Some who read yesterday's post might believe that I'm becoming (or already am) a whiny ingrate. But even in a relatively bike-conscious country like the UK, simply building bike lanes--even "hardened" ones--isn't enough to ensure the safety of cyclists.
Last Friday afternoon, Trish Elphinstone was riding on a designated bike path--one that is physically separated from the road it parallels. A driver steered a black sedan across that barrier, clipped Ms. Elphinstone's front wheel and sped away.
 |
| The lane where a driver steered into Trish Elphinstone's wheel. Google image. |
The encounter left her with swelling on her shoulders and knees, in addition to a "face matted with blood" as a result of a cut above her eyebrow. Needless to say, she spent the rest of the afternoon in an emergency room rather than the meeting she was riding to.
She admits that it's "ironic" that the meeting she missed was about road safety. You see, just last month, she was elected from the Labour Party to represent Rose Hill and Littlemore in the Oxfordshire City Council. She narrowly defeated Michael Anthony Evans, an Independent politician whose platform included staunch opposition to Low Traffic Neighbourhoods and traffic-calming schemes, which he described as a "blunt instrument that divides neighborhoods."
One might assume that he opposes bike lanes and anything else that might encourage people to cycle for transportation, or at least get out of their cars.
I'm not saying a conspiracy was involved when that car clipped Trish Elphinstone's front wheel--and kept her from a meeting on traffic safety. But...
No comments:
Post a Comment