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“Victim blaming as policy”: Cyclists blast “one mistake could be fatal” cycling safety campaign; Should drivers pay road tax?; ‘Cycling and driving tribalism isn’t helping us’; Snake Pass: Return to (unsafe) normality + more on the live blog

It’s Monday and Ryan Mallon is here, nursing an Amstel-induced hangover (those massive glasses are to blame), for the first live blog of the week
Mon, Apr 11, 2022 09:36
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SUMMARY

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“Victim blaming as policy”: Cyclists blast “one mistake could be fatal” cycling safety campaign; Should drivers pay road tax?; ‘Cycling and driving tribalism isn’t helping us’; Snake Pass: Return to (unsafe) normality + more on the live blogBedfordshire Police 2 Wheels Campaign
11 April 2022, 16:12
Shocking Tour of Turkey crash caused by man walking on road with back to race

A shocking one here from today’s stage of the Tour of Turkey, where a man walking along the road – seemingly oblivious that a peloton of some of the world’s best riders was approaching behind him – caused a massive crash.

Arkéa-Samsic sprinter Nacer Bouhanni was one of the riders brought down in the crash, and was later forced to abandon the race after feeling ill.

Fair play to the spectator in the hi-viz, who put himself in harm’s way to try to prevent an incident, only to be struck by a rider himself in the process. Hopefully everyone is okay.

After a tense finale, BikeExchange-Jayco’s Kaden Groves won the stage from a bunch finish ahead of Jasper Philipsen and Sam Bennett, who looks to finally have a bit of zip in his legs after a slow start to the season.

It was bad news, however, for Arkéa-Samsic, as not only did they lose Bouhanni, but the team's GC leader Nairo Quintana also crashed in the closing stages and shipped almost two minutes, effectively ending his hopes for the overall title.

11 April 2022, 15:43
Should drivers pay road tax?

Ah, road tax. That old mythical favourite seemingly rolled out on an almost daily basis by those seeking to delegitimise the place of cyclists on the roads, based on a tax which hasn’t existed in the UK since 1937.

But what if we flipped the question, satiating some drivers’ nostalgic desires to see road tax return as well as filling an ever widening hole in the Treasury?

Should motorists then pay a reintroduced form of road tax alongside the existing Vehicle Excise Duty?

Road.cc reader Cycloid thinks so. In a tongue-in-cheek forum post over the weekend, they wrote:

With the move away from hydrocarbon to electric powered vehicles fewer drivers are paying VED and the Chancellor is reaping a smaller revenue from the motoring population. The first criticism of motorists towards cyclists is the Free Rider Charge: ‘They don't pay for using the roads’. We now have the same situation with motorists – an increasing proportion of drivers are not contributing fairly towards the roads which they use.

The solution could be simple – bring back Road Tax.

All drivers will pay VED on a sliding down to zero, along with Road Tax. Clearly, reading the road.cc blog, there is a lot of nostalgia amongst motorists for this much-loved tax, and it would be welcomed with open arms as a fair solution to the problem.

The Road Tax component could be earmarked for road improvements, as the recent hike in NICs is earmarked for NHS catchup. Remember not to talk about "Road Maintenance" in this context; our roads are not fit for purpose and getting worse. Maintenance implies keeping the status quo.

When drivers receive a Road Tax bill they will be reminded that it does not give them any special rights to use the roads and that they must respect the vulnerable road user hierarchy.

Job done - Simples!

What do you think? Would bringing back road tax represent a fair solution to the changing character of our roads?

Here were some of the replies to Cycloid’s, let’s say, interesting suggestion:

I'm not a fan of "road tax" as it just feeds the stupid with ideas that they have more rights on the roads.

However, if we're going to need a replacement for VED (which would be great as I'm fed up with all the fumes put out by entitled car drivers) then it should be charged proportionate to axle weight (possibly even to the 4th power of axle weight) and possibly described as a road repair tax.

