THE dangers faced by cyclists have been under the spotlight lately, thanks to a series of accidents and near misses, writes BARRIE HUDSON.

I reckon it’s time for some sort of safety treaty among road users in general and between cyclists and drivers in particular.

With most road users being not merely cyclists, drivers or pedestrians, but falling into at least two of these categories and often all three, copies of the treaty could simply be posted to everybody, a bit like the Census.

I haven’t worked out all the details yet, but I suggest something along the lines of:

“If and when driving a motor vehicle, I, the undersigned, do hereby acknowledge that I am not squishy unless something truly disastrous happens. This is on account of my being in a strengthened metal object with crumple zones, airbags, seatbelts and whatnot.

"In contrast, cyclists and pedestrians do not have such advantages, meaning that when it comes to lacking squishiness, I beat them easily.

"Accordingly, when I see a cyclist on the road ahead of me, I shall not pass them until I can do so without being in danger of clipping them, sucking them into my slipstream or generally behaving like a big, inconsiderate galoot.

"When emerging from a side road with an obstructed view, I shall inch forward carefully lest any cyclist is about to cross my path and end up spread-eagled on my bonnet like some sort of hunting trophy.

"When stopped at a crossing, be it zebra or pelican, I shall patiently wait for pedestrians to cross from one side to the other, and only when they are safely on the pavement once more shall I move on.

"I shall not blast by behind them as soon as they are clear of my path, almost close enough to sever their Achilles tendons.

"Nor shall I rev my engine like a drag racer awaiting the start of a seven-second quarter mile run.

"I shall especially not do this if I am male and driving either a modest hatchback or a junior executive-mobile, as this will prompt passers-by to speculate unkindly about certain of my intimate physical capabilities.

"Should I come to the conclusion that a cyclist or pedestrian is a big, inconsiderate galoot, I shall not respond in kind. I shall remember the words attributed to George Bernard Shaw: ‘I learned long ago, never to wrestle with a pig. You get dirty, and besides, the pig likes it.’

"If and when I am a pedestrian, I shall use crossings where appropriate and not dart out randomly, endangering myself and other road users.

"If using a pushchair of any description I shall not attempt to halt traffic by shoving it out into the road ahead of me like some sort of moral battering ram.

"If and when I am a cyclist, I shall be one of the considerate, observant majority and not one of the inconsiderate, smug, dangerous minority (see ‘big inconsiderate galoot’, above).

"I shall remember that I have every right to be passed considerately by drivers of motor vehicles, but I shall remember also that this does not entitle me to weave about all over the place while talking on my phone, or to ride two or three abreast, chatting amiably, while a mile long queue of traffic builds behind.

"I shall not go blasting through red lights, along pavements, or weave illegally across junctions. I shall not go blasting across pedestrian crossings which have people on them.

"I shall not assume that attaching a camera to my head, pointing smugly at it and threatening to upload the footage to YouTube makes me immune from (a) injury and (b) reproof for behaving like an idiot and having a sense of entitlement the size of Buckinghamshire.

"I understand that failure to sign and abide by the above treaty means I should probably not be allowed out of the house.”