E - Scooters

[Pound Coin]

And this should cheer everybody up too...

Yes, it is excellent.

If we are to help people move to healthy and environmentally friendlier modes of transport, then we need the law and the Highway Code to catch up. I'm just been looking around a place I grew up - remembering that I used to cycle along main roads, and also along the quieter back roads.

I would not cycle on the main roads here now, and when I think of what it was like cycling on side roads, I am reminded of this story from a few days ago.

Fairstead: Cyclist killed in collision with car

A 65-year-old man is arrested on suspicion of causing death by careless driving.

www.bbc.co.uk

It is duffuclt to imagine in any circumstances, how a cyclist on a lane can be killed by a driver who is driving according to the Highway Code.

The speed limit is the absolute maximum and does not mean it is safe to drive at that speed irrespective of conditions. Driving at speeds too fast for the road and traffic conditions is dangerous. You should always reduce your speed when

• the road layout or condition presents hazards, such as bends
• sharing the road with pedestrians, cyclists and horse riders, particularly children, and motorcyclists
• weather conditions make it safer to do so
• driving at night as it is more difficult to see other road users.

Now, that is pretty clear.

Stopping distances. Drive at a speed that will allow you to stop well within the distance you can see to be clear.

And that is even clearer. I see a lot of driving in which the driver apparently has ESP, or is driving KITT and believes they truly can see round corners.

When cycling and walking I rely on my ears to let me know of drivers like this, ready to get out of the way of these latter-day Mr Toads. Many of whom probably think they are doing no wrong, and that cyclists, horse riders and pedestrian should get out of their way. And be insured....

 

[Cagey75]

If you think anti-cyclists rants are bad on here, try Sheffield Forum, they hate Cyclists with a vengeance on there.

I've seen far worse, pretty tame here in fact but it's still annoying, that 'us vs them' mentality.

 

[boliston]

Most rider

It is an utterly ridiculous suggestion. Badly thought out and harmful to public health and the environment.

yep, any rules that make people less likely to cycle is a bad thing for everyone, including motorists and pedestrians - take for example the crazy australian rule that it is illegal to cycle without a helmet - this was proven to reduce the number of people who cycle and cause a decline in health as a result - ironically the reverse of what their government actually wanted

 

[cambsno]

Yes, it is excellent.

If we are to help people move to healthy and environmentally friendlier modes of transport, then we need the law and the Highway Code to catch up. I'm just been looking around a place I grew up - remembering that I used to cycle along main roads, and also along the quieter back roads.

I would not cycle on the main roads here now, and when I think of what it was like cycling on side roads, I am reminded of this story from a few days ago.

Fairstead: Cyclist killed in collision with car

A 65-year-old man is arrested on suspicion of causing death by careless driving.

www.bbc.co.uk

It is duffuclt to imagine in any circumstances, how a cyclist on a lane can be killed by a driver who is driving according to the Highway Code.


Now, that is pretty clear.


And that is even clearer. I see a lot of driving in which the driver apparently has ESP, or is driving KITT and believes they truly can see round corners.

When cycling and walking I rely on my ears to let me know of drivers like this, ready to get out of the way of these latter-day Mr Toads. Many of whom probably think they are doing no wrong, and that cyclists, horse riders and pedestrian should get out of their way. And be insured....

Human error, a mistake?

Easy to misjudge speed, road conditions, distance or even just lose concentration, and you only need to do that for a few seconds for an accident to happen. Just the other day I was on my way to town and took the wrong turning off the road without thinking.

 

[Pound Coin]

There may be exceptional situations. Exceptions don’t make the rule.

However, if there are that many human errors, mistakes, then perhaps the country needs to look at how any why they happen, and act accordingly.

 

[AndrewFlannigan]

Human error, a mistake?

Easy to misjudge speed, road conditions, distance or even just lose concentration, and you only need to do that for a few seconds for an accident to happen. Just the other day I was on my way to town and took the wrong turning off the road without thinking.

The one point that receives too little mention is the steady decrease of casualties on UK roads (207,080 in 2011 down to 119,850 by 2021) and the associated drop in road deaths (1,901 down to 1,390 in the same period). See this page: https://www.gov.uk/government/stati...n-provisional-estimates-year-ending-june-2021

This continues a steady improvement in road safety from 1966 when there were 7,985 road deaths: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reported_Road_Casualties_Great_Britain

 

[Pound Coin]

However, simply looking at the death stats doesn't take account of drink drive laws, airbags, crumple zones, better tyres, better brakes, better lights, better road signage, better road surfaces, more comprehensive driving test, roadside cameras, etc.

More importantly it takes no account of the fact that vulnerable road users have largely been bullied off the roads by vehicle users.

 

[onomatopoeia]

However, simply looking at the death stats doesn't take account of drink drive laws, airbags, crumple zones, better tyres, better brakes, better lights, better road signage, better road surfaces, more comprehensive driving test, roadside cameras, etc.

More importantly it takes no account of the fact that vulnerable road users have largely been bullied off the roads by vehicle users.

My experience is that in the 35 years I've been driving there are far more cyclists on the roads now than in the 1980s. YMMV etc, but I live in a hilly city and 50% of the employees at my workplace cycle to work (at least they did in the beforetimes, with WFH and less cars on the road some of those still coming into the office now drive instead).

 

[Jelster]

My experience is that in the 35 years I've been driving there are far more cyclists on the roads now than in the 1980s. YMMV etc, but I live in a hilly city and 50% of the employees at my workplace cycle to work (at least they did in the beforetimes, with WFH and less cars on the road some of those still coming into the office now drive instead).

I would say this is the case in general. Far more people riding bikes now than there used to be, and with the growing popularity of E-bikes, I'm sure the number will increase.

 

[AndrewFlannigan]

I would say this is the case in general. Far more people riding bikes now than there used to be, and with the growing popularity of E-bikes, I'm sure the number will increase.

The numbers are readily available. Here are some from https://www.cyclinguk.org/statistics

Cycling accounted for 1% of all road traffic in 2019 against cars at 77.3%, Cycle use increased by just under 60% from 1993 to 2019 but this followed a sharp decline from approximately 14 billion miles cycled in 1949 to just over 2 billion miles cycled in 1993.

Cycle journeys per day in London rose from just over 20,000 in 1977 to a peak of just over 180,000 in 2015, followed by a dip to just over 160,000 in the following year with a recovery to roughly 170,000 in 2017.

However, the proportion of all trips carried out by bicycle across England varied only slightly around 1.7% from 2002 to 2019.