What's Happenned To Cycling In This Country?

[ToraToraTora]

http://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/10575685.UPDATED__Man_released_on_bail_as_girl__9__critically_injured_in_hit_and_run_is_named_as_Leila_Crofts/?ref=mr
Has someone got to die before we start enforcing the law? Riding over crossings, through red lights, on the pavement by default, it seems, is it time to get tough?

[AB Editor]

"leaving aside this paricular incident, the law breaking is just endemic, many's the time I've felt like giving them a Yoko Geri Kekomi as the silly ar5ses pass me on the pavement."

Yes, a lot of us do - although maybe not so specifically!

Tell them to get on the road - community service that.

[sfby]

TTT - no, he's been arrested, and is "helping police" - not charged. (Yet).

[Gromit]

Themorrigan,

Suggest you read the Highway Code if you do not know how to overtake cyclists.


163
Overtake only when it is safe and legal to do so. You should

give motorcyclists, cyclists and horse riders at least as much room as you would when overtaking a car (see Rules 211 to 213 and 214 to 215).

[LazyGun]

Not really directly responding to the subject, which is obviously pretty tragic - but do kids still do the cycling proficiency test at school?

And what is a Yoko Geri Kekomi?

[ToraToraTora]

I do tell them ED.

[ToraToraTora]

http://www.martialartsdo.org/styles/karatedo/techniques/yokogerikekomi/yokogerikekomi.php

[ToraToraTora]

Gromit, can you show us the bit of the highway code that sayscyclists can ride on the pavement?

[themorrigan]

ab editor I would love for you to come visit us and see for yourself our three abreast cyclists. We have a steep hill down into our village wide and straight and a couple of weeks ago i came over the hill in my car to witness four cyclist having a race down the hill flat out four abreast. However, I have no problem with sensible cyclists on the road, I am a horse rider and put up with enough abuse from motorists to have quite a bit of empathy for cyclists who stick to the rules. Like everything there are idiots who just don't care but the sensible ones get tarred with the same brush.

[LazyGun]

@ 3T Thanks for the clarification :)

[andy-hughes]

How pertinent - i have just returned from four days in Cambridge, at the Folk Festival.

That meant travelling my car from my hotel to the site - about four miles each way.

During that journey, I lost count of the number of idiot cyclists there were on the roads, made doubly stupid in the dark by eschewing luxuries like making themselves visible with his-vis clothing and a couple of lights.

Given that Cambridge is a university town, and a rich one at that, a high proportion of the young riders are students who have, by default, reached a certain level of academic education, while managing to pick up absolutley nothing about basic road sense and personal safety.

And this is holiday time - God alone knows what those roads are like in term time when all the students are in residence.

[Gromit]

T3

A share footway un segregated.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_piG2fv-C4Qg/THGIOZr9KSI/AAAAAAAAC8M/W4YShPp6NsE/s1600/Pavement+view+down+Kensington+Road.jpg

[ToraToraTora]

Ok that's 0.00001% of the pavements covered Gromit! Why not cycle on the road? A bit of paint and a sign does not make a proper cycle lane!

[AB Editor]

Actually TTT - Gromit has a point. At some point someone has decided to turn random bits of pavement into cycle paths (regardless of whether they're useful or make sense) by sticking one of those blue signs in the ground nearby.

I am sure you, like I, would support a Dutch style cycling network.

There's no real reason not to cycle on the road however.

[AB Editor]

FYI Andy, it looks like there was a London-Cambridge cycle ride this weekend - so the number might be increased slightly (although Cambs is always packed full of cyclists).

[Gromit]

A Dutch style segregated cycle network will never happen in this country.

It would take at least 30 years to do and there is neither the will or money to do it. Our cycle networks are usually designed by non cyclists and are mostly poorly designed. They are a compromise that please neither cyclists or other road users.

[Old_Geezer]

Whilst the powers that be encourage dangerous activities these sort of incidents are bound to increase; regardless whether the cyclist is the injured party or the one causing injury.

[andy-hughes]

Thanks Ed, although none of the numpties I saw looked able to get more than a mile or so on their bone-shakers - no lycra or helmets in view!

[emmie]

it happens more often or not here in the capital, the transport police know it's a problem, having given them some help a while back in compiling some data, however they doesn't stop them doing it. I/they found that 80 percent of those who were logged rode over red lights, and 30 percent rode on the pavements, not children either. This was over a period of 4/5 hours. Many are rude if you are in their way, that is on the pavement, i no longer think it's safe for many pedestrians here, particularly those not too quick on their feet.

[WELSHYORKIE]

//kids yeah, proper cyclists use the roads //

Yep, they do - going the wrong way up a one way street, where I work, and then hurling abuse when you happen to mention the fact

[emmie]

cycling hit and runs are not that rare, i have seen any number, and have been hit by a cyclist riding over a red light, as well as on the pavement.
The Barclays bike scheme is part of the problem now, as many i see riding these machines seem to have no clue about road safety. Its a cheap way to get around, at 2 quid a day, however as a former cyclist, i know that a bicycle should be more or less tailored to your height, where you can adjust handlebars and seat level, a bicycle that you are suited to and comfortable with. I wouldn't use one of these Barclay bikes even if i were able now, as they look decidedly uncomfortable and clunky.