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@skydancer @ Broadway mkt
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Do you still have your anti motorcycle bias?
That's an interesting question, which of course has no validity as I don't think I ever had such a bias. I used to own and ride motorcycles but I more or less stopped that when I came to Britain and discovered how cold and wet it is.
I am perhaps known as the person who leads opposition to plans for allowing people on motorcycles to use bus lanes. That oppositions was based, in part, on predictions of increased casualties to people on bikes or on foot. After various trials and impact studies there wasn't conclusive evidence on the impact on other road users. What was clear from the data was that allowing people on motorcycles to use bus lanes increased the risk of casualty to themselves. TfL now spend a lot more on enforcement and training to counteract this increased risk. So opposition to people on motorcycles being allowed to use bus lanes is in their best interest. -
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+1
I am a motorist. I think I am an ok sort of person, most of the time.The Personal Construct Psychology perspective suggests that
People develop constructs as internal ideas of reality in order to
understand the world around them. They are based on our
interpretations of our observations and experiences. Every construct
is bipolar, specifying how two things are similar to each other (lying
on the same pole) and different from a third thing.So maybe the problem is that we have too many socio-psychologists (*) out on the streets looking for tribal warfare where it may not exist.
I suspect that when we are motorists much of the feeling towards unprotected road users comes from our own fear, perhaps subliminal fear, that we are not totally in control of our machine, and we are afraid of hurting other people. It is human nature to externalise those fears, creating a fictional "other", rather than admitting and embracing our own inadequacies.
Much the same is true when we are riding bikes. I often have to deal with people complaining about dangerous pedestrians being a threat to people on bikes. The standard response "have you considered cycle training" is not always well received.
(* should that be "psycho-sociologists")
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apc - where is this small town route? It could make a good case study. Most UK traffic engineers are unaware of the poor safety record of two way cycle tracks beside roads, especially one way roads. The problem is that at junctions drivers only look in the direction they expect traffic to be coming from and so hit the cyclists coming the other way. EU research has shown the 'wrong side' junctions have much higher casualty rates than normal junctions.
One of the reasons for replacing the two way track on Camden's Royal College St/St.Pancras Way route was the high level of casualties, including one fatality, at junctions with cross streets. The new route with one way tracks on each side of the road puts cyclists where drivers expect to see them.
Two way tracks can work well where there are no or very few cross streets, for example on the new East-West Cycle Superhighway along the Thames embankment. -
It's London Cycling Campaign.
Saturday October 17th for the LCC Annual General Meeting and Campaigner's Conference
AGM from 9.30 am, Campaigner's Conference in the afternoon.This is the really important time when members of LCC get to vote on who is going to guide cycle campaigning in London for the next few years. Any LCC member can vote electronically before the meeting or on the day.
The list of candidates is possibly not as divisive as last year but it is really important to vote to make sure that you have a voice in the way LCC is run. There are some familiar faces, and a couple of new ones.
There is a whole set of gritty motions which you can argue about and take part in the decision making. You have to be an LCC member to take part.
In the afternoon join in the conference workshops or bring your own topic for discussion.
And finally there will be the Campaigner of the Year Awards.
Nominations are now open to recognise the people you admire.
We have four main Award Categories to reflect the range of fantastic work our Local Groups, members and activists do:- Best Ride Leader
- Best Local Group Ride or Event
- Best Local Group Campaign or Initiative
- 'Campaigner of the Year' (Outstanding Contribution to Local Cycling Campaigning by an LCC member)
Also - see the jobs section for the Marketing Officer vacancy at LCC
https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/273838/ - Best Ride Leader
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Marketing Officer - 4 days a week.
The London Cycling Campaign (LCC) is looking for someone with creativity, enthusiasm and energy to market LCC membership, implement membership recruitment campaigns and promote our activities to London’s expanding cycling community. These are exciting times for cycling in London and we need someone who has creative insight to capture the attention of new cyclists and bring them into the LCC family - further strengthening our voice as the world’s largest urban cycling campaign. -
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The Standard have now amended their story to confirm it was a pedestrian hit by a bus and caught underneath.
