Britons fails to get on bikes

[banbury frank]

Hi HarryB

What do think the pavement is for . Pedestrians should be banned totally in fact the should all be turned into cycle lanes Witch can also be used by 4 wheel drive shopping trolleys


Please ignore the above just injecting some humor into this posting

Frank

 

[jasono]

We need more 20 zones.

I agree Bob, this would help to slow traffic and create a safer environment. Decent, well planned cycle routes would also help. But highways and local authorities need to be on board as a badly planned route is in some cases worse than no route at all!

 

[mike killay]

It is time for the Government to bite the bullet and get cycles on the pavements.
I just drove a mile to the next village, there is a footpath all the way and most of the way there are two (ie each side of the road) No-one at all walking and this remains so for most of the day. Riding on the road, you have to contend with parked cars, each one is a severe hazard.
There must be hundreds of thousand of miles of pavements in the UK, most of then hardly ever used. Why are pedestrians given such enormous consideration, yet cyclists have face very real life threatening situations?

 

[flecc]

Fully agree Mike, I've often posted the same. Pavements are an incredibly wasted space in our crowded island, thousands upon thousands of miles of them expensively maintained and only a tiny minority used to any extent. In our car driving culture many have become nearly redundant and it's well overdue for them to be given other duties as well as the provision for the odd pedestrian. The bicycle is the obvious candidate to share the space.

It would be easy to provide legislation allowing bikes to be barred from critical pavement points like shopping centres and school surrounds with a simple sign or pavement marking indicating those pedestrian only areas.

 

[Jon]

I agree Bob, this would help to slow traffic and create a safer environment. Decent, well planned cycle routes would also help. But highways and local authorities need to be on board as a badly planned route is in some cases worse than no route at all!

I have to say in Stoke on Trent overall i feel that they have done a good job of creating cycle lanes. I have experienced a few places where it disapears with no real direction to where it picks up again but mostlyt hey are well sign posted. They are not good for the serious cyclist or group of cyclists but most of our major roads here have a cuycle bit. They even think about the cyclist when installing traffic calming measures and if the pavement reduces the width of the road the cycle lane just carrys on and they have cut out the pavement. The only issues i do have is on some of the paths where the lane pops onto a pavment to create a footway and a cycle way the quality of the pavement is off. Very bumpy and shakes you alot lol so i just stay on the roads a that bit as normally that only lasts for 100m max

 

[gerryscott]

half the time I cant get into cycle lanes because of parked cars and having to move out onto the main flow of traffick is totally self defeating.

 

[pjvenner]

Back on topic

This thread appears to have drifted way off topic. My 2 cents says that cycling or e-cycling will never take off in the UK... firstly there's the weather which we can't do jack s*** about... secondly, UK roads are in a notorious state of disrepair - Especially at the kerbside - Even where there are dedicated cycle lanes. Bicycles, electric or not cannot absorb shock like a car.

PS: Those suggesting more 20mph zones should go to YouTube & check out Tufty & the Green Cross Code. Back in the day it was safe for a child of school age to cross a 30mph road. Children were educated by parents and parents were educated by public information ads. Nowadays it's ok to let pre-school kids play by the road because bad parenting is a thing of the past. Nobody gives a s*** about their child being killed anymore because they can blame it on the motorist and get a s***load of money in compo.

I should add that I am an e-cyclist. I commute a 15 mile round trip 5 or 6 days each week. My ride sucks mainly because of the state of our roads, but at £2 a month it is still cheaper than driving - and WAAAAY cheaper than the government's other pet project (public transport) which worked out at £75 per month. Additionally I now get to work in under half an hour as opposed to 1 or 2 hours depending on my shift.

 

[Jon]

This thread appears to have drifted way off topic. My 2 cents says that cycling or e-cycling will never take off in the UK... firstly there's the weather which we can't do jack s*** about... secondly, UK roads are in a notorious state of disrepair - Especially at the kerbside - Even where there are dedicated cycle lanes. Bicycles, electric or not cannot absorb shock like a car.

PS: Those suggesting more 20mph zones should go to YouTube & check out Tufty & the Green Cross Code. Back in the day it was safe for a child of school age to cross a 30mph road. Children were educated by parents and parents were educated by public information ads. Nowadays it's ok to let pre-school kids play by the road because bad parenting is a thing of the past. Nobody gives a s*** about their child being killed anymore because they can blame it on the motorist and get a s***load of money in compo.

I should add that I am an e-cyclist. I commute a 15 mile round trip 5 or 6 days each week. My ride sucks mainly because of the state of our roads, but at £2 a month it is still cheaper than driving - and WAAAAY cheaper than the government's other pet project (public transport) which worked out at £75 per month. Additionally I now get to work in under half an hour as opposed to 1 or 2 hours depending on my shift.

I dont think you can blame just parents on this one, i have seen an increase in reckless attitudes to sensible driving over the last 15 years. I grew up on the estate im living on now, its nice, we have a lakes two sets of woods some fields and a country park right next door and when i was younger we had about the same amount of traffic it just went a bit slower and people thought more about kids. The amount of near misses i have witnessed since moving back here 4 years ago is scary and how there has not been a death yet i dont know. Kids will be kids and they dont always think for what ever reason but if your driving a car you should assume that a child is unable to see or here you coming and assess the risk on that basis especially by parked cars.

If i went on bus it takes me just under an hour but on bike i can do it in 16 mins and i share your thoughts on road quality near the gutter but i dont think your right on ebikes not taking off. As it costs more to run motorised vehicles people will turn to alternate transport and from the young people ive spoken to they like the idea of ebikes. My concern is if people reduce the use of cars in favour of electric whatever s the gov will start losing money eventually so then where will they turn? To us?

 

[pjvenner]

With respect, I'm not blaming parents so much as our government(s). I don't know how old you are - I'm 42. Do you remember the Green Cross Code Man or Tufty? They both taught children to "STOP, LOOK, and LISTEN" and it worked just fine.

You hit the nail on the head by mentioning reckless drivers. Speed humps and 20mph zones do nothing about reckless drivers. The humps cause more damage to my 25kph e-bike (and to me) than to a car travelling at 30mph.

 

[jbond]

You know what, I don't think there's a problem at all, at all. We've got a workable set of laws with suitably lax enforcement. In East Herts and N-Central London, I see plenty of bicycles everywhere and by and large car drivers respecting them. I'm seeing more and more electric bicycles around the place. ISTM that bicycle use will continue to increase as a way of getting exercise and avoiding your pick of public transport, congestion charge, parking charges, petrol prices without any particular direct incentive or encouragement.

If there's anything I'd change it's admitting that road humps have been a failure and removing them. And discouraging councils from the practice of using loose gravel surface dressing as a way of avoiding properly fixing the roads.

 

[mike killay]

The problem with lax enforcement, 'Blind eye' etc. is that if you do have an accident, you are automatically in the wrong.
Fleccs suggestion of 'No cycling' signs' at danger points, coupled with a general right to ride on footpaths would be likely to encourage more to take up electric cycling.
Unlike unpowered bikes which only commend themselves as commuter transport to the very fit, electric bikes offer a very real alternative.
Undoubtedly there will be further advances in technology, batteries will get even better even though arguably they are nearly there now, some electric bikes will become more moped like in performance and therefore more attractive to the non-cyclist.
The weather is not that much of a problem. Proper clothing etc. will deal with that. Our climate is actually quite mild compared with many other countries. not too hot, rarely too cold.The rain is often no worse than other many countries get.