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  I used to cycle to work from Shepherdswell every day, doing thousands of miles every year for many years and long before it was fashionable so to do. To those who believe that the A2 is dangerous I would say that this is not necessarily the case. I used this road for 5 years as part of the journey. Motorists tend to give cyclists plenty of room if there is sufficient space and if they can see them.
  
  This is not the case on roads in the town or on country roads where space is restricted and most drivers will do everything they can to get past even if that means forcing a cyclist off the road. Cyclists are not blameless. They do not help themselves or their position by riding selfishly side by side. What's wrong with a good old fashioned chain gang where the cyclist's enemy, wind resistance, is shared between several riders.
  
  I hasten to add that I always ride on my own. Light jumping and cycling through pedestrian precincts are additional problems that I see frequently.
  
  Rats when thrown together in a confined space will attack each other, and so it is with road users. Traffic islands and useless cycle paths do not help, they merely reduce the space available. We have to admit that this is a small overpopulated country and there simply is not enough space for dedicated sensible cycle paths. Remove the carriageway clutter to free up more space, get everyone wearing high visibility clothing and use flashing LED lights front and rear. These attract the attention of even the most dozy driver. People become less aggressive when their progress is unimpeded and they have the space to get around obstacles/slow traffic. On Folkestone road in Dover where a number of central refuges were installed I suddenly found myself being forced into the kerb on a regular basis. I even saw people overtaking on the wrong side of the island in their desperation to race to the next traffic jam.
  
  We tend to overlook the even greater hazard presented to and by pedestrians. If I leave work and use the useless cycle path (which I don't) I have a pavement right next to me. Pedestrians routinely use the cycle path as a pavement or step off the pavement into the path of the cyclist who has no time to brake and no space to swerve out of the way. Cycle paths should never be located next to pavements and certainly not without some sort of barrier between the two.
  
  A criticism often thrown at the hapless cyclist is that he or she pays no road tax. Well as a keen cyclist I can say that I have more than one vehicle and for which I pay a very great deal of road tax and this is probably the case for many other cyclists so beware of generalisations.

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