RIP Poor soul.
the subject line of this thread can be amended -
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That is a really nasty article in City Metric. The 15 percent figure is a dishonest rendering of the statistics, 77% said they slow down and give way, 15% said they had stopped to give way. We have not yet seen any casualty reports from these locations.
There are many thousands of bus stop by-passes all over the country, everywhere they have been building cycle lanes on pavements for the past 30 years. The new cycle by-passes on Stratford High street are badly designed, we are meeting with Transport for London next week to see how they can do them better. -
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Yes, heal up Sarah.
I did like this comment under the ES storyLDN-Lady
Anyone else wondering why an unknown actress plugging her play with daddy the influencer at her side makes front page news? St Thomas' is a 4 min drive from Lambeth Bridge, there are taxis everywhere and she wasn't dying. If she lay on the ground for 2 hours while mummy drove from her big house in the countryside, then that's up to her. Don't be bribed into news ES Journalists! -
This morning's commute
Chapter 1: Hackney
Arriving at the Lock 7 traffic lights a pedestrian stopped in the road and asked the rider in front could she take a photo of his bike.
"Sure," he said as he leant back with his loose, leather bag draped stylishly over one shoulder "it's a Danish bike, a Pedersen, designed in eighteen ninety something".
She took the photo then commented on his leather bag. "It's a goat, from Mali."Chapter 2: Tower Hamlets
Cutting down a side street towards Weaver's fields a small car rushed out from a street on the left. Emergency stop, a string of expletives from me, we just avoided running into each other. The driver stepped out the car saying, "Do you want to repeat what you said?".
Remembering Anna G's calming advice I took a deep breath and replied "I'm sorry for swearing at you but the way you came out scared the shit out of me".
That made him think for a second and start a 'discussion' about rights of way at un-marked junctions and what you might learn for a driver's theory test. (He was a young driver and there was a very new dent on the front right corner of his car.)
A bit later he put out his hand to shake, which I accepted. As I pulled away he noticed my cap, labelled 'London Cycling Campaign'.
"Ah", he said as he sat back in his car, "London . . . . lorries . . . " -
Cycling south onTower Bridge my usual right turn into Q.Elizabeth II st was blocked by Operation Safeway policeman. Turning right just after the keep left sign is lawful and there is plenty of space to negotiate the blocked traffic and pedestrians coming the other way. The policeman said I had to get off or use the narrow gap at the lights where either the back or front of your bike is in the moving traffic stream as are pedestrians trying to cross at the same time.
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Very sad outcome on a nasty road
http://lcc.org.uk/articles/cyclist-fatality-after-midnight-crash-on-harrow-rat-run-road -
Best wishes for speedy recovery:
http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/cyclist-seriously-injured-after-being-hit-by-skip-lorry-on-london-bridge-in-rush-hour-10325077.html"The cyclist is thought to be a woman her in late 20s. She has been taken to a central London hospital with leg injuries which are not thought to be life-threatening".
The skip lorry involved looks very similar to the one that killed David Poblet just down the road at the junction of Tanner St and Jamaica road in 2011
http://www.london-se1.co.uk/news/view/5169
https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/185748/ -
The trial is expected to go on until the end of the week. The outcome will depend on a mass of complicated arguments between expert witnesses. The jury is likely to be confused.
All we can say at the moment is that the fact this has come to a prosecution and trial is far better than five years ago. Lisa Pontecorvo was killed in similar circumstances on Holloway road.
https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/136761/ The class VI mirror on the front of the Hansen Concrete mixer lorry had been broken off and been missing for over two weeks. Neither the driver or lorry owner were prosecuted over that death. -
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This happened at Nuttall street junction mid morning. It was cleared up when I went past at 12 but man working near by said the woman cyclist was taken to hospital with broken leg. We don't know how seriously she was hurt. Hoping that she heals up soon.