I have similar feelings about 'road tax', it was stopped in 1937 for very good reasons. If we pursue this idea we could end up with things like 'school tax', from which childless adults are exempt, and so on...

Although axle weight would be a good principle, it does allow some to bleat how their claimed need for a big vehicle is unfairly penalised. And don't forget that VED evasion has got worse since tax discs were abolished.

Reversing Rishi Sunak's latest stunt and raising the duty on fossil fuel would be an up-front, honest way of dealing with some of the problems. That way we tax the usage (consumption), rather than vehicle ownership. It may even allow us to seriously discuss important issues such as road danger, pollution - NOx, CO, particulates, noise etc - and the other serious issues created by current traffic levels. However, it doesn't address the issue of EVs which, as most now acknowledge, exist to save the car industry, not the planet.

How about a separate annual tax for anyone with a current driving license that has at least six points? There would be a higher tax band for the bastards with 12 points or more, since it seems that many (all?) of them plead "exceptional hardship" and get treated almost like victims by magistrates when they should be pariahs and get ASBOs like yobs. It could be paid by Direct Debit like Council Tax, which should mean less admin cost involved in collecting it.

I'd start by making all on-road parking charged, and (so that that doesn't unfairly penalise those who can't afford it) adding an element in to the council tax calculation for off-road parking provision.

Definitely needs to be a traffic jam tax…

11 April 2022, 14:39
11 April 2022, 14:34
Stay safe, be short: Bedfordshire Police’s new bike safety slogan?

‘Ah, so you were wearing a helmet, you had a hi-viz jacket on, front and back lights, and your bike was well-maintained… You are six foot two though. Just be shorter next time, okay?’

11 April 2022, 14:13
Reckon you could be a UCI commissaire?

For those shaking their heads at the TV yesterday and claiming they would have called Michał Kwiatkowski as the winner of Amstel Gold straight away, here’s a fun test to see if you would make the grade as a UCI finish-line judge:

There’s a definite Van Aert-Pidcock situation going on between 78 and 54…

11 April 2022, 13:38
Cycling Colemanballs, part 245

Adam Blythe, with the finest piece of cycling commentary we’re likely to hear in 2022…

… which he immediately followed up with: “Oh, that sounds wrong”. Never change, Adam.

11 April 2022, 12:23
Paris-Roubaix: Let the countdown commence…

With those pesky French presidential elections delaying our cobblestone gratification for a whole week (though we did have to wait over two years for last October’s edition, and over a century for the women's race, just to add some perspective), the countdown to the Hell of the North can now well and truly begin:

Only five more sleeps!

11 April 2022, 11:52
Amstel Gold finish
Photo-finish drama and oversized beers at Amstel Gold

Amstel Gold Race rarely fails to disappoint these days, does it? Ever since the organisers started tinkering with the route almost a decade ago – in a bid to end the procession-like ride to the final ascent of the Cauberg which the characterised the race – the Netherlands’ only major classic has little by little become a fascinating, open affair, where Flanders’ finest overlap with the puncheurs of the Ardennes.

And it’s led to some pretty spectacular racing. While the 2019 race witnessed the emergence of Mathieu van der Poel as a global superstar with what remains his most impressive physical feat on the road, the last two editions have been characterised by finish-line drama.

After last year’s debacle which saw Tom Pidcock controversially beaten (insert your own inverted commas if you wish) by Wout van Aert after a dubious appraisal of the photo finish, yesterday’s race witnessed the kind of twist-laden plot normally reserved for M. Night Shyamalan films.

> "I feel so bad for him!": Amstel Gold Race photo finish drama AGAIN as Benoît Cosnefroy celebrates...only to be told result on live TV 

Poor Benoît Cosnefroy – told that he’s won the biggest race of his career, only for the photo finish judge to finally make his mind up and award the victory to Michał Kwiatkowski. As the drama unfolded on our screens, it was also taking place in real time on Cosnefroy's teammate Oliver Naesen's Twitter page:

To be fair to the AG2R Citroën rider, he took that bitter blow surprisingly well, later telling the media: “If I'm going to cry about a podium at Amstel, I should stop cycling.”

