Perhaps the best use of our collective experience, especially within this forum that tends to be a collective of more experienced cyclists in some cases, is to talk about ways to make ourselves safer on the road. Thank you Tom.
There will be endless speculation on this, until the trial and the verdict. History has shown, that the rulings in these cases, are more times than not disappointing. Maybe this time it will be different. We can only hope.
As to your main point in this post - yes, this is collectively what we must ALL(everyone who rides a bike) do:
- Remain vigilant on the roads.
- Ride to the rules of the roads at all times. Yes, that means stopping at stop signs and lights!!
- Be is visible as we can be.
- Help, contribute time and energy to local cycling advocacy groups in your area. In Ontario/Canada we have -
http://www.sharetheroad.ca/ - Use good commonsense when riding at all times. When in doubt, yield the right of way to motor vehicles and/or be more cautious.
- When riding in groups, adhere to proper group riding etiquette and protocol at all times
- Look out for one another.
- Report, through whatever local mechanism you have, drivers who are abusive, or who have clearly broken the law, and/or infringed on your safety in ANY way. In Canada we have this -
http://www.roadwatch.ca/...etectCookieSupport=1 That last point may seem like a waist of time, but there are millions of us (cyclists) on the roads. If enough complaints/reports start to pile-up in Police files collectively, maybe they will start to take this more seriously. Keep making the reports and filing the complaints.
A big driver of the behavior of motorists on the roads, is drivers THINK they are completely anonymous -
but they are not. Their vehicle and license plate number can link to them quickly and easily. Keep making the reports and filing the complaints.
Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog