Personally, I dont think wearing a back light would make any difference at all to the motorists being able to see us. If motorists dont notice a cyclist with a bright, clearly visible, yellow number on their backs, does anybody think they will notice a light.
Anyway I have heard that just before the motorist hit this cyclist he was texting on his phone so in this case a back light would have made no difference at all. maureen
CTT advise use of helmets and rear lights but don't insist on them. I think you have to encourage members to take reasonable care but ultimately their safety is partly down to them and if they consider they are safe enough without a helmet or light, then that is for them to decide. Personally I always wear a helmet and use a rear light in TT's, but I don't think we should insist on it.
There seems to be no suggestion either that events would have turned out differently in the current tragedy if helmets and lights were compulsory.
It's tempting to think that we should immediately adopt measures aimed at improving our own safety when such tragedies occur, but I think it is premature to do so unless and until it is evident that the changes proposed will have an overall impact on rider welfare - if helmets become compulsory anecdotal evidence suggests less people will ride, which has knock on effects such as less drivers are cyclists and understand the particular vulnerabilities of cyclists, more people lead more sedentary lives with associated health problems etc etc.
It is a tragedy what has happened and clearly cyclists should not be dying on our roads, but let's not act hastily in introducing measures which might have a wider impact than we might anticipate.
Very,Very tragic and getting it seems more common.
The trouble is accident causes and effects are so diverse,and therefore difficult to target.
We would be just as well instilling some safety in ourselves first.
As a club maybe for all our TT's we should say: "No helmet and no rear light = no ride with no exceptions." For the first couple of weeks a few spare helmets and lights could be brought along untill everyone has got the message? Maybe extend that to club runs as well. I suppose what I am saying is that we are not going to change the world so we need to adjust to suit these ever more dangerous times.
It's about time we did something about this as a sport - but what? maybe the club should make a substantial donation to Roadpeace, or maybe the CTC - to discuss at next committee meeting. It's no good sitting around and moaning or cancelling events because car drivers are killing us. Any ideas anyone?
