9,000 women petition minister to improve road safety for cyclists

DRIVER EDUCATION is the only way that the safety of cycling can be improved ! Watching a vehicle that has barely passed you repeat the same tactics on the cyclists in front of you can be off putting to all let alone women who only ride occasionally.

In europe the minimum passing distance is 1 1/2m or 5ft but in the UK barely inches are the norm.

Last sunday i was out in the area around macclefield with Seamons Cycle Club who are worth visiting when in the UK and the number of "Hooray Charlies" who passed on blind uphill corners was appalling. Do all motorists think that when they have an accident on a Sunday they go straight to heaven?

the previous visit to UK was "Fathers day" and i was in Oxon, passed on double whites on a blind corner my riding partners (expert level) were nearly skittled. I chased down the culprit who got caught at lights further on and his excuse was that "they were late for lunch"! Had i powers of arrest they would have missed their lunch!

Selfish behaviour is an acquired trait and it takes continual practice , driver education can set ground rules to practice and hopefully modify future behaviour!

I know its well intended but all the studies show that segregated bike lanes do not increase cycling. Dublin built a whole network and cycling levels stayed static. There has been lots of research done on why people don't cycle and the lack of cycle lanes is not the reason. A study by Leeds University found that even if you could build a segregated cycle facility that went everywhere it would increase cycling by only 50% whereas paying people £2 a day to cycle would double it.

The Guardian has London's main segregated cycle facility as the first of its Worst Cycle Lanes series while the Evening Standard nominated it as the worst place to cycle in London.

So lets not compound the error with more of the things.

I really hope cyclists will be in on any action and subsequent implementation on this, else segregated cycle lanes in itself is a flawed concept on the basis of current road designs and the ability to have a continuous journey (i.e. not continually having to stop for junctions as the cycle lane is built onto what was the pavement).

Additionally, I don't want to create a scenario (which appears to be the case in areas where there is a segregated cycle lane whereby drivers become more aggressive to those that choose not to use it, (primarily due to poor maintenance, debris, random signs, multiple stops at sideroads.)

I'd also like to throw in the consideration as to what journeys those who've signed the petition actively undertake? Commuting into London I see plenty of girls riding quite happily along, and with the same amount of caution and respect for other road users that those who aren't afraid of riding on the road. What makes these women different? Media frenzy of death on the roads? One bad experience? Lack of cycling confidence in general?

Creating divisions within the cycling community for what I perceive to be a minority is a bad thing in my opinion, and I can see in trying to meet govt / council targets on number of people cycling there will be more assent to suggestions and non-inclusive surveys like this.

There are far bigger things to campaign against on the roads to make them safer than just asking for different paths.

I was hoping to get into a discussion on why his wife felt that she could only ride her bike if she was wearing a helmet. Is it because his wife thinks the roads are too dangerous?

same response amongst 85% of the women that I work with, and some men...

I met Transport Minister Sadiq Khan on Monday and he said that his wife doesn't ride a bike because she doesn't want 'helmet hair'.