Nobody Deserve to Die

It was with much sadness that I found out about the death of a young cyclist on Sunday morning. A friend smsed me about it and I subsequently saw the facebook postings. I do not know this young man but yet I felt a sadness at the loss of a young life so cruelly cut short by a rash act. My sadness turned to anger when I came upon the harsh words posted by motorists in FB and other forums.The fingers pointing came swift and sharp - with most of the motorists criticising the way cyclists ride.  One sick fella even said the cyclist deserved it!

What the fuck!  True, there have been many occasion when I am peeved at the cyclists forcing me off the road when I am running or hogging the road when I am driving but nobody deserve to die, not least a young man in the prime of his life. And since we do not know the full circumstances of the accident, we cannot and should not assume that the cyclist is at fault but and that is a big BUT, even if he was, there is no justification for a lorry to know him down which was what those bladdy fuck hiding behind the keyboard are insinuating.

Whatever it is, as user of the road, be it a cyclist, motorist, runner or pedestrians, each one of us got to share the road. It does not mean that whoever pays road tax has the right to use the road and those who do not, cannot use the road. By that logic, if I am paying $5000 a year in road tax, does that mean I get to use more of the road space compared to say somebody paying only $500 a year? 

That said, there have been many incidence of cyclists riding recklessly - failing to stop at traffic light, riding in the extreme right lane of the road (yes I seen it a few time at Xilin Ave), riding 3 - 5 abreast. At Upper Peirce, I have been forced off the road by big group of cyclists racing round the bends and I can go on and on about their faults. So it would be nice if the cyclists practice some road safety and show some consideration for other road users.

Motorists should also be patient with cyclists. It is okay to be behind a group of cyclists for a short while. That few seconds is not going to cost any great loss of time.

I know nobody is going to heed this but if you are reading this, whether you are a cyclist, motorist, rider or runner or pedestrians, be patient, give way to each other and show consideration to other users. Nobody need to die because of a moment of carelessness or impatience.