The 'Cycling Solicitor': Boris is no friend to cyclists

Boris doesn't need to be popular any more (at least in London). He won't be standing for another term in 2016 - he's just a twunt.

They'll parachute him into a safe Tory seat where what he's done here won't matter.

Boris is NO FOOL ! He is busy seeking ANY means to make him popular with the electorate ! Too bad that from 2008 to 2012 , there were 15500+ Casualties on roads he is responsible for overseeing ! Enough to fill Crystal Palace Stadium , if you want a visual ?

How many of the " Cyclist hating Motorists " , have dusted off the bike in their backyard , knowing that it is going to be the only way to avoid the traffic chaos of the " Tube Strike " , today?

Wanting it both ways ? Those that normally Cycle should visit & " LIKE " :

https://www.facebook.com/groups/stopkillingcyclists

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Vision-ZERO-Worldwide/540123632761709

Even " motormouth JC " is riding London streets ! Going to show Cyclists , how YOU would like them to ride JC ? Including moving over , each time a Chelsea Tractor appears at YOUR rear end ? Can you just imagine that , on Top Gear or any of his Media outlets ?

Wonder why he doesn't do a programme with his Wife ? It would show him up for the self opinionated noneniety that he has become .

I imagine that he did actually mean "detract" - take away, remove etc the perception of the implications of Boris' failure - but distract also works well.

I wonder what world dbb lives in where the legal and physical framework in which we use a bicycle on a public road is not somehow part of "all things cycling" - whether you are a commuter, a racer/sportiver, or just someone who thinks it is the best way of getting around generally. I suppose if you are a pure mountain biker, who takes your bike on the top of your 4x4 to some forest track, or a velodrome track cyclist, you might not have much interest, but otherwise?

Boris' status as a regular cyclist is a red herring. It is certainly true that he is a "real" cyclist. He is famous for it among his staff and the people at the GLA. He is not a Cameron who only ever really rode a bike so he could be photographed to boost his bogus green credentials (while his paperwork followed him in an official car, as very quickly came to light). Unfortunately that doesn't translate into any real sympathy for the generality of people who would like to ride a bicycle but feel intimidated out of it by road conditions. He may not be a died-in-the-wool vehicular cyclist - he doesn't wear Lycra and he is notorious for being a fairly slow rider - but his attitudes are vehicularist: you don't need special provision, you should man up and keep your wits about you, cycle lanes etc are a bad thing and what you really need is training (copies of my book "Effective Riding"/"Cyclecraft"/[insert as appropriate] can be purchased for only £ at any good bookstore) etc. Worst of all, he is totally in thrall to the motor lobby - thus refusing to acknowledge that the centre of London is overwhelmingly populated by pedestrians (and a fair few cyclists) who didn't arrive there in a car, but mainly in a train or tube, but they are given a tiny fraction of the space and time available on the road network to move around, because pedestrian interests are not as rich or as powerful as the motor lobby.

Boris rides a bike. Yay. Other than that he's more of a hinderance than a help. His victim blaming is outrageous. He favours "smoothing traffic flow" over making our roads safer. 'Boris Bikes' weren't even his idea, although he likes to take the credit for them, while his mates at Barclay's don't even want to pay the full whack for the enormous advertising they've gained from them. As for headphones, it's yet another obfuscation on his part.

This sums it up nicely.
http://twowheelsgood-fourwheelsbad.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/victimblamingi...

I agree - it was a stupid remark by Boris Johnson because the ability to hear what is going on around you is not a necessity for riding down the roads (now the ability to recognise a deaf-blind person crossing the road is).

However, looking at the bigger picture Boris Johnson has cycled on London's roads, been nearly hit by a car flicked across the road and stopped a mugging. So I'd say he has a quite impressive cycling record. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8066461.stm & http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8340865.stm

If it were up to me I'd allow contra-flow cycling on one way streets unless the road was really too narrow.

I had a funny feeling reading this. Hats off to the solicitor that got the ASL case dropped but I just feel that there is something a bit more political to this than being a bit cross at Boris for stupid remark. I don't support Boris's party and I don't live in London anymore. But whatever Boris' faults as regards cycling he is a million times better than what went before as far as cyclists are concerned. Whatever the politics of it I will trust a person who rides a bike daily to be on the cyclists side rather than someone who confessed to not actually being able to ride a bike and travelled the streets in the back of a black cab.

Let's not make the best the enemy of the good.

It's the Clarkson effect .When people in the media say anything the public believe everyword and batter cyclist with it to suit there own ends,it's just the way it is.

Looking at sentencing for various traffic violations, it's almost as if "riding a bicycle on a public road" counts as "contributory negligence" on its own. See recent case of texting lorry driver who killed a couple in a car given five years against typical sentences for equally negligent drivers who kill cyclists.

We've also had a couple of cases recently in the club where the police/CPS have said "no further action" despite witnesses, clear incompetence, identification of offenders and even admission of fault.

Maybe it would be easier if we just took justice into our own hands. Some of us have access to the DVLA database after all ...

he is a lawyer - he must be right
there was once a time when I could come to road cc and get updated on all things cycling - now it is reporting on just anything that has bicycle in it. i'm losing interest fast....

I'm sure he meant distract rather than 'detract'.