I NOTE with no great surprise that Bob Downie, in his letter (August 15) concerning Clark Cross’s “wee rant” about cycling (Letters, August 14) fails to address any of the points in said “rant”. There are indeed cyclists who ignore the rules of the road, who sail through a red light in the apparent belief that it does not apply to them, who career along the pavement and expect pedestrians to get out of the way, to give just two examples of such points.
I do not know if Mr Downie is himself a cyclist, but his reaction is typical of the breed. They seem to see themselves as eternal victims, they are never at fault, and their behaviour is never less than perfect. They seem unable to acknowledge that this is patently not the case.
I suspect the hostility towards cyclists is due to this “holier than thou” attitude many seem to have. This will only change if the cycling community recognises that, taken as a whole, it is no better or worse than other road users. Or pedestrians, for that matter (jaywalking, for example).
To forestall any letter from an outraged cyclist accusing me of being a typically biased motorist, I do not own a car. I am a pedestrian and public transport user who can see both sides of this issue.
Alan Jenkins,
0/1, 111 Helensburgh Drive, Glasgow.
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