I hear there is a campaign being started saying that driving instructors should be given cycling lessons so that they can “understand” how vulnerable cyclists are in order to be able to pass it on to their learners.
As regular readers will know, two of my pet hates are dumbing down and deferring responsibility away from where it should be targeted. This ridiculous suggestion ticks both boxes.
Any driving instructor who needs cycling lessons in order to realise that cyclists and cars don’t mix shouldn’t be an ADI in the first place. And neither should anyone who thinks this is a good idea. It’s idiotic.
Although I don’t have an issue with cyclists as a whole, there are two groups who are their own worst enemies. Notably, the Spandex crowd and teenagers. Even young children with stabilisers fitted ride their bikes better than these two groups do, which strongly suggests their actions are deliberate or, at best, in the couldn’t-care-less category. That tells you where the problem is.
Councils have spent millions building cycle routes, which the Spandex lot in particular totally refuse to use, putting themselves needlessly close to traffic in situations where it is obvious that there is danger. Teenagers on those stupid BMX bikes that are too small for them will happily ride the wrong way down roads, jump off kerbs without looking, and do anything else their ineffective and totally irresponsible parents and teachers haven’t tried to stop them from doing.
I was on a lesson today with a pupil who was passing parked cars too closely – not even deviating a little when he approached them. Yet when he went past any cyclist he was giving them at least two car widths room, sometimes crossing into the path of oncoming traffic! He was more concerned about the cyclists than the other vehicles. That’s because he already knows how vulnerable cyclists are, as do I, and as does 99% of the motoring public.
This kind of suggestion is what you get when you put knowledge and expertise lower down the priority list than some wishy-washy modern “coaching” initiative. It is such nonsense which has allowed non-experts with little knowledge to gain unfortunately prominent positions in many areas they shouldn’t be allowed within a mile of (yes, it isn’t just the driver training industry that has suffered).
Efforts should be made to encourage cyclists to stay away from traffic, not to get closer to it and attempt to pass needless responsibility on to motorists.
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