Why cyclists deserve more respect from motorists – Yorkshire Post Letters

I LOOK forward each Saturday to sitting down to read The Yorkshire Post.

I especially enjoy Tom Richmond’s opinion piece. Every so often I have to laugh about 
his final small piece which 
will be about cyclists jumping red lights or breaking the speed 
limit as they speed through 
Otley

I laugh because I can’t remember him taking the 
time to write about car drivers breaking the laws of the road, breaking speed limits, colliding with pedestrians or other 
road users, in some cases 
causing significant injury or 
even death. Not once can I 
recall a comment being made about motorists.

Of course, I shouldn’t laugh. This has serious consequences. The constant chipping away about the faults (usually perceived and not backed by evidence) of one group of road users and not others serves to demote them to the status of a second class road user.

The consequences of this 
can lead to aggressive driving around cyclists and, in 
extreme cases, lead to serious injury.

Please don’t misunderstand me. Not all cyclists (or motorists) are angels on the road, but one-sided, biased opinions about only one group of road users only promotes division.

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