LadyDeliah

It's a start Jeremy. The current situation is totally inadequate and will have to change at some stage. These ideas are a good place to start. If pavements are too narrow there could be other measures implemented, but changing the definition of cycles as vehicles, on a par with cars, lorries etc must be made before ideas on cycle safety can really be fit for purpose.

Looks like an achievable compromise between all dedicated cycle lanes on the roads and our current situation. How hard can it be to implement some of the Japanese ideas in London. It seems Japan is trying to encourage more cycling and look to be doing a good job so far. I think the description of those who travel by cycle as part pedestrian, part vehicle a good one which needs to be pushed in the UK, instead of the insistence that cyclists are vehicles and should comply with motorist based rules of the road. It is clear cyclists are not comparable to motorists.

I agree. Buses in bus lanes are usually far less of a problem than cars and trucks in the other lanes.

Excuse the iPhone typos any spelling/grammar nazis out there!

Twirly, you have some good suggestions. I'd like to add cycle lane and stop box cameras with automatic fines. I'd like to see all traffic lights with a cycle go light which turns green 30 seconds / a minute before the rest of the traffic. I'd like to see cycle lanes widened and fitted with some kind of running ridge thing like on motorways, to let drivers know they are going into the cycle lane. I would like obstructions that block cycle lanes and force us into the traffic should be removed, have a cut through for cycles, or a space on the pavement to bypass the obstruction. On narrow / busy / dangerous roads I would like cyclists to be able to share the pavement, maybe with a dedicated cycle lane or maybe just shared space signs. I would like all busy / dangerous junctions to look at the space sharing ideas that have been used in other countries to increase traffic flow but also allow pedestrians and cyclists to share the space more safely. I would like laws passed to force all new road development to include equal access and priority for pedestrians, cyclists and motorists alike. I would like the trains to be re-nationalised and the money poured into the rail network to go into lowering fares instead of profits for shareholders. I would like bus franchises to be controlled so that they are cheaper to use. I would like more mixed use buildings be given planning permissionsonthat people font always have to live do far from where they work. That'll do for now, cos I need to do done work. Please feel free to add other suggestions.

I saw a cycle locker room near Peckham Rye station actually. I think they even had bikes to rent. Looked really good and I'm sure it will be popular. LaddyMuck, I went to Peckham branch, but I'm sure the others would have some too.

I've had my helmet cam going for about a month but I keep forgetting to save and edit the highlights. I'm going to get on it though and do a typical week of bad driving or something like that to upload to YouTube just for the EDF massive. I may have to find out how to bleep out the expletives though.

I've got to say, if this actually happened (which I personally think is unlikely) then the cyclist was a moron. Seeing as how I think it's a made up story to add to the anti-cyclist argument, or just to stir things up, I think the poster is to blame as he's the only one who who exists in this story. Evidence: 1st post he was edging forward, 2nd post he is stationary. Can't be both.

You could appeal that because the markings are unclear. Oh actually I think it's just the picture that's unclear (initially viewed on iPhone).

You can't declare your identity but it's ok to defame someone else?

Ok, so let me get this right. Cyclists who follow the road markings set out for them are blameworthy as are cyclists who do their own thing in the name of self-preservation? Phew, there we have it. No need to look at ways to exert more control over the lethal lumps of metal being driven on our roads then, it's all down to the cyclists anyway. Not sure about the pedestrians killed, but maybe they are to blame for not dodging out of the way quickly enough to escape being mowed down.

Being in the left of left turning vehicles is also a result of idiot planners putting cycle lanes in the left of the traffic, without a barrier or cycle friendly light phasing. Follow the cycle path, get mown down, go from the left to the right at junctions and be accused of weaving in and out of the traffic. It's badly planned roads and inadequate laws to blame, not victims' behaviour, brought about through systemic flaws.

By the way, I agree that free cycling proficiency classes should be available to anyone who wants to attend them, but this is not a substitute for dealing with the systemic flaws in our current rules and transport infastructure.

Louisa, you are right, but I don't believe we should just accept the status quo. The laws need to be changed to reflect the relative danger of each mode of transport, be it to pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists car drivers etc, in an attempt to minimise the risks and give equal access to our thoroughfares (paid for by us all) to all of the public. The current rules and road systems were designed mainly for the convenience and to meet the needs of, motorists, not pedestrians or cyclists. This has led to them being inadequate for the needs of pedestrians and cyclists, reflected by the high number of deaths and serious injuries in these vulnerable groups. Cycling is set to increase as a mode of transport so unless we want to see a corresponding increase in cyclist deaths, there needs to be an urgent rethink of how we share our thoroughfares, including suitably deterrent punishments for those who cause death and / or serious injury to other users.

Loads of cycling and running gear in Lidl at the moment. I got a winter cycle jacket and new gloves for a really good price, ready for the change in weather.

Ok titch, your opinion is that car drivers are getting better, my experience is the opposite. Now what?

Truck driver who killed a 13 year girl, gets 6 months for dangerous driving and attempting to pervert the course of justice after deleting the text messages he'd been sending while travelling at speeds of up to 55 mph. This he did while his victim lay dying under his truck. http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/local-news/hope-fennells-killer-driver-jailed-5849881 Anyone still think new tougher laws are not necessary?

titch juicy Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I personally reckon at least 3/4 of cycling deaths > could have been avoided if the cyclists use more > common sense. So do you have any data to back up your personal opinion then?

Mick Mac Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Cinema V Boxing Club. > > Lets have a vote. It could be a close call. Boxing. Then the pussys in ED would be able to go to the Plex

Haven't got the stats to hand, but from personal experience, the number of near misses I've suffered from arsehole drivers have been roughly equally distributed between car, truck and bus drivers. The only ones that have actually hit me have been cars, but I guess I wouldn't be typing this if I'd been hit by a truck or a bus.

If anything else was causing the quantity of deaths and serious injuries / health problems that motoring causes, there would be a public outcry and calls to ban it. Why are people so compacent when it comes to the amount of serious damage caused by motorists?

I am a fan of Peckham Multiplex. Tickets for ?4.99 mean it is cheap enough for my daughter and I to go fairly regularly and their large combo (popcorn and drink) is enormous, big enough to share, for about ?6. Not everyone can afford to go to the more expensive cinemas and if Peckham closed, my daughter and I would be gutted.

On fine form this evening Malumbu! Lol

There are thousands of cyclists and pedestrians injured, too many of whom are killed by motorists every year, but condemnation and vitriol seems to be reserved for cyclists. After the death of a cyclist in West Dulwich in Thurlow Park road, the seventh this year alone, isn't it time to examine the dominance of lethal motorised vehicles on our roads with a view to changing the laws to make travel for cyclists and pedestrians alike safer and no longer treated as an inconvenience to drivers. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-23959657 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-13040607

Apparently 5 people per year are killed by lightening: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/scientists-calculate-odd-ways-to-die-282884 And "According to the Department for Transport (DfT), in 2009, the most recent year for which figures are available, no pedestrians were killed in Great Britain by cyclists, but 426 died in collisions with motor vehicles out of a total of 2,222 road fatalities. ... "Indeed, bike riders insist it is they who are vulnerable. Of the 13,272 collisions between cycles and cars in 2008, 52 cyclists died but no drivers were killed." http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-13040607