MP moots A-road cycling ban

I can see why with the A50 its as good as a M/way, not a road I'd consider riding but this is the thin end of the wedge, do you ban bikes from every fatal road, every serious injury one, every A road?? Momentum and car centric reasons for more & wideranging bans will follow & is it right to effectively abdicate any responsible for other people from motorists?

Educate & properly prosecute or sweep the problem away with selective Prohibition

Are the cycle paths he talks about high-quality and do they go the full length of his proposed banned distance?

The answer is 'yes'. The cycle paths are minor roads, well away from the A50, and while the route is wiggly and slightly longer, the minor road route is clearly safer and nicer.

BUT I would rather make this sort of choice myself. It's a very slippery slope for outright bans such as this. It sets a precedent.

Let this one go through and then it'll be another "dangerous" roads, and then another, and then another. Before too long there would be large gaps where we couldn't cycle.

I try to avoid them when I can, but sometimes it's necessary to ride on dreadfully busy roads, even for just short stretches.

Here's the road. Click on the OS option to see the minor road route picked out with green dots.

http://www.bing.com/maps/?FORM=Z9LH3#JnE9LmRvdmVyaWRnZSU3ZXNzdC4wJTdlcGc...

This maybe kinda ties back to the segregated cycling lane debate (sorry!).

Cyclists and other types are vehicle are banned from motorways. So when motorways are planned there is an obligation on the road planners (I assume) to provide alternative road provision for non-motorway traffic.

So, likewise I guess the road planners may want to restrict cyclists from busy or high-speed A-roads, but surely that can only be acceptable if 'high quality' alternative provision is provided.

so ... first a section of the A50, then All A roads, then
all roads .... ????

kerks - the lot of 'em

Perhaps driving while sending text messages should be banned. It is already?

The trouble with fools like this is that they see issues in terms of results. They don't see the bigger picture. Suggestions like this affect the victims, not the perpetrators. Dangerous drivers put lives of ALL other road users at risk, not just cyclists. A somewhat more intelligent approach would for example be to install safety features along the stretch of road in question. A ban like this proposal would merely shift the risk elsewhere and what would be banned next, motorcycles? This suggestion doesn't actually address the real issue, tackling bad driving.

Astonishing.

The car centred nature of public policy & our legislators have surely moved beyond satire at this point?

I know the area and I certainly would not entertain the idea of using the A50. However that is my choice. Hopefully this is just a knee-jerk reaction as it would set precedent for every A road to be banned.

K%$b head.