He continued: “For sure I’d have preferred to win. But when you step on the podium it’s still a big moment in a career. There were 175 riders on the start line and only three on the podium. Mathieu Van der Poel was here as one of the big favourites but not on the podium. I don’t know what I have to cry about.”

Fair play. 

It seems as if Cosnefroy’s runners-up spot was written in the stars (or at least in the race’s hashtag), according to this remarkably prescient tweet posted with well over 100 kilometres to go:

Apart from Kwiato, Cosnefroy and the impressive and tactically flawless winner of the women’s race Marta Cavalli, the other real stars of Amstel Gold were the ridiculous oversized beers awarded on the podium by, predictably, the race’s eponymous sponsors:

Every time I see those massive glasses I picture Jez from Peep Show ordering two yards of ale at Mark’s stag do… 

Speaking of beer, while Cosnefroy and Kwiatkowski downed their half pints as if there were a photo finish camera in sight, third-place Tiesj Benoot didn’t look too impressed with what was on offer.

Or perhaps he’s attempting to emulate Simon Gerrans, who in a very un-Aussie-like manner refused to finish his beer while standing on the lower steps of the podium at the 2014 Amstel Gold, only to win Liège–Bastogne–Liège a week later…

“Time and a place, mate...”

11 April 2022, 11:37
11 April 2022, 10:58
From Alpe d’Huez to Aintree

Anybody else place a cheeky cycling-related bet on Santini?

It’s just a pity Alaphilippe (the horse that is) wasn’t racing on Saturday…

11 April 2022, 10:28
“Victim blaming as policy”: Cyclists blast Bedfordshire Police’s “one mistake could be fatal” cycling safety campaign

After last week’s questionable and low-res cycling safety tweet from the Police Service of Northern Ireland, it’s now Bedfordshire Police’s turn to come up with a dubious take on the National Police Chiefs’ Council’s ‘2 Wheels’ campaign.

The NPCC’s 2 Wheels campaign focuses on ensuring the safety of cyclists and motorcyclists on our roads, by raising motorists’ awareness about the dangers of close passes and carless driving, as well as educating riders on their own safety.

However, local police forces have been slammed for ‘victim-blaming’ during the campaign, by focusing solely on the ways in which cyclists can keep themselves safe, such as wearing a helmet and hi-viz clothing.

Promoting the 2 Wheels initiative, Bedfordshire Police tweeted: “Even if you’re an experienced cyclist, there are things everyone needs to remember when setting off on their journey. There were 33 cyclists killed or seriously injured on Bedfordshire roads last year. One mistake could be fatal.”

Unsurprisingly, the link between cycling fatalities and ‘mistakes’ made by cyclists was heavily criticised online:

11 April 2022, 09:40
11 April 2022, 09:37
Snake Pass: Return to (unsafe) normality

Ah, just as the seasons change, friendships come and go, taxes are paid and Manchester United lose, one of life’s inevitabilities is that cars would one day return to Snake Pass, restoring the A57 to its former status as a scene of white-knuckle, motoring mayhem:

All is unsafe with the world again…

11 April 2022, 08:58
‘Nobody who has used a bike could have designed this’

Maybe they had some of our favourite cycling action sequences in mind during the design process?

11 April 2022, 08:11
‘Cycling and driving tribalism isn’t helping us’, says Oxford cycling campaign group

Cycling and motoring ‘tribalism’, where groups of bike riders and drivers coalesce online to defend their ‘camp’ and demonise the ‘other’, is only hindering progress when it comes to road safety, says Oxford cycling campaign group Cyclox.

Cyclox has been one of the driving forces behind the campaign to increase road safety in the city by calling for the installation of protected cycle lanes and a reduction in speed limits and traffic. Five women have been killed cycling in and around Oxford since 2017, including two – Ellen Moilanen and Ling Felce – who were killed after being struck by lorries while riding their bikes in the past two months.

