CYCLISTS' REAR LIGHTS
[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] Sin,—In your footnote of April 13th to Dr. W. H. Spoor's protest against your continued support of dangerous motoring (i.e., driving too fast for the conditions of visibility), you quote a recent statement by a London coroner who con- demned a boy victim of a running-down " accident " for not going beyond the law's requirements and carrying a rear lamp. Coroners, however, are notorious for their foolish utterances. On a previous occasion, when a cyclist ran into a pedestrian from behind and inflicted fatal injuries —a very rare occurrence, and one for which cyclists are usually heavily punished—it was a London coroner, now dead, who stated quite seriously that the accident would probably not have happened had the bicycle been fitted with a rear lamp.
Actually the proportion of accidents caused by cyclists being run down from behind in the dark is extremely small, and far more are killed either in broad daylight, or in collisions at night when the question of visibility never arises ; but, in any case, it is the firm belief of those who have the interests of cyclists most closely at heart that the introduction of compulsory rear lamps in place of reflectors would lead to a considerable increase in the death rate.—I am, Sir, &c.,
Cyclists' Touring Club, G. HERBERT STANCER, 8 Craven Dill, London, W. 2. Secretary.
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