Sir - I have just read - back to back - the articles City danger zones for cyclists and Crackdown on cycles (November 2).
What an interesting juxtaposition of articles. I both cycle and drive in Oxford, and can say with absolutely certainty based upon my own experience, that the biggest safety problem is cyclists' own behaviour.
Every single day during my cycle to and from work in the centre of Oxford, I see other cyclists displaying examples of deliberate flouting of the rules of the road, or perhaps it's ignorance of the rules.
Your second article implies that cycling without lights is the only problem. Believe me, there are many other things that happen that are potentially much more dangerous. Jumping red lights, cycling on the wrong side of the road, coming out of a side road without looking, on pavements, across pedestrian crossings, undertaking of other bikes - you name it, it happens. There seems to be a prevalent attitude that if you're on a bike, you can do whatever you like with immunity. To begin with I thought it must be students who hadn't yet learnt to drive and, therefore, didn't know the rules of the road, but I am shocked daily to see adults - often with children - undertaking highly dangerous manoeuvres. In my experience on a bike, car drivers are on the whole considerate and careful of cyclists.
So although I welcome the article highlighting the danger zones for cyclists - and I negotiate both the bridge at the bottom of Botley Road and the turn out of Hythe Bridge St into George St everyday, safely and with care - I would be more reassured by a campaign to improve road safety by raising awareness among cyclists that the rules apply to them as well as everyone else.
Alison Trinder, Oxford
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