Road Safety? Now is the TIME!

Moreyn

What with the exposure cycling has had throughout 2012 in the UK, then Wiggo and Sutton being knocked off their bikes. Perhaps it's time to educate all motorists to the dangers we cyclists face on our roads?

Here's a quote from Sky Press >

"Cycling is not an intrinsically dangerous activity but there is much more to be done to improve conditions for cyclists on the roads. British Cycling is calling on the government to put cycling at the heart of transport policy to ensure that cycle safety is built into the design of all new roads, junctions and transport projects, rather than being an afterthought."

That's the mind-sight that gets to me, "Afterthought" it's too late to think Bicycle when you've killed or injured someone; and sorry doesn't fix it either.
Time for strict penalties on dangerous driving; afterall, your driving a dangerous weapon that kill more people than any Gun or Knife.

Wacky Racer

The single biggest problem is that our roads, in general, do not cater well for cyclists. This isn't something easily fixed, as no-one is going to sanction remarking or altering existing roads. For me, all new roads built should have a cycling lane, that would at least be a start. It would also help if cyclists were considered when relaying roads, to avoid drain covers etc being a hazard.

In addition to the problems of the roads, there is a general ignorance from a number of drivers that cyclists shouldn't be in the way, this is an education process that could be assisted by a government campaign, similar to the "Think Bike" campaign that has helped to bring awareness to similar problems for motorcyclists.

Unfortunately, some cyclists don't help either. Every day I see some plonker on his/her way to work flagrantly breaking laws on the road, and giving the anti-cyclist brigade yet more ammunition.

In my opinion there should be a proper task group set up to review all of the problems, and come up with a proper plan to tackle the problems, and to encourage people to cycle more, in a safe environment.

stokey1964

you should see the cycle lanes in Stoke. Supposedly a cycle friendly city, but they have just marked some cycle lanes on normal roads. 99.99% of the time they are just full of parked cars and there is no parking resrictions.

they might as well not have bothered


Simon

Reane_Machine

It would be nice if it became part of PE in school, although this would mean each school having to have bikes.

It should definitely be on the driving test though, even if it's not a practical it should be taught in the theory that cyclists have just as much right to be on the roads.

tiredofwhiners

Nice idea but not a chance as long as we have so much RLJ activity in cities, as cyclists are their own worst enemy.

The reasons don't matter, or the issues but until cyclists are 'clean' then there's going to be no chance of getting the small minority of bad drivers to change - assuming that they will change.

The vast majority of drivers are just fine in my experience, and the vast majority of cyclists are just fine and its just the lunatics on each 'side' that are the problem.

Reane_Machine

tiredofwhiners wrote:

The vast majority of drivers are just fine in my experience, and the vast majority of cyclists are just fine and its just the lunatics on each 'side' that are the problem.

I rarely have problems with motorists either. However I don't think it can hurt to have more awareness of the fact that cyclists may be using the road, to at least try and erase the attitude in the minority that 'cyclists have no right to be on the road and thus in my way'.

Good point about the RLJers though, it's frustrating that.

oldhairylegs

Nothing in regard to safety of cyclists on the road will improve in this country until this happens:
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/public/cy ... 451896.ece

Sadly, the motoring lobby is just too powerful for it to happen

sev112

Might not be a bad idea to get the insurers on board
Persuade them to give you a discount for attending a cyle-friendly driving course.

or else legislate that THeory and Practical driving tests from 2013 (ish) onwards have to speecifically be tested on cycle-friendly driving

Or legisalate that in the event of a vehicle-cycle incident, if the vehicle driver has not attended a cycle-friendly driving course, they are automatically at fault and / or automatically banned for driving for 1 year. Combine this with the insurance idea, and you could get the whole of the driving fraternity (including most of us) attending some form of training focussed on keeping drivers safe.

Put a guilt trip on large companies that employ lots of drivers, or big companies that give big contracts to contractors/white van men etc. You can only get on one of those contracts if all of your staff have attended cycle-safety driving training.

If the training was anything like the Speed Awareness training i did a couple of years ago, i think you could make a noticeable difference to a big number (if not all) drivers

js14

I caught about 15 minutes of a Radio 5 phone-in on cycle safety this morning. There was one amazing car lout who complained about a cyclist being on a dual carriageway, "my road" as the driver put it, instead of the cycle paths either side. The cyclist apparently explained that the cycle paths were too poorly surfaced and he didn't want to damage "his expensive wheels" but the car looney was having none of it.

Another motorist was complaining about cyclists riding in the dark without lights. Of course it is good idea to make yourself and your bike as visible as possible at night. But I wonder who these drivers are who say they can't see unlit cycles but can still drive safely without hitting unlit pedestrians crossing the road, parked cars with no lights, unlit street furniture, kerbs, etc. Ladies and gentlemen, if your eyesight isn't good enough to see a cyclist at night, lit or unlit, it is time to hand your licence back.

One of the invited guests had an idea that struck me as being eminently sensible: do away with the mollycoddling of today's drivers and force them to think and look at road junctions. Traffic lights at junction lull drivers into a false sense of security: many drivers believe falsely (read the Highway Code) that a green light gives them permission to step on the gas and accelerate away. Replacing traffic lights with mini-roundabouts, or junctions with no priority would increase the awareness of all other road users.

My own idea is to force all candidates for a driving licence to complete a one hour bike ride including urban and rural roads. At the same time, I would oblige all motorists who commit two motoring offences (including speeding) in a two or three year period to do the same, with a road safety course thrown in for good.

diy

It's all about attitude to safety. It's not drivers or cyclists or motorcyclists that are the problem it's people. Start by accepting that we ALL make mistakes. Build that in to your attitude to others and everyone will allow for the unexpected. I'm not sure if cyclist realise but on road cycle lanes cause major problems for motorcyclists if they are installed on narrow congested roads. They make it harder to see cars joining from side roads and make it harder to overtake queuing cars.

sev112

Difference between the unlit rider and the unlit kerb, is that not many unlit kerbs swing out in front of you when they are trying to avoid manholes and potholes

I'm not certain it's just drivers against cyclists - we drove from Reading to Portsmouth and back today - by the time we got home my wife and i were just waiting for the next in a long list of idiot drivers changing lanes without indicating , cuttnig drivers up, pulling into (seriously) the next lane where there was already a car !, swerving in and out of lanes. Wasnt a cyclist in sight.

Yesterday i went out for 20 or 30ks, i had 11 "non-normal" interactions with vehicles . 6 were positive and really good patient driving, and 5 were bad / too close. of the 6 positive, 4 were white vans ! I had (my first in 2 months riding) 2 instances of being attempted to be driven off the road. Both were sports cars. The first was kind enough to slam his horn on when he/she was doing it when he drove me in to a (thankfully shallow) ditch. I was so shocked all i rememebr was "black sports car" and that won't be worth going to the police about i guess.

But then i had very similar today from a white audi sports car and we were in a peugeot !

So i'm not sure whether it's because we are cyclists , or they are Tw**s