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Chris Boardman: riding a bike on UK roads feels too dangerous for me

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  1. jdanielp
    Member

    https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/aug/31/chris-boardman-riding-a-bike-on-uk-roads-feels-too-dangerous-for-me

    'Boardman ... dislikes the word “cyclist”. He prefers “person on a bike”, and says he will be focusing his efforts on encouraging drivers out of their cars.

    “I’m not interested in cyclists ... I’m interested in the people in the cars. Getting them to change, it’s got to be easy, appealing and safe, in that order,” he said, suggesting his success ought to be measured by some sort of “happiness index”. “You have to measure: is this a more pleasant place to be or not?”

    He added: “If it’s not the easiest solution, they’re not going to do it. If it looks a bit intimidating, they are not going to do it. And that means space, and it means joined-up space. I’m only going to make a piece of cycling infrastructure if it’s joined up, otherwise it’s wasting everybody’s money.”'

    Posted 6 years ago #

  2. I were right about that saddle
    Member

    Manchester has several notorious bike lanes that suddenly deposit cyclists into heavy traffic, sometimes on the wrong side of the road, or into bus lanes.

    Sheer bloody luxury.

    Seriously though - Manc got their trams right, maybe they can show us the way on active travel too?

    Posted 6 years ago #

  3. ih
    Member

    I've only been to Manchester once in the recent past, but I thought the provision of cycle infrastructure in the centre was awful. Piccadilly station didn't even have bike parking facilities. The trams and wall-to-wall cars made the idea of cycling there unappealing to say the least, just as Boardman says. Good luck to him. I like his phrase about no infrastructure unless it's joined up - other cities note.

    Posted 6 years ago #

  4. I were right about that saddle
    Member

    no infrastructure unless it's joined up

    Yeah, that's it. Should be the PoP slogan. Join it up or don't bother.

    Posted 6 years ago #

  5. rider73
    Member

    sounds like he's had enough of banging his head against the brick wall that is most of the UK councils/government when dealing with cycling/cycling safety/infrastructure

    Posted 6 years ago #

  6. crowriver
    Member

    Fair play to him, and respect due. Hope he can convince the city to make some real change happen.

    Posted 6 years ago #

  7. ih
    Member

    Interview at 13.40 on R4 World at One today, with author of Guardian article. She came across well, with a robust reply on the Furious Cycling case. The other interviewee from Oxfordshire County Council not so good, but not outrageously bad either.

    Posted 6 years ago #

  8. cb
    Member

    Chris Boardman’s got it wrong: cycling on British roads has never been safer

    Posted 6 years ago #

  9. jdanielp
    Member

    'For years I have cycled into central London via Oval and the notorious gyratory at Vauxhall. Today, making the same journey via a segregated lane is a joy I could not have imagined. I believe the lanes also encourage cyclists, including me, to ride more calmly than we did when it felt like a war footing was the only way to survive.'

    So 'cycling on British roads has never been safer' where segregated cycle lanes have been installed. Interesting.

    Posted 6 years ago #

  10. paulmilne
    Member

    As usual, it's the sensationalist headline writer who has got it wrong.

    The point is CB is right to push the safety angle as that will concentrate minds. He'd probably love to get the ball rolling in the same direction as London, and look to see what can be improved in Manchester. Good luck to him.

    Posted 6 years ago #

  11. crowriver
    Member

    @jdanielp, yeah it's a really London-centric counter blast. Someone needs to tell that commenter that out here in the Provinces segregated cycle lanes are like hen's teeth. Check his privilege and all that stuff.

    Posted 6 years ago #

  12. Murun Buchstansangur
    Member

    He's got his work cut out in MCR:

    https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/sep/04/police-accused-of-victim-shaming-after-cyclist-deaths-in-manchester

    Posted 6 years ago #

  13. ih
    Member

    From the article: No one has been arrested in connection with Wojciechowka’s death.

    Does that mean the lorry driver did not stop, or that Greater Manchester Police has already decided that no crime was committed?

    Posted 6 years ago #

  14. Murun Buchstansangur
    Member

    Neither. Presumably GMP are still investigating (when they're not tweeting), but I think an arrest could only be made once they believe they have evidence that a crime has been committed.

    Posted 6 years ago #

  15. Ed1
    Member

    http://www.itv.com/news/2018-08-12/olympic-cyclist-boardman-speaks-out-over-new-road-safety-laws/

    Posted 5 years ago #

  16. ih
    Member

    This dogwhistle reaction really angers me. I actually thought they would consider this in the context of a full review of road traffic law. How dumb was I?

    I don't think that Alliston would have been convicted of a Dangerous Cycling charge (he was doing 14mph at the point of impact). Media outlets always refer to "wanton and furious driving" but that wasn't the reason he was (rightly, imo) convicted. The relevant law was:

    "Whosoever, having the charge of any carriage or vehicle, shall by wanton or furious driving or racing, or other wilful misconduct, or by wilful neglect, do or cause to be done any bodily harm to any person whatsoever, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and being convicted thereof shall be liable, at the discretion of ..."

    See that phrase "other wilful misconduct"? That's what got him - no front brake.

    But instead of an intelligent response, government does the thing they know will be popular among their base.

    Posted 5 years ago #

  17. Blueth
    Member

    That "relevant law" looks to me to be so comprehensive as to be very hard to improve on and achieved a successful conviction. It probably enables prosecution where a more modern law would fall short by being too prescriptive.

    Just because it's old does not mean time should be wasted trying to improve on it at the expense of other areas where the law actually is deficient.

    Posted 5 years ago #

  18. gembo
    Member

    Waste of government time and money given existing legislation can be used and also so few convictions will result.

    Posted 5 years ago #

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