Open letter to cyclists

Dear Cyclist,

I want to commend you on not only keeping fit, but also on reducing your carbon footprint and getting out in the open doing so. You are putting me to shame with your cycling everywhere.

As a mark of respect, I promise to uphold the following principals while driving:

• I will always give you plenty of room, having cycled along some busy roads myself, I know just how daunting, dangerous and scary it can be when someone in their car goes screaming past you doing "the speed limit" (yeah right) and doesn't give you enough room;
• I will always defer the right of way to you where it it your right of way, I will not pull out of a junction in front of you on the basis that you are a cyclist and I am in a car, therefore I'll be safe and faster than you;
• I will wait a sensible distance behind you until there is an appropriate time to overtake you, I will not be right behind you and I will not squeeze past you, I also agree not to sit there revving my engine behind you in a frustrated and intimidating manner

These are only a few simple things that I promise to do around you.

However, I will make this deal providing you, as a mark of understanding, will also make the following concessions:

• Traffic lights are there for all road users to obey, if it's red, you will stop at the lights and wait until they turn green again, or you can get off your bike and use the crossing like a pedestrian
• Wear a helmet, I am encased in a metal shell, I know that it might not save me if I'm unfortunate enough to have a major accident, however if I am on a bicycle, there is a much higher risk of injury, I have broken my wrist twice, both times because I fell off my bike, fortunately I had my helmet on though, so it was only my wrist
• Wearing HiVis is a great move in the daytime as well as in the evening/night
• Use lights, in my car, I will be pulled over by the Police and at the very least be told off for not having working lights, however, then number of cyclists I see who rely on the street lights and the lights of a car being enough to be seen astounds me. Little flashing lights are ok, but they are not a replacement for a good steady beam. A head torch is not a good substitute, because when you move your head, you move the light too
• Lead by example, if you are out cycling with your children and you make them wear a helmet, you have to be wearing yours as well. Imagine there is an accident, little Jimmy has his helmet on and escapes with a broken wrist, but you didn't have yours on, so now little Jimmy has on daddy to go out on his bike again
• If you are in a group, please cycle in single file, riding two abreast serves to infuriate the driver behind you and they might not be me, they might not be patient, they might squeeze past you at the wrong moment, causing an accident.
• Use cycle paths if they are there, they have been specially made for you as a cyclist, use them, they are safer than the roads that's for sure

I live in Oxford, there are a lot of clever people in Oxford, there are a lot of cyclists in Oxford, therefore it's fair to assume that there are a lot of clever people on bikes. But driving around, you wouldn't believe that half of the time.

As a driver, I will keep my word, here's to hoping that you, as a cyclist, will enter into this deal with me.