Now you see him, now you don't

A phrase from a British advert advocating awareness of cyclists by motorists.

Tonight I nipped out to the supermarket to get a couple of things, and I saw the most sensible cyclist I’ve ever seen in my life. Not only did his bike have lights (I hear you gasp in joyful disbelief already) but he was wearing a yellow jacket with reflective strips on it, and a full crash helmet. I couldn’t see if he had a visor on the front of the helmet or not; my husband said I should have run him over so that I could get a closer look.

This is most unusual for a cyclist in this town though, which is obviously why he stood out to me; well, and because of the jacket of course. But the usual attire for a cyclist in this town is dark clothing from head to toe, and if you’re of a fair complexion then you should cover your head with a black balaclava as well. They don’t have lights, and they swerve all over the road, nip out in front of you when you least expect it, and ride on the opposite side of the road in the wrong direction. I witnessed this just the other night when there were two cyclists riding side by side - dark clothing, no lights, swerving all over the place, blah blah blah. I’d just managed to overtake them when a van came in the opposite direction. I was watching the cyclists in my rear view mirror and one of them swerved across the road and was riding towards the oncoming van, which obviously had to break quite suddenly.

If these people want to die can’t they do it in a way that is less distressing (and dangerous) for others? My brother once had a cyclist pull out in front of him with no lights on. He swerved to try to avoid a head on collision but unfortunately still caught him with the side of his vehicle. He was understandably very shaken up as the cyclist was left in a critical condition. Although it was in no way his fault, how can you not question yourself when something like this happens? And obviously it would leave the person nervous of driving again. Thankfully both of them have recovered, but the outcome could have been so different.

Don’t they give road safety lessons after school anymore? And if they do, do children still attend? Is it still regarded as "cool"?