Hoy laments danger faced by cyclists

Published on Thursday 17 January 2008 21:20

OLYMPIC champion cyclist Chris Hoy has admitted that he takes a risk with his life every time he trains on Britain's open roads.

Hoy was speaking after the tragic death of Jason MacIntyre, the 34-year old British time trial champion from Fort William, underlined the dangers cyclists face. As well as pointing out that training on the roads is inherently dangerous, Hoy also highlighted the fact that cycling on British roads is far more dangerous than it should be.

For road cyclists, there is little choice but to train on roads which can be clogged by traffic, and in remote conditions motorists can be tempted to speed.

As Hoy and some of the country's leading cyclists reflected yesterday on MacIntyre's death, they agreed that in this country they can often be victims of what is perhaps best described as a culture of ignorance at best, antipathy at worst. "It's not an exaggeration to say that every time I go out on the road I take my life in my hands," said Chris Hoy, the Olympic champion on the track. "Every ride I do there is at least one incident with a motorist, whether it is a car door opening, or a car at a junction failing to spot me. You can't relax for a second, you have to be on your guard, because in an instant you could suffer the kind of tragic accident that Jason has suffered.

"In other countries there is generally more respect for cyclists and for what they're trying to do," he continued. "I think here, a lot of the time, people just aren't looking out for cyclists.

"Because most of my training is on the track, the rides that I do on the road are fairly low intensity, recovery rides. So I'm not typically putting myself at the same risk as someone training flat out on the road. But it's still a risk – you don't have much defence as a cyclist against a car.

"In fact, I had just heard about Jason's death and I was due to go out after my track session to do a road ride. But I realised I'd left my helmet at home. I was going to go out in a woolly hat, but I decided I wouldn't bother."

Hoy and others point out that in continental Europe there is far greater provision for cyclists in terms of cycle lanes and priority at junctions. Belgium and Holland lead the way, with cycle lanes that throng with two-wheeled 'traffic,' including thousands of racing cyclists. Similarly in France, Italy and Spain, there are cycle lanes, and, on the roads, a respect for the cyclist that is lacking in Britain.

An example of this was in a recent newspaper column by the former Tory MP Matthew Parris. He was forced to apologise for his rant against "lycra-clad cyclists," in which he said: "A festive custom we could do worse than foster would be stringing piano wire across country lanes to decapitate cyclists." Perhaps Parris didn't realise it, but this is something that some cyclists have encountered on British roads – using fishing line rather than piano wire – with predictably horrific consequences. When such attitudes are taken behind the wheel of a car, the consequences can be even more serious. "You feel very vulnerable on a bike," said James McCallum, a bronze medallist at the 2006 Commonwealth Games and now an employee of Scottish Cycling.

"In Italy you can ride in a group of 100 and feel safe. You get respect. Here, you get abuse. Some cyclists are at fault – they ride dangerously, jump traffic lights, and annoy motorists. But they're in a minority. And there's a limit to how much damage they can do. A driver in two tonnes of metal is effectively in charge of a weapon."