Following today's tragic events on the Tube, I was surprised to read that around 25 people die on the London Underground each year, exluding those who die of natural causes.
This is considerably more people than cycling kills each year on London's streets.
So - should we host die-ins on the Tube? Presumably not. Presumably the best that can be done is to help keep people out of harms way by providing education about the dangers of Tube trains and Tube lines.
The same goes for cycling - safety education being paramount - with one difference.
To keep people out of harms way on a bike we need to tell them not just how to avoid dangers on the road, such as 'left hooks' from vehicles - especially trucks - turning left; we need to do more. We can help cyclists avoid the busiest roads and junctions altogether. We can provide a useful Tube-style map and system of signage to indicate the thousands of kilometres of quieter cycle routes that already exist in the capital: a London Cycle Map with corresponding signs on the streets.
Generally speaking, the cycle campaigners who stage die-ins are the same campaigners who insist on crowbarring cycle routes onto main roads. Both stratagies are unhelpful. Cycling isn't uniquely dangerous. And bikes and main roads don't have to go together.
