Jump to content

Recommended Posts

Southwark Council want to know what we (the public) would like them to do to make cycling better in Southwark. They are asking for comments from both cyclists and non-cyclists. If you would like to have your say, please go to www.southwark.gov.uk/cyclingstrategy. Apparently you can enter a ?100 draw for your trouble.

It is a sad fact that life has become so unimportant, we rush to get things done, to get to places without a thought of anyone else apart from ourselves. I am a driver, and would like to stress a careful driver, but there are lapses in judgment that are caused by the distraction of trying to reach a destination that, five minutes faster, but things have changed. There are far more vehicles and far more cyclists on the road. I am not trained, and the cyclists are not trained, and now I notice pedestrians are not trained to cross the road. I do find myself surrounded at times especially on Brixton Road by cyclists all vying to be ahead of the queue, it is sometimes like the start of the tour de France. On top of this you have pedestrians walking between the vehicles because they can walk 5 metres to the lights. I sometimes cannot move from a traffic light as I have a cyclist on my right, left in front and rear. Then you have the idiot impatiant drivers who have now resorted to hooting the horn once the amber light appears once the light changed from red. On top of this you have the pedestrian who, although the red man shows starts crossing with a pram on a phone, then you have the school mums who think they can cross between the the traffic to save the one minute extra walk to the crossing or those who see a bus and who just run out dodging the traffic. On top of this it is a worry when I have indicated for the past 50 metres ahead that I intend to turn left, but the cyclist does not slow down because he is in the bus lane that I cannot go into until the junction, but as he got his speed does not want to stop. Then the pedestrian who does not check if a car is going to turn into the road that i am turning into as they just walk out into the road. It is a continual vigil, which I undertake and many sensible drivers take, but caution can also be a danger, as drivers cannot check everything. It is really really difficult but in all this, drivers have to be mindful of other vehicles and the laws as well. We all need to work together, and all need education to make our roads safer. There is good and bad in all off us, it is the need to understand as time passes we have a chance to enjoy life, but if we try to rush time we may meet death.


When you take all this into consideration, what laws or redress do either pedstrians or cyclist have apart from their own lives and why be so frivolant. Is it not a matter to be more mindful of your own actions, be more patiant, learn the rules of the road, and this is not just to cyclists but to pedestians, cyclists and drivers.

  • 1 month later...
At the Dulwich end of Greendale the light by the two rows of wooden bollards hasn't been working for a while, making the bollards hard to see until you're right on top of them. I narrowly missed crashing into one yesterday. Reported to Southwark today but apparently it may take them 10 days to respond.

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Latest Discussions

    • Here is another article from the excellent Special Needs Jungle (SNJ) with tips for responses to the SEND conversation survey. Including shoe horning in EHCPs which they "forget" to ask a question about in the conversation. And living as we do in Southwark with the huge misfortune of 100% academy secondary schools, some thoughts on this and how unlikely inclusion in mainstream is within the current education landscape. Closing date 14 Jan 2026. And please consider a donation to the excellent entirely run by volunteers SNJ. In my view the government could save money by creating some smaller mainstream secondary schools for kids who can cope in primary school but not  with the scale of secondary, and need a calmer less busy setting. The funding would have to be different - it is currently on a per pupil basis which favours larger schools. But it would undoubtedly be cheaper than specialist provision, and the huge cost to individual children and families (emotional and financial) and to society. https://www.specialneedsjungle.com/tips-help-complete-governments-send-conversation-survey-law/ If anyone wants to take a radical step to help their struggling child, my tip is to move far away: these are the best two schools I have ever visited and in a beautiful part of the country. I only wish we'd moved there before it was too late for my son who had to suffer multiple failings at Charter North and then at the hands of Southwark SEND, out of education from February to October in year 10-11, having already suffered the enduring trauma of a very difficult early life, which in combination with ADHD made his time at schools which just don't care so very unbearable for all of us. https://www.cartmelprioryschool.co.uk/ https://settlebeck.org/ As an add on, I would say to anybody considering adoption, please take into account the education battles that you are very much more likely to face than the average parent. First you have schools to deal with, already terrible; then being passed from pillar to post within Southwark Education, SEND, Education Inclusion Team, round and round as they all do their best to explain why they are not responsible and you need someone different, let's hold another multi-agency meeting, never for one minute considering that if they put the child at the centre and used common sense they would achieve a lot more in much less time without loads of Southwark employees sitting in endless meetings with long suffering parents. It is hard to fully imagine this at the start of your adoption journey, full of hope as you are, but truly education is not for the faint hearted, and should be factored into your decision. You'll never hear from people who are really struggling and continue to do so, only from those who've had challenges but overcome them and it's all lovely. And education, the very people who should be there to help, are the ones who make your lives the most hellish out of everything your child and you face.
    • It’s a big problem all over London. I’ve seen it happen in Kennington and Bloomsbury in the last year. I think there has been some progress recently with some key arrests, but you do need to be very careful when walking around with your phone out, especially, as you say, if wearing noise cancelling headphones. Sorry you experienced this 
    • Luke Johnson (prominent director and co-owner), supported Brexit and backed the Vote Leave campaign. He also described the response to Covid as ‘a campaign of fear’ and 2020 funded a media consultant for the ‘Covid-recovery group’ of anti-lockdown MPs.
    • I'm a bit of an architecture geek and I must confess I find it one of the most gimmicky ugly redesigns I've seen in a while. I'm always open to quirky but this is just not nice in any way shape or form.
Home
Events
Sign In

Sign In



Or sign in with one of these services

Search
×
    Search In
×
×
  • Create New...