EACH year, the International Day of Peace is observed around the world on September 21.

Devoted to strengthening the ideals of peace, both within and among all nations, this year, (30th anniversary), the theme is the “Right of Peoples to Peace”.

The Declaration on the Right of Peoples to Peace recognises that the promotion of peace is vital for the full enjoyment of all human rights.

Following a serious injury in a road traffic accident in 1991, I became a member of RoadPeace — the national charity for road crash victims.

At the support meetings I attended, I heard many sad stories from bereaved parents and partners.

The experience of being a road crash victim made me a more considerate and safer road user, but not everyone appreciates it: as a careful driver I get tailgated and intimidated; as a careful cyclist I can’t do right for doing wrong — “cyclists jump red-lights and don’t pay road tax”. Intimidation in my car I can handle; on my bike it can be terrifying.

For my day of peace, along with more than 400 other cyclists, I took part in the Bolton Bash, where cyclists tackled a hilly 60-mile or 30-mile route.

So as not to cause too much delay/disruption for drivers, groups of 10-15 set off at five to 10 minute intervals. Due to varied ability — some very slow; some very fast — riders would be all-over-the-road as they overtook slower riders. I tried to stay in single file, only overtaking when safe to do so, but there can be no accounting for drivers who travel at high speed and appear from nowhere.

Not all cyclists are as hazard aware — some are novices with no road sense whatsoever.

Sadly, despite having past a driving test, there are many drivers who are much the same.

When drivers pass cyclists too fast and too close and blast their horn because they don’t pay road tax, it’s wholly uncivilised. Do they want to harm, or just intimidate?

Intimidation, whether in the playground; the workplace or on the internet, amounts to bullying does it not?

Shouldn’t the penalty for bullying be the same across the board? Shame on you!

Allan Ramsay Radcliffe Moor Road Radcliffe