Cyclists - more sinned against than sinning?

There is not a day that goes by without me witnessing at least one cyclist aggressively breaking the law and endangering others (and themselves) by cycling on the pavement, cycling the wrong way up one way streets, ignoring red lights and being a nuisance by riding in areas where cyclists are specifically banned - parks, canal walkways, pedestrian crossings. The other day I even witnessed a grown man (couldn't tell, but probably in his thirties) cycling on Oxford Street with his back turned on the direction of travel, who simply turning to look every so often - in a busy shopping street he was a show-off and an accident waiting to happen.

Far more people choose to cycle around London these days with, I'm told, the vast majority being law-abiding and respectful of other road users and pedestrians alike. In fact they have to spend most of their time protecting themselves from the foolishness of others, including absent-minded pedestrians and careless lorry drivers. They are, after all, treading a righteous path that consumes no fossil fuels, does not pollute our planet and takes up little space - true paragons of virtue.

I have nothing against cyclists or cycling per se and am, in fact, a part-time cyclist myself, though I have had limited recent experience of cycling in London. Furthermore I am both a massively experienced car driver, having covered more than 500,000 road miles in my life, a keen motorcyclist and an energetic pedestrian; I do truly try to see all sides of the argument. There is no moral high ground for people breaking the rules of the road, formal or otherwise, and the law, mostly at the same time.

Some cyclists bring a naive attitude to their riding, expecting the world to behave in a perfect manner and forgetting that they have the most to lose if it does not; life and limb are both at serious risk, irrespective of whose fault it may be. Others assume, because of their 'righteousness', or the effort involved in pedalling, that they have a special dispensation to ignore the rules of the road at will. Both categories are a danger to themselves and to others, and should change if they want to survive. They should also begin to learn that just because they want to cycle through an area clearly marked 'no cycling' or 'cyclists dismount here' or other similar prohibitions they have a right to do so, often aggressively, and swear at or threaten anyone who tells them they are doing something wrong... well!

The fact that drivers of motor vehicles are often badly behaved (I'll be writing about them very soon, don't you worry!), stupid or careless does not give cyclists, or anybody else for that matter, the right to be so as well. We need to work to change the 'bad' apples, not make more 'bad' ones in conflict with and to balance out the originals; this is a road to disaster where everyone loses, but more so than anyone pedestrians.