Bikes don't kill people...

 although very occasionally cyclists die while travelling – they’re not being killed by bikes.

Own the Road - Cyclists Live Longer

An interesting thought, it brings to mind the gun lobby, guns don't kill people, people kill people. Imagine for a moment nobody was ever killed while riding a bike, but every year a hundred people were killed by nutters walking in to gyms and shooting people using exercise bikes. Two things would happen; exercise bikes would become rather unpopular; nobody would blame exercise bikes for the deaths.

Though, what if our killer gave a warning? Get off the exercise bike or I'll shoot you! But our stubborn little cyclist refuses to budge. Are they now liable for their own death?

Let's move the scene, our little gym bunny plonks their bike down in the middle of a shooting range, jumps on and starts pedalling away. The gun club members know the bike is there, but that's okay, they are all trained, experienced, licenced firearms users, they can shoot past it at the targets without fear of killing anyone. Until they get a bit tired or complacent, or just plain lazy.

It's fair to say cyclists can be dumb, some of them can be real effing idiotic, but very few are so dumb as to be responsible for their own demise. The motorist is the party allowed the responsibility and the privilege of driving a potentially hazardous item around the roads and ultimately it is their actions that decide if someone lives or dies.