Blame culture

The other day, on my way to a gig, I found myself driving through a small village on the way to the main A-road. This village has a 20mph limit through the centre, not that you'd be able to drive any faster than 20mph at the best of times.

So, I'm approaching a row of parked cars on the left side of the road. (For any foreign readers, we drive on the left here in the UK.) I pull out to pass these parked cars, having first checked that there's no oncoming traffic...

...only for a cyclist to shoot off the pavement and straight in front of me, with probably 3 feet to spare.

Fortunately I'd seen him out of the corner of my left eye and was already on the brake pedal. To put this into perspective, he'd been cycling down the left-hand pavement, where I'd passed him a few yards back. As I pulled out to pass the row of parked cars, he undertook me and pulled across in front of me, straight into the path of my car.

Instinctively I braked and simultaniously leaned on the horn.

My reactions were (fortunately) quick enough that no contact was made. However, the 'little lycra-clad Hitler wannabe' made it quite clear from his ranting and gestures that he believed it was my fault, despite him being in the wrong.

I retrieved the dashcam footage (front and rear) and showed it to several people - all of whom agreed that the cyclist was in the wrong.

I won't embarrass anyone by putting it on here, although the thought did cross my mind. However, the whole incident got me thinking about 'blame culture' here in the UK. Which, sadly, is one of the less desirable things we appear to have imported from the States. 'Where there's blame, there's a claim' and all that.

It seems there's now a culture here in the UK of "why accept responsibility when it's easier to blame someone else for your own stupidity?"

Staying with the cyclist as an example, a few years ago there was a controversial change made to the Highway Code. Previously, the message had been "safety is everyone's responsibility". Now it's worded to place the onus on the driver of the larger vehicle.

So according to the latest Highway Code, if a cyclist does something monumentally stupid, and as a result, you hit them with your car - it's your fault. You're the car driver, you're at fault. Unless you can prove otherwise. (See my comment above about dashcams.)

And as a car driver, if you're playing chicken with a 44-ton truck and you happen to lose, it's the truck driver's fault - even though you were the one acting like a complete tool. Unless the truck driver can prove otherwise. (Again, this is why most HGVs now have cameras fitted to all sides.)

As crazy as it may seem, I've actually witnessed cyclists filtering up the near side of a 44-ton HGV that's indicating to turn left. Guess what? The driver of the HGV cannot see you. You're committing an illegal movement by 'undertaking' at a junction. And when that HGV makes the left turn, he's going to flatten you.

Most HGVs in the UK now have prominent warnings displayed on the rear near-side that state "Cyclists - do not pass on this side" and "Limited visibility". But the idiots still do it.

I for one long for the days when everyone took responsibility for their own safety, and didn't seek to blame others for their own mistakes.

Whilst this particular rant has been about road use, the principles can be applied to anything. It's just common sense!