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The madness of London and cycle lanes

by ianrobo
Tue, Apr 14, 2015 11:38
9

Just seen this tweet and for me it says all that is wrong with cycling infrastructure

Lauren Young @drlaurenyoung
Queues of cyclists not cars. Should be 2/3 cycle lane and 1/3 cars. pic.twitter.com/ZNUaN0LCaT

I do wonder though why the cyclists do not use the road ?

If you're new please join in and if you have questions pop them below and the forum regulars will answer as best we can.

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9 comments

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Flying Scot | 9 years ago
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Deleted.

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Giles Pargiter | 9 years ago
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I'm not a "Twitter", so can"t see the Twits 1 but it occurs to me from the comments that all those dangerous drivers are out enjoying their bikes!

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teaboy | 9 years ago
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People don't use that road for the same reasons people don't use most other roads for riding bikes. If it doesn't look and feel safe, people will not use it. If you build safe, protected cycle-specific infrastructure people will use it as a preference.

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ChrisB200SX replied to teaboy | 9 years ago
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teaboy wrote:

People don't use that road for the same reasons people don't use most other roads for riding bikes. If it doesn't look and feel safe, people will not use it. If you build safe, protected cycle-specific infrastructure people will use it as a preference.

Perhaps we could tackle the real issue and reduce how dangerous drivers are in the UK?

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Dnnnnnn replied to ChrisB200SX | 9 years ago
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ChrisB200SX wrote:
teaboy wrote:

People don't use that road for the same reasons people don't use most other roads for riding bikes. If it doesn't look and feel safe, people will not use it. If you build safe, protected cycle-specific infrastructure people will use it as a preference.

Perhaps we could tackle the real issue and reduce how dangerous drivers are in the UK?

Fewer dangerous drivers would certainly be a good thing. But it's worth noting that the UK has just about the lowest rate of of road deaths in the world already.

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tarquin_foxglove replied to ChrisB200SX | 9 years ago
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ChrisB200SX wrote:

Perhaps we could tackle the real issue and reduce how dangerous drivers are in the UK?

I appreciate the sentiment but how on earth would you do that?

For example,
Society agrees seatbelts in cars are a sensible intervention for personal safety.
Putting a seatbelt on when getting into a car isn't an onerous activity and doesn't require subsequent action to ensure continued compliance.
According to newspapers, in 2013 180,000 people were fined for driving without a seatbelt on.

If there isn't universal adoption of something which is for your own benefit & society uniformly agrees is a good thing, how are you going to convince people to change their behaviour for no personal benefit around a minority out group?

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teaboy replied to ChrisB200SX | 9 years ago
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ChrisB200SX wrote:
teaboy wrote:

People don't use that road for the same reasons people don't use most other roads for riding bikes. If it doesn't look and feel safe, people will not use it. If you build safe, protected cycle-specific infrastructure people will use it as a preference.

Perhaps we could tackle the real issue and reduce how dangerous drivers are in the UK?

How do you propose to do that? How will you ensure that every single driver is absolutely perfect 100% of the time, so that collisions are prevented? And how will that change the lack of 'subjective safety' when in close proximity to large, fast-moving motor vehicles?

Most deaths on the road are not caused by "dangerous" drivers, but by human fallibility. People make mistakes. VERY few people get into motor vehicles with the intention of causing harm to other people. However, as a direct result of how our roads are designed, these mistakes cost lives. We need to design out collisions and create space that looks and feels safe ALL the time, even if your dangerous drivers are around.

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Jimbonic | 9 years ago
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I have to say, I agree with Dottgirl's comment: "apart from infrastructure, does anyone look at that & feel some miniscule hope for the future?"

No cars, just bikes in central London! Stuck in a bike jam on a sunny day? Lovely! No nasty fumes, just the warm caress of sunshine. (OK, they're in the shadow of those buildings, but hey)

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bashthebox | 9 years ago
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That stretch used to be on my old commute.
It's a valid question but a slightly complex answer. It's not a bus route but it is a relatively narrow two way road used by lorries, taxis, vans and cars. There's no room for them to safely overtake so they squeeze and intimidate you over when they go past if you're not a rather fast cyclist. Also, the cycle lane has a number of feeder lanes going into it, so that you might get on the lane when it looks quite empty but it quickly fills up - and obviously you get congestion where the lights are.
It's a warm day in London today, so a lot more people will be riding in than usual - I suspect many for the first time this year.
And finally, it's really rare for there to be so little motor traffic on that road during rush hour. Could just be a chance thing due to timings of lights that there's so many cyclists and so few cars - as far as I remember some of the lights have different timings for the main lane and cycle lanes.

That is one of the few proper bits of segregated infrastructure going from East Central to Central London, which explains the traffic on it. More like that and we'd be far safer and happier.

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