One of Cyclox’s trustees, Jake Backus, has published a piece in the Oxford Mail over the weekend, arguing that the apparent tribal conflict between motorists and cyclists is a barrier to securing immediate changes on our roads. 

> MP urges the government to help make Oxford’s roads safer for cyclists 

Like the tribes that formed in the wake of dramatic political events such as Brexit, sparking prolonged waves of often anonymous online vitriol, Backus writes that “people who prefer to cycle and people who prefer to drive have formed their tribes.”

Those tribes, he says, are based on stereotyping the ‘other’: “Cyclists are annoying and don’t obey the rules, and drivers are dangerous, take up a lot of space and cause pollution. Consequently, “cyclists” go through red lights (although not all cyclists go through red lights), and cycle without lights and a helmet. “Vehicle drivers” speed, use their mobile phones (although, again, not all drivers speed or use their phones).

“But the reality is that many people both cycle and drive, and ultimately, some people are just badly behaved (let’s call them idiots).

“You get idiot cyclists and idiot drivers (although idiot drivers tend to be more dangerous to others, while idiot cyclists are most often a danger to themselves).

“So, the debate goes around in circles with little compassion or empathy for each other. Ultimately, we share the same space, and we need to be considerate of one another.

“At the basic level, do we believe in “survival of the fittest” or “survival of the friendliest through cooperation”?”

> Campaigners call for “immediate changes” after cyclist was killed in Oxfordshire 

He continues: “Where is the debate about what is best for society, best for the health and safety of our children and old people, and what is socially equitable and inclusive?

“Ultimately, if we want things to get better, we will need to make changes, since by definition, something needs to change to get better (unless of course you think that others should do all the changing).

“How flexible to change are we? How adaptable are we to alternative futures?

“Whilst it may generate engagement and conflict online, tribalism isn’t helping us to make any progress.

“Maybe one day cyclists and drivers can have their own segregated space, and if more people cycle, then vehicle drivers will also benefit with less congestion. A win-win. Meanwhile, the eighth woman has been killed in Oxford in recent years whilst cycling.

“Let’s make the health and safety of everyone the key priority, share the road considerately, and discuss things in a moderate and empathetic way so that we can agree how best to move forwards – literally.”

What do you think? Is online tribalism one of the main barriers to securing safer roads for everyone?

Ryan Mallon

After obtaining a PhD, lecturing, and hosting a history podcast at Queen’s University Belfast, Ryan joined road.cc in December 2021 and since then has kept the site’s readers and listeners informed and enthralled (well at least occasionally) on news, the live blog, and the road.cc Podcast. After boarding a wrong bus at the world championships and ruining a good pair of jeans at the cyclocross, he now serves as road.cc’s senior news writer. Before his foray into cycling journalism, he wallowed in the equally pitiless world of academia, where he wrote a book about Victorian politics and droned on about cycling and bikes to classes of bored students (while taking every chance he could get to talk about cycling in print or on the radio). He can be found riding his bike very slowly around the narrow, scenic country lanes of Co. Down.

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78 comments

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mdavidford replied to HoarseMann | 2 years ago
5 likes

HoarseMann wrote:

Ah, the old 'why can't we all just get along'. The simple solution to the problems of the world that has an astonishingly poor success rate.

That isn't really what they're saying, though. They're saying we need to shift the terms of the debate, to move away from the idea that it's a zero-sum game, where any change is seen as 'for' one group or another, and automatically therefore a loss for the other.

Avatar
hawkinspeter | 2 years ago
11 likes

Quote:

Those tribes, he says, are based on stereotyping the ‘other’: “Cyclists are annoying and don’t obey the rules, and drivers are dangerous, take up a lot of space and cause pollution.

To be fair, drivers do take up a lot of space and cause pollution. Not all drivers are dangerous although there's always the potential (e.g. momentary lapse of concentration).

