A Night to Remember

It's the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. Hundreds of people died in a tragedy that was caused by an obsession with transporting as many people as possible at too high a speed, with safety a secondary consideration. That led to changes to regulations to ensure that such unnecessary loss of life could not happen again, along with an international treaty for the safety of life at sea, which includes the clause "Every mariner must take account of all potential dangers to navigation, weather forecasts, tidal predictions, the competence of the crew, and all other relevant factors". More people die every year on Britain's roads than died in the Titanic, but there's no sign of safety taking precedence over speed, particularly in relation to us steerage-class passengers. Transport for London continue to steam full-speed-ahead to pack more vehicles through junctions with inadequate safety features, without regard to the potential dangers.

Continuing the nautical theme, the very naughty actions of that cheeky chap Trenton Olfield (TRENTON!!! JESUS CHRIST TRENTON!!!)  who swam into the path of the Oxford 'n' Cambridge Boat Race, has raised fears that protestors or terrorists, or as the Telegraph has it,  "lone idiots", could endanger Olympic athletes in the Marathon and the bike race. Well it may come as a surprise to some, but most road cyclists are quite familiar with "lone idiots" in motor vehicles endangering their safety, and it's a shame that the authorities don't show more concern for them when the cameras aren't rolling...