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My question is, do you believe we can segregate every road in London to make it safe enough for our imaginary 5 year old to cycle on?
It wouldn't be necessary to do this because mass uptake of cycling brings with it safety benefits ("safety in numbers") that make narrow roads navigable by different types of cyclists without needing segregated infrastructure. A reduction in the number of motor vehicles, for e.g (because the drivers are maybe on bikes instead). The motorists already there being accustomed to being around large numbers of cyclists, for e.g. Motorised through traffic being banned from some of those roads entirely, 20mph zones, for e.g.
People who are campaigning for a high quality segregated network aren't saying "put bike lanes on every single road and street", but that's frequently used as a straw man argument anyway to dismiss the idea of having any segregation at all.
bothwell-
Ok I get it, so it's going to be a long, natural process then, we just need more people to start cycling, in order for more roads to be changed right?
Are you anti more people cycling? You don't to be 'pro' to see the current situation as iniquitous, favouring the strong and the brave.
Woah no don't get me wrong here, I love cycling, but I have a whole lot of "non cycling friends" and they live in town and they don't cycle.
I don't get that they don't cycle, they don't get that I do. That doesn't mean I'm forcing it down their necks, I'm in the pro do what ever you want camp because at the end of day that's all that people are going to do.
Antidotes
You have some very good points.
I think I get where our different approach to this subject lies now.
See, I'm not trying to push to get everyone to cycle. And I think that's about it really.
If you want to make it possible for absolutely everyone in London to cycle no matter the skill or ability there will have to be segregated cycle lane on every street in London. You are going to have to level most of London, most streets are not wide enough. You will have to knock most buildings.
So my worry is that you can't put segregated cycle lanes on every London street, there simply isn't enough room. This means the "weak" or inexperienced riders are going to have to share to road with other road users at some point in their journey. This means these types of cyclists are going to need to at least be safe and confident enough to navigate with traffic.
No again that's where we differ, not mass uptake, just a safer road for all in general for those who choose to use it.
My question is, do you believe we can segregate every road in London to make it safe enough for our imaginary 5 year old to cycle on?
Also lol...
Fit - no. Fast - no. Confident - I like to pretend I am, positive mental attitude and all that.
But thanks anyway.