Cyclists put their lives in danger

The continued use of bicycles for activities such as the delivery of goods or services, remains by far the cheapest and fastest means of transportation over medium and small distances. It has several social and economic benefits, too. With near superhuman ability, these cyclists, seemingly relaxed, move about the roads in Deira, Dubai, going about their daily business with alarming volumes of cargo tottering precariously above their heads. It is surely a recipe for disaster, but many cyclists cannot resist piling up their cycles as high as possible while moving goods and many a time they pay a high price for it. Great care is needed to balance the heavy load. The most immediate effect of overloading is deterioration in handling the bicycle, leading to less stability, which escalates the chance of an accident and also poses a safety hazard to other road users. The authorities should seriously clamp down on this tradition of doing business on bicycles, however cost-effective it is.

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