Road users must ‘show consideration’ to each other

POLICE have been forced to send out advice to cyclists and motorists after receiving complaints from both road users on each other’s road manners.

They are urging cyclists and vehicle drivers to “show care, courtesy and consideration” to each other in order to maximise safety on local roads.

Constable Trevor Kirke, the Road Safety Education Officer for F District, said that both cyclists and motorists had their concerns about the standards of road use by people in the other group.

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He said: “We hear from cyclists that drivers do not give them enough room when passing; and we hear from drivers that cyclists can obstruct their progress.

“With a little bit of common sense and goodwill, motorists and drivers can co-exist happily – and more importantly, safely.”

He said that cyclists should:

• Wear a helmet with reflective or fluorescent clothing

• Ride in single file on busy or narrow roads, and around bends

• Never travel more than two abreast on wide roads

• Ensure lights and reflectors are clean and in good order

• Obey traffic signs and traffic lights

• Leave plenty of room when passing parked cars

For their part, drivers should:

• Be patient

• Slow down when passing cyclists

• Allow plenty of space while overtaking – cyclists may need room to avoid obstructions on the road

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• Always signal when overtaking to indicate the potential danger to other drivers

• If emerging from a junction, look closely to see all traffic, including cyclists

• Lorry drivers should take a close look for cyclists who may have stopped beside or in front of them before moving off from traffic lights.

“In any encounter between a cyclist and a motor vehicle, cyclists have limited physical protection and will almost invariably come off worst, even from a minor contact.

“Care, courtesy and consideration can go a long way to ensuring that all finish their journeys as safely as they began them”.