Truck hazard

[Dan B]

To compare the road environment (if that's what you're doing, I may have misunderstood) to Mother Nature is unreasonable. One is the result of Darwinian evolution and physical law, and the other is the product of reasoning human beings. A better comparison would be with the workplace environment, or the railway environment, or the air traffic environment. Screaming at Mother Nature for making poisonous mushrooms might be self-defeating, but screaming at Pret a Manger for putting them in sandwiches is probably quite justified

 

[marknotgeorge]

I was comparing the response to a piece of risk-mitigating advice more than anything. But let's go with the workplace where Section 7a of the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974 states:

General duties of employees at work.
It shall be the duty of every employee while at work—
(a)to take reasonable care for the health and safety of himself and of other persons who may be affected by his acts or omissions at work;

Translating that to the road, a cyclist has a duty to take reasonable care for his own safety. So why do people pour such scorn on those suggesting things cyclists could do to mitigate the risks?

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

So why do people pour such scorn on those suggesting things cyclists could do to mitigate the risks?

I should imagine it's because the danger presented by other vehicles is evidence of the other side of the bargain not being honoured. It's supposed to be a mutual affair - look after yourself and others. Manufacturers and the construction industry, taken as a whole, have neglected the others (which in this context is us).

 

[marknotgeorge]

I should imagine it's because the danger presented by other vehicles is evidence of the other side of the bargain not being honoured. It's supposed to be a mutual affair - look after yourself and others. Manufacturers and the construction industry, taken as a whole, have neglected the others (which in this context is us).

I see your point, thanks.