The Times Cycling Campaign

@ Finger jockey
Define "They"?

The educational authority / local government.

No its good they are saying something.
A critique of what they emphasis and what message they are communicating on a cycling forum is good.

It comes out danger filled because the campaign is born from a sad injury of a times reporter rather than clear recognitions that cycling is the best most fun, harmless and easy way to get around

I'm all for the Campaign but ....

BOYCOTT NEWSCORP and Murdoch enterprises

Just curious, but why? I hear a lot of this and I'm interested what your reasons are.

They need to get cycle training into primary schools again. That way even those who don't take up cycling have something of an understanding of cyclists.

Not sure I agree with this. I found it totally dis-heartening putting a lot into working with children only to have the head teachers/teachers suggest it's far too dangerous and they would NEVER allow any children to cycle to school. I'd rather a scheme that took kids with parent and or teachers. Without the the understanding of those in governance of said children nothing ever changes. <-That and proper sentencing/heavy fining for poor and dangerous driving.

As a vauge aside (and without any stats to back it up), I'd imagine that the bulk of the average car driver's impression of cycling is made up of what they see out of the windscreen, rather than what they read.

Drivers seeing hordes of 'normal people' trundling past them in a dedicated cycle lane as they sit in traffic are presumably much more likely to give it a go. ** Much rather that impression than solitary, well trained cyclists, mixing it up with general traffic because we're too stubborn to accept any help we can get.** If it requires a bit of literary exaggeration to get the former then fine - long term gain is well worth it.

Er being forced to ride much slower in a segregated cycle lane is not of much help to me.

they took my beloved football away from terrestrial tv
their monopoly on televised sporting events
their crap journalism
their tabloids shennanigans
The Sun
Murdoch himself

The only things I respect about the whole bunch of them is Murdochs wife who layed into that pie thrower during the Parliamentary questioning .... feisty lady

sorry for the derail

Er being forced to ride much slower in a segregated cycle lane is not of much help to me.

Nor me. But it's not us we need to get onto bikes. I'm assuming most of us would continue to move at traffic speed in the main lane.

Will be interesting to see if this campaign plays out in the Mayoral elex this year.
Would be good if there were some positive changes as a result of this.

murdochs nepotism

althought for my sins i do have a soft spot for page three girl nikkala, although i am dubious about her parents ability to spell

^3 spelling mistakes in your last 2 posts!

There's a real opportunity here for cycling campaigners.
They now have a serious national newspaper interested - for the moment at least.
It should now be much easier to make Ken and Boris take notice and put cycling safety on the political agenda.

velocio hasn't included a spel checker

If Murdoch is happy to give this column inches and a front page, I for one would much rather it went in The Sun.
Which is sitting on the dashboard of white vans, taxis, lorries and other 'professional' drivers up and down the country,

^ This

^ true
WVM's bible

althought for my sins i do have a soft spot for page three girl nikkala

she's retired (from hanging her baubles out in public, not like pensioned retired)

If Murdoch is happy to give this column inches and a front page, I for one would much rather it went in The Sun.
Which is sitting on the dashboard of white vans, taxis, lorries and other 'professional' drivers up and down the country,

I couldn't agree more.

xxx

If Murdoch is happy to give this column inches and a front page, I for one would much rather it went in The Sun.
Which is sitting on the dashboard of white vans, taxis, lorries and other 'professional' drivers up and down the country,

If I could have the moon on a stick I would have the moon on a stick.

Moon on a Stick - YouTube

Another supporter for JimboJones. Although agree we have to move away from the "cycling is dangerous" angle. I get a little tired of explaining this to people who discover I commute in London on my bike.

• 5 on Jimbo Jones and totally agree with Sparky.
  It's not a perfect campaign, but would you rather wait until the perfect campaign appears (which is likely to be never, as there will always be people disagreeing with something in any campaign made) or to have this and hope that something may come out of it. . For me, I think this is a great step forward!
  
  

As for cycle lanes being dangerous, I hear what you're saying - but this is down to the drivers making them dangerous for not being aware. Look at Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Berlin, Stockholm etc where they have cycle lanes and motorised vehicles knows to look out for cyclists in cycle lanes. It's not the lanes that are dangerous - it's the drivers not looking (but I'm sure that's what you meant anyway).

...feisty lady

Sexist

If Murdoch is happy to give this column inches and a front page, I for one would much rather it went in The Sun.
Which is sitting on the dashboard of white vans, taxis, lorries and other 'professional' drivers up and down the country,

I would like to see it there as well but The Times is probably more influential with policy makers makers.

Skydancer; a debate has been opened in a forum far more influential than cycling websites and action groups. Get involved. Say what you believe. This is the opportunity to be heard. Look at the positives here. This could be an important shift in mainstream (non cycling) thought.

In my view, amateur though it may be, The Times is right to address the perception of danger. It is this perception that keeps many people off their bikes.

Cliveo welcome back.

A similar debate about where and also about the dangers goes on in the Critical Mass forum I think yes we need to counter the argument that cycling is dangerous but a lot of people already think that hence the tedious conversations at work about it and wearing bloody helmets.

But this was a heart felt article and any campaigning to improve our safety is good as Clive says this opens the debate up from cyclists talking to cyclists.