I DO not know Richard Harris of Gawler, but his letter last week (‘Look out for MAMILs’, January 18) in this column saddened me with his statement: “…just wait for the outcry when one or more of them get skittled by a vehicle legitimately travelling at 90km/h”.
Richard was referring to ‘Middle-Aged Men In Lycra’ (MAMIL’s), or cyclists, using our public roads, who I hope would be observing the rules of the road.
Riding two abreast is legal, and drivers are required to give a minimum of one metre when passing a cyclist when the speed limit is under 60 km/h, or 1.5m where the speed limit is over 60km/h.
It is hard to read Richard’s letter and his stereotyping of this group of cyclists without concluding that he believes that any bike rider on a public road, injured or killed, is no more than “road kill”.
I continue to hope this type of thinking is just a minority in our society, but remain concerned about the attitude of some drivers that pedestrians, cyclists, horse cart drivers and all others legally using public roads, car parks and etcetera, remain at great risk from drivers who might share Richards’s attitude to the primacy cars over all others!
Ian Wight, Gawler
