Because it’s never the drivers fault

We’ve all had that feeling when driving early in the morning, you know the one where you arrive at work and can’t really remember the journey you’ve just taken. You can’t remember the countless roundabouts that you seamlessly navigated, the old lady who left her indicator on for 3 junctions or the poster for the new Justin Bieber album you drove past 64 times. It therefore could be said that drivers are not the most observant of creatures, so of course anything that can aid them in being safe should be applauded. Shouldn’t it?

The brainboxes at Volvo have come up with a very nifty bit of kit in order to help drivers spot cyclists in their vicinity. Apparently it works by making a succession of beeps and flashes when a careless cyclist pulls out from a junction in front of them eventually leading to the breaks being automatically slammed on to avoid collision.

Now I can hear what you’re thinking. You’re thinking “yeah that’s a good idea innit. Those bloody cyclists are always pulling out on me and nearly scratching my paint work”.

Now a lot of cyclists are wankers. Don’t get me wrong I am a cyclist and consider myself to be safe considerate, law abiding while on the road and therefore fall way outside the wanker marker but there are a lot that break the law and do stupid things. However cycling around London you can observe countless cases of cars pulling out on you at junctions, people on their phones while speeding past barely letting you hug the curb and everyone’s favourite move, driving right behind you at a snail’s pace as if it is you forcing them to do so.

I do actually however prefer the drivers who risk hitting me as they speed past as at least they are not patronising me while nearly killing me to save a few extra nanoseconds. The ones who pretend that they can’t get past me without squishing me even though there is plenty of room, they really piss me off. JUST GO AROUND ME!!

Anyway let’s bring this back on point. It is always the case in an accident or collision, as accident assumes no one is to blame, that the cyclist is asked, were you wearing lights and reflectors? It’s never the driver who is asked “were you being a dickhead and not looking out for someone that you might crush underneath your tires?”

Remember when Wiggins got knocked off outside that petrol station a few months after the Olympics? What was everyone asking? Yes you guessed it. Was he wearing lights? They didn’t ask if the driver was actually looking where she drove her two tonne vehicle!

The point to all of this is that drivers need less automatic devices and sensors to hide behind. They need to open their fucking eyes and stop thinking the road is their sole property and anyone else using it is an enemy to be berated and destroyed.

So Volvo from a lefty liberal cyclist, please stop making excuses for our drivers to stop using their brains. We wear flashing lights, high-vis jackets and reflectors, so just think for a second do you actually need an £1,850 piece of equipment or could you just use your eyes and ears instead maybe?