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Showing posts from July, 2009

VELO-VIDEO NASTIES

Point of view is everything. Perched on the saddle, rushing past lines of jammed traffic in London’s rush-hour, I feel supremely confident. I have twenty years of cycle commuting in the city to draw on. But take a step back, perched on a dining room stool, surfing through bike videos on the Internet and I seriously start to get the “fear”. The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents ( ROSPA ) says that nearly three quarters of all cycling accidents “happen at, or near, a road junction ...” and cites roundabouts as being, “...particularly dangerous junctions for cyclists.” I have been knocked over twice at junctions; once by a car pulling out in front of me and more recently, by a flatbed truck turning left sharply and running over my bike with its rear wheels. If you won’t take my word for the anarchy which reigns out on the roads, just turn to the Internet. Lots of bicycle commuters these days ride with small video cameras fixed to their helmets, handlebars or bike frames. Many