE of RLJ'ing.

Thelondonpaper, (a give-away rag read mostly by tube-travellers who wouldn't be able to find their way around at street level,) has been running an anti-cycling campaign for several weeks. I kept writing in to them without getting my letters printed, finally I sent them a spoof rant about how cyclists are the cause of traffic congestion whilst motorists are helping to reduce it by paying the congestion charge. That not only got printed: it was their Letter of the Day!
Yesterday they printed a letter from someone telling cyclists not to ride on the pavement.