Green London Assembly member calls for close-pass initiative to be rolled out London-wide

tugglesthegreat wrote:

Spotted a distracted driver last night on the way back from work.  Their driving just didn't seem right, slow, irratic, when I got along side they were texting!

Any  initiative to improve safety for cyclist is a good thing.  And don't get me started on close passes, this seems to happen every day.

This is exactly my point - they're not an abberation - it's like people being shot in the U.S. - if they are treated like some surprising exception to the rule and addressed as such, then whole industries spring up as a response which do nothing to solve the issue but merely create the illusion that something is being done.

Bridgey37 wrote:

Not owning a car is not really a solution for everyone is it? Most cyclists are multimodal. Amsterdam have old roads, they've done it. If we can achieve half of what they have that's great. Half a dozen people? You wish! What is good about this initiative is that instead of turning a blind eye on this issue, they are beginning to act on it. That is the seed of the change you are talking about that you seem to ignore.

In Amsterdam it would seem to be economically viable - for that to occur in London would take a huge shift and even then, the distances involved make it more difficult.

Close pass initiatives have little or nothing to do with such a change in road infrastructure.

Bridgey37 wrote:

So giving up / moaning about it is basically your solution and every effort to try will always be a failure in your opinion?

no, actually I was mocking, and I have clearly presented the solution in much detail.

I'm sure having half a dozen people standing around for 6 hours giving drivers a jolly stern talking to and maybe a paddington bear hard stare - or employing people to paint half a bus lane blue - is great for economic growth though - I'm sure we can find millions of people useless jobs to do in order to try to justify our existence as an economic ex-superpower.

Bridgey37 wrote:

@beezus fufoon - You make it sound like any effort so far has been poor and not good enough. When do we hear about your amazing solution for safer cycling in London?

I'm very glad I "make it sound" that way on account of that being literally what I am saying.

It seems to me that the idea of there being a solution also seems a bit naive. The various causes of these problems are that the roads are too narrow, and with too many vehicles competing for road space - very few people would argue against the idea of industrial and economic growth which has lead to this situation.

It strikes me that if an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure - then it would seem far more lucrative to sell cures rather than prevention - and it seems to apply not only to the medical profession, but in many other walks of modern life, in this case, punitive measures taken against driving offences.

My main route into London is the CSH2, which used to be a bus lane - now it is a bus lane half painted blue in a lame attempt to "band aid" some weak kind of response which does nothing to address the underlying causes of the issue - which is remarkably appropriate metaphor for the green party themselves, we all pay lip service to green issues, but there are obvious reasons why they only have a single MP - because industrial and economic power is the defining horizon of the way of life the majority of people currently wish to cling to, and this is reflected in the situation that cyclists encounter daily in our dealings with shared space road use.

So, I'm not entirely convinced of the idea to mitigate the problem with bolt-on solutions as if it is in some way salvageable, to make it kind of ok-ish while still maintaining a fundamental "might is right" philosophy.

Personally, I gave up owning a car in 2002, however I'm not really in the business of trying to convince others of the obvious errors of their ways. Until there is a radical change in infrastructure and segregation of road users then it will always be dangerous, and to be honest, I'm not convinced London has the space, cash, nor the inclination to go down that route at this juncture.

Bridgey37 wrote:

It was the condescending tone that it came with that was derogatory. 

Six is still better than zero. 

You assume that they have thrown a lot of manpower on this. They haven't. 

What it does show is the potential for more. 

 

 

yes, I can't argue with that - you read it right, I find it laughable - it could hardly show a potential for less.

Bridgey37 wrote:

Hang on a minute, yes it is a small start but it is a step in the right direction.

Were you expecting for it to be activated nationally without proof it works first?  I'm glad that it's a start. It's a small start but at least something is now happening and that it is being taken seriously. 

By having consequences to close passes, it will hopefully, eventually become the norm that it's wrong and unacceptable and you will be caught and penalised. 

What are your problems lads? 

Your misogynistic comment of her going back to yoga class is unacceptable. Big pat on the back for Sgt Clarke and his team in Camden but when, heaven forbid, a woman, a notable female cyclist I might add, has the indignation to suggest to roll it out London-wide for everyone's safety, you have a moan about it?!

If you have something better up your sleeve please volunteer it but it winds me up that cyclists have the audacity to belittle other people's intitiatives for the greater good. 

 

 

 

 

for one, I do yoga, so I know the type - I'm not sure why you interpret it as gender oriented.

secondly, in 6 hours, only 4 drivers were spoken to specifically about close passes, so as cyclingDMlondon observes, this is totally disproportionate to the experience of riding in London, and only newsworthy insofar as it represents a woefully inadequate response.

Given that the police would ordinarily perform the other actions - 8 offences, and 50 warnings about driving standards - this can hardly be touted as a "close-pass initiative"

ktache wrote:

Good luck to her.

How many of the 50 do you think were for "distracted" driving?

You'd have to imagine they'd have clocked plenty drivers on their mobiles - but that should lead to an automatic penalty.