Focussing on "tribes" is ignoring the actual facts of the matter - we all know that there are major societal problems caused by over-reliance on motor vehicles and it's imperative that we get as many people as possible to use active travel instead. Continuing to build everything around cars is not a solution to anything (except maybe keeping oil companies as rich as possible).

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IanMK replied to hawkinspeter | 2 years ago
5 likes

This is the point. Those pushing back against the idea that we need to change to preserve life on this planet will inevitably see evidence that cycling is part of that strategy will want to see it fail, even if that's not why a particular cyclist is actually cycling. Hence, the idea that cycling can somehow be removed from the culture war that is engulfing global societies is nonsense. 

 

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chrisonabike replied to IanMK | 2 years ago
1 like

IanMK wrote:

This is the point. Those pushing back against the idea that we need to change to preserve life on this planet will inevitably see evidence that cycling is part of that strategy will want to see it fail, even if that's not why a particular cyclist is actually cycling. Hence, the idea that cycling can somehow be removed from the culture war that is engulfing global societies is nonsense.

There are certainly haters - alas I think it's less conspiracy, more that people don't cycle because other people don't cycle. That ultimately comes down to it not being a "desirable" because it's seen as inconvenient, dangerous and something that will lower your social status / respect.  And currently there's some truth to all those negatives.  By contrast if something's new heavily promoted in public consciousness - "What smart {insert category of people} are all secretly doing..." - people will seek it out even if it's expensive, unavailable, unhealthy, unpleasant or even illegal!

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IanMK replied to chrisonabike | 2 years ago
5 likes

chrisonatrike wrote:

alas I think it's less conspiracy, more that people don't cycle because other people don't cycle. 

Haha, I reread my post and it does sound a bit conspiratorial, it wasn't my intention.

However, to play devil's advocate, last week Antonio Guterres said "Some government and business leaders are saying one thing - but doing another. Simply put, they are lying" doesn't that sound a bit conspiratorial?

Look at the French elections. There is simply no green agenda from either of the two candidates.

The msm continue to attack and blame climate protestors but don't challenge the "business as usual" thinking.

So I think there is a conspiracy of sorts. A conspiracy to lie, a conspiracy of silence, a conspiracy to do nothing, a laissez faire conspiracy. If you're out there attacking cycling for any reason then you are part of that conspiracy.

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hawkinspeter replied to IanMK | 2 years ago
7 likes

IanMK wrote:

Haha, I reread my post and it does sound a bit conspiratorial, it wasn't my intention.

However, to play devil's advocate, last week Antonio Guterres said "Some government and business leaders are saying one thing - but doing another. Simply put, they are lying" doesn't that sound a bit conspiratorial?

Look at the French elections. There is simply no green agenda from either of the two candidates.

The msm continue to attack and blame climate protestors but don't challenge the "business as usual" thinking.

So I think there is a conspiracy of sorts. A conspiracy to lie, a conspiracy of silence, a conspiracy to do nothing, a laissez faire conspiracy. If you're out there attacking cycling for any reason then you are part of that conspiracy.

There most certainly are a large number of organisations and people conspiring with oil companies: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/apr/05/ipcc-report-scientists-climate-crisis-fossil-fuels

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chrisonabike replied to hawkinspeter | 2 years ago
5 likes

I think Cyclox are trying to speak in language that others will understand.  However though the message as a whole goes in the right direction it's really weak.  "Maybe one day ..." - this is not good enough, don't ask for "gradual change, in due course" - or you get no change, ever.

You have to meet people where they are but you have to say it how it is.  Otherwise you just tell people "what they already know".  So the "stereotype" examples are problematic.  They sounds like they're giving the nod to exactly the kind of whataboutery which equates two incomparable things in search of "balance".  "cyclists are annoying" - does that merit local vigilantes in motor vehicles threatening them or dispensing physical punishment?  "they don't obey the rules" - causing inconvenience to and endangering whom? (Yes - I know that in fact cyclists do injure and very occasionally kill people - indeed there's an infographic showing that toll here).

