Why so much anger?

I am always very careful when I write my blog to state when something is my opinion and when it's fact; I also try and state where I get my facts from. I think that this is very important, everyone is entitled to their opinion but a fact is a fact and there are times when we use the facts to back up any argument that we are trying to put across.

So, why am I telling you this? The main reason is to respond in part to some of the comments left against last week’s entry.

I like getting comments left as it shows the people are actually reading my Blog and hopefully it promotes some discussion; however I am not quite so keen on the abrasive and insulting remarks that some people leave! Fortunately most of these seem to be directed at other posters and not me!

One thing that does disturb me is how adamant some people are that their opinion is correct when they have no facts to back this up. The first comment left against last week blog is a good example of this - "The illegal riding of bikes on pavements, ignoring red traffic lights, no entry signs, no right turn signs etc is not a minority of cyclists it is by far the vast MAJORITY. Riding dark coloured bikes wearing dark clothing at night is also not a minority of cyclists but the overwhelming MAJORITY."

As a cyclist and a motorist I have to disagree with this comment; the majority of cyclists I come across are law abiding and are so concerned with their own safety that they tend to resemble brightly lit Christmas trees when it gets dark!

In some previous postings I included some facts and figures and I think that now is a good time to revisit some of these: Over the last 3 years there were 22 recorded accidents that resulted in serious injuries for cyclists in Poole one of which resulted in a fatality.

What makes for very interesting reading are the main causes of these accidents - Passing too close to cyclist, Failed to look properly, Failed to judge other persons speed - these are a few examples where the car driver was at fault. These are just the reported incidents, I wonder how many there would be if all the incidents were recorded?

The number or motorists on the UK roads is in excess of 35 million and according to statistics about 5% of those are uninsured, that's over 1.5 million people driving in the UK without insurance! Despite what many people say, lots of cyclists do have insurance, whilst it's not compulsory, members of cycling clubs and the CTC (Cyclists Touring Club) have insurance and lots of home and contents policies extend to 3rd party cover as well.

Does this mean that on your daily drive to and from work you probably pass more uninsured motorists than the total number of cyclists you see?

To finish off my distinctly non-cycling entry for this week, I want to mention the issue about how many cyclists break the law by red light jumping etc. The answer is that I don't know how many cyclists break these laws, but based upon my habits and the fairly large number of cyclists that I see and speak to, I am confident to say that it's the minority.

In contrast how many of us will hold up our hands and admit to breaking the law when driving whether this is speeding, using a mobile phone or any of the other minor, but illegal, actions that take place all the time. Yesterday morning as I drove through Christchurch and out towards Ringwood I witnessed more examples of motoring offences that I saw cyclists!

We should be embracing cycling and cyclists as there are so many positives that improve all of our lives. Not only is it good for the environment and healthy, but even for the die hard motorists it has the benefit of making the queues of cars smaller - one more bike is one less car!

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