The Invisible Cyclist

Little Bike lived in London, and though he would make himself known wherever he went, people would ignore him, walk in front of him and cross the street in his path. He tried everything to make people see him; he put lights on his front and his back, and a bell on his handlebars which he would ring at pedestrians when they stepped in front of him. But still, no one saw him.

One day, he had an idea. He would make different noises to see if people would notice him. As he set off, a young man on his mobile stepped out if front of him. Little Bike pretended to be a donkey: ‘HEE-HAW,’ he shouted. But the man didn’t flinch; he must’ve seen too many donkeys in London to be interested. Then a young lady pushed her buggy into the street without looking. Little Bike pretended to be a foghorn. ‘BWAHHHHH!’ he screamed. But the lady wasn’t shocked by a ferry in a bus lane, and carried on walking.

Little Bike was sad, but he wouldn’t give up. When a group of kids ran out into the road, all giggling and playing, he chimed his usual warning bell to say hello. And again. And Again. But they ignored Little Bike and his bell, and one girl fell right into his path. He swerved into the road to miss her. And what do you know? All of a sudden he wasn’t ignored anymore. Everyone could see him, and they were crowding round. Little Bike smiled. He could finally be seen. For now he was stuck under the wheels of a car…

…Now Little Bike lives on the street where he was knocked down. He has been cleaned and painted white, and people who heard about his accident come and decorate him with flowers. He has a very important job to do now; he has to tell people about what happened to him and how important it is that pedestrians look and listen out for bikes, as much as they do for cars. Little Bike is not invisible anymore. But the person who rode him is. The mother, or friend, or child that sat upon his saddle every day is. That person is dead.

If only this was just a story. In a society where we are all preoccupied with phones, conversations and iPods, it’s never been so important to realise how little it takes to end a life. Next time you have a near miss with a bike, think about the ones that weren’t so lucky. A handful of them are commemorated by the haunting ghost bikes around the city, but many more fade away into statistics. We can’t afford to be too preoccupied when it comes to road safety – it costs lives.

Image by jontintinjordan courtesy of Flickr