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hawkinspeter replied to chrisonabike | 2 years ago
7 likes

chrisonatrike wrote:

I think Cyclox are trying to speak in language that others will understand.  However though the message as a whole goes in the right direction it's really weak.  "Maybe one day ..." - this is not good enough, don't ask for "gradual change, in due course" - or you get no change, ever.

There's been discussions about climate problems for decades now - it's too late to continue trying to reason with people who want to continue destroying our habitat.

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chrisonabike replied to hawkinspeter | 2 years ago
1 like

You're right - we should have a consultation to find out what people think about climate change... no

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hawkinspeter replied to chrisonabike | 2 years ago
6 likes

chrisonatrike wrote:

You're right - we should have a consultation to find out what people think about climate change... no

Also, let's find the slowest way to implement any change.

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mdavidford replied to hawkinspeter | 2 years ago
1 like

hawkinspeter wrote:

let's find the slowest way to implement any change.

Put a bike lane next to it.

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Hirsute replied to mdavidford | 2 years ago
2 likes

What and encourage thieves and drug dealers ?

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wycombewheeler | 2 years ago
7 likes

He continues: “Where is the debate about what is best for society, best for the health and safety of our children and old people, and what is socially equitable and inclusive?

--

the argument that cyclists often try to make, which gets shot down as tribalism. Accusations of anti driving cyclist tribe are strange since most cyclists drive as well. Any push for a more equitable division of space away from 95% for motor vehicles is met with wailing and howling about a war on the motorist.

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Simon E replied to wycombewheeler | 2 years ago
7 likes

wycombewheeler wrote:

Any push for a more equitable division of space away from 95% for motor vehicles is met with wailing and howling about a war on the motorist.

Sadly this is what many people have been taught to believe - that roads are for cars and everyone else is an inconvenience. Beep beep, Mr Toad is coming through.

It seems that high fuel prices don't seem to have put people off making lots of unnecessary journeys. Many news outlets are running this headline:

Drivers braced for busiest Easter on record with 21.5m journeys planned

Why are drivers "braced"? They are the very ones causing the f**king problem!

The articles quote the RAC, who expect that "An estimated 21.5 million leisure trips will be made by car between Good Friday and Easter Monday" (my emphasis).

Although I say 'they', I may well take the family out to the countryside over the weekend but it will be very near home.

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ktache replied to Simon E | 2 years ago
6 likes

Bike shed at my place of employment is more full than I have ever seen it, even at the height of great weather.

Bicycles that I have never seen before.

Another "you know you are a "cyclist" when..." you spend more time looking at locked up bicycles than you'd expect a bicycle thief to.

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Car Delenda Est | 2 years ago
1 like

Is it only the female cyclists that are being killed in Oxford, eight women and no men?

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Simon_MacMichael replied to Car Delenda Est | 2 years ago
4 likes

Car Delenda Est wrote:

Is it only the female cyclists that are being killed in Oxford, eight women and no men?

One of the journalists on the Oxford Mail recently visited all the sites where cyclists have been killed in the city over the past couple of decades* and yes, it is striking how many are women (and especially in the fatal crashes involving larger vehicles - something that has also been observed in eg London).

As to why that should be ... potential explanations I've seen include that women are more likely than men to eg comply with cycle lanes ahead of junctions, thereby putting them in blind spot of lorry drivers looking to turn left, as welll as that women are less likely to jump red traffic lights.

There's an interesting article from a few years ago here.

https://road.cc/content/news/160781-no-evidence-lack-assertiveness-facto...

* ps I am aware of at least two others, both male, with no other vehicle involved and in both cases, flooding was a factor - a teenage boy riding along the banks of the Thames (covered by floodwater) who drowned after losing the path, and a man at Godstow who came off his bike when the road was flooded and subsequently died in hospital (although it was never reported what the actual cause of death was).

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AlsoSomniloquism replied to Simon_MacMichael | 2 years ago
1 like

Interesting that the trolls arguments are normally the female cyclists see a reckless move from a male cyclist and then try to follow but don't have the skillset. 

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