It's blooming brilliant. Most of it I agree with. I've cycled in London for 7 years on and off, and I'm not dead. But I don't go down the side of HGVs, nor do I jump red lights or ride without lights. Simple things, but not everyone follows it.
Anyway, back to the article, it makes some other great points, not just on how to avoid dying, but on London cycling in general.
"You can never have enough locks. Two, minimum. London bikes work like umbrellas in that you never actually own one, you just occupy it briefly in a time-share scenario. Love your bike but know it will eventually leave you just like everything else." - quite, poor old Rufus, my beloved tourer got pinched prompting the start of this blog.
Hayley Campbell goes on to point out "Black cab drivers want you dead. Once a year a black cab driver will scream out of a passing window a sentence along the lines of “I HOPE YOU FUCKING DIE YOU CUNT” just to remind you of their feelings. " - yep. They're angry, and on the whole can't drive and will take you out with a wing mirror if given half the chance*.
But this article is great for two reasons. It pokes fun at the constant fear that people have about cycling in London, and it shows how the media is increasing interest and column inches about cycling. There is strength in numbers and the more people we can get out on the roads, on their bikes, means the less safer it is for people on two wheels.
So in conclusion; the easiest way not to die is to get other people out on their bikes with you. Done.
*There is a nice taxi man somewhere out there. He let me take my bike home in the back of his car when my wife and I were too tired after cycling London to Brighton, to cycle from my dad's house. Sadly that taxi ride was in Brighton so the likelihood of seeing him in the Big Smoke minuscule.
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