“Cyclists should make themselves visible to other road users”

Some brand new road safety advice for cyclists from Waltham Forest Council:

Cyclists should make themselves visible to other road users, wear a protective helmet and use cycle facilities such as cycle lanes, and advanced stop areas wherever possible.

Here (below) is an example of a grossly irresponsible cyclist who did none of those things. This woman has reckless risk-taker written all over her.






























Bicycles are magic, are they not? Not only do they possess strange qualities which allow them to disappear without trace but the simple act of mounting one is equivalent to a Harry Potter invisibility cloak. One moment you are in an office, bank or shop and everyone can see you, then you walk outside, get on your bike, and hey presto! – you start to vanish from sight.

That’s why you need to wear, at the very least, a bright yellow jerkin, otherwise you are just asking to be run down, you foolish invisible person. Ideally you should also wear yellow reflective trousers. A cycle helmet is a must, obviously, otherwise the judge will quite rightly blame you for your gross negligence in seriously injuring yourself when that speeding/drunk/texting driver hits you from behind.

This marvellous advice is brought courtesy of what the Council, in economical-with-the-truth mode describes as

the only local newspaper distributed across the whole of the borough

(which is a rum claim as there’s a weekly paper called The Waltham Forest Guardian, available from newsagents across the borough)

and

No other local paper can compete with our coverage of the borough.

Except, of course, the real local paper, which informs local residents about stuff you’ll never read in the council’s propaganda sheet, for example the lawlessness of this very dodgy council!

But enough carping. Let’s be fair to the council and display some of its marvellous local cycling infrastructure. If only cyclists would make the effort to use these cycle lanes and advanced stop lines, how very much safer life would be for this irresponsible section of the transport community.


































































































































Pics: (1) Chingford Road (2) High Road Leyton (3) High Road Leyton (4) Forest Road, Walthamstow (5) Church Road, Leyton (6) Wood Street, Walthamstow (7) Kirkdale Road, Leytonstone