Plan on Cycle Deaths and Accidents, ideas and suggestions.

Following recent media stories about accidents and after listening to The Bike Show Podcast while driving during my job it got me thinking:

It's all well n good campaigning to Copenhagenize our cities but without knocking down buildings to create cycle paths I can't see that happening any time soon.

I did think, why create cycle paths when we have perfectly good roads, it's the traffic on them that's the problem, be it cars, hgvs, cyclists, pedestrians or anything else.

And cheap solutions are usually the best.
So, I had a brainstorm which I've typed up, bus stops for cyclists.
I'd like to know peoples thoughts and also their ideas as to what could realistically be done, within a short time frame, with very low investment and without a leap in technology to be implemented.

The film We Are Traffic, about the Critical Mass movement shows how the critical mass of people using bikes (China I think it was) just politely forces the cars to give way. Then it goes on to the Critical Mass city streets are ours folk or antagonize as much as publicize cycling in a city.

I've uploaded my ByCycle document here:
http://sdrv.ms/1exLJBj

Re: Plan on Cycle Deaths and Accidents, ideas and suggestion

train tracks run all over the country and take the most direct route and the flattest, install a cycle path next to train tracks and that's half the problem solved, intercity there is no simple solution unless your prepared to remove cars or build them out of sponge or inflatable cars

having read the proposal id have to say I probably wouldn't use it for many reasons

Re: Plan on Cycle Deaths and Accidents, ideas and suggestion

Interesting idea Stewart - not convinced by it but interesting nonetheless.

One comment - you need a 1 or 2 liner in the synopsis about what bycycle is - you ask the question in the heading but don't answer it.

Re: Plan on Cycle Deaths and Accidents, ideas and suggestion

lumos2000":3ohmd7pl said:

train tracks run all over the country and take the most direct route and the flattest, install a cycle path next to train tracks and that's half the problem solved, intercity there is no simple solution unless your prepared to remove cars or build them out of sponge or inflatable cars

having read the proposal id have to say I probably wouldn't use it for many reasons

Click to expand...

I believe bike lanes and converting trail lines cost about 400k a mile. There are campaigns and volunteers doing this but its getting politicians to spend money and following accidents demanding they do it fast that's the problem.

We'll not remove the cars, wish we could, at least on some roads we could put off any through traffic by there always being cyclist on them.

For what reasons would you not use the scheme? I'd like to hear suggestions, maybe we the riders could all come by a solution.

I'm looking at a simple and inexpensive implementation if a solution that may find itself.

Re: Plan on Cycle Deaths and Accidents, ideas and suggestion

1. Educate cyclists. When the government introduced the cycle to work scheme, it failed to realise that the consequence would be thousands of newbies taking to the roads, who hadn't experienced the current UK traffic, and shocking road conditions. This introduced a mass of cyclists who had little or no experience of how to cycle and stay safe on the "commute".

2. Educate drivers. it seems that many drivers have forgotten what it's like to ride a bike, and the distance which should be accorded to a cyclist. Fundamentally, there should be a campaign to inform drivers that the annoying object, which the Daily Mail has been winding them up about, and that they are potentially going to knock over, is not a cyclist, but a human being on a bike.

3. Maintenance of the left hand track in the road (UK). The amount of potholes, degraded road surfaces and eroded tarmac edges etc, is a massive hazard, which can cause a cyclist to lose control, or swerve to avoid the feature. I'm afraid there are far too many car drivers who will not give cyclists room to deal with such sudden changes.

Thus, a change in the standards of cycling, and a change in the attitudes of the motorists are required. No need for ridiculous sensors up the left hand side of HGVs, if the cyclist is aware that he should not be in that position, for any reason. Cyclist should be taught by public campaign about road awareness, road position, and being seen.

Re: Plan on Cycle Deaths and Accidents, ideas and suggestion

secret_squirrel":591quig2 said:

Interesting idea Stewart - not convinced by it but interesting nonetheless.

One comment - you need a 1 or 2 liner in the synopsis about what bycycle is - you ask the question in the heading but don't answer it.

Click to expand...

Any suggestions for improval most appreciated, will add to draft 2 .

This doc was my 1st brainstorm to question the idea. Leaflets and ads could follow for the riders. Noted about answering my own question, doh!

Re: Plan on Cycle Deaths and Accidents, ideas and suggestion

Good points ratbane, the government not thinking ahead? Getaways!

Education is a great solution and much needed, for all road users. If ByCycle could be implemented I'd hope to use the 'brand' with a publicity campaign ad a start.

I have another idea for a cycle safely ad campaign, with a nod to drivers thinking "yeah about time someone told those idiots to ride using the roads like we do.... Oh.." one a a time hey.

Thanks for taking the time to read, as an active forum we may get a lit of input.

Re: Plan on Cycle Deaths and Accidents, ideas and suggestion

well, I read it and have some thoughts.
Critical mass by definition is a tipping point, so removing that tipping point whether its motor vehicles, by getting more people on bikes or Bikes to get more people onto public transport is just making it easier for the 'other groups to exist and subsequently people will take the path of least resistance and your back to square 1.
Its a simple mass transit issue, we have too much of it (mass) to transit in an efficient way. if all the car drivers in a major city suddenly started cycling then the issue of congestion remains just at a slower level. Bejing).
We dont have the climate or the facilities to enable mass transit by unprotected means, I'm sure there are a few executives who choose to leave their 5 series at home and longboard to work along the beachfront of malibu and ponder what it would be like to sit on a London Boris bike in the pi$$ing down rain in Feburary.
The fact of the matter is, we, as humans are inherently lazy, yes there are a few stalwarts that show the 'stiff upper lip' but most will not, our culture has been brought up around the car, it was most 15 year olds (and still is) ambition to ditch their bike as soon as they turn 17 and start driving, I'm a teacher, I teach 17 year old all day long and yes not one of them rides a Bike and they think I'm a weirdo for cycling 18 miles each way to work. Even with the 2 grand plus they have to pay for their insurance (mine was £300 fully comp in 1989) they still choose to drive. The fact we are constantly defending our position, literally and metaphorically proves this, we have to trot out the same boring rhetoric about road tax, primary positions rlj,s ect to an uninterested and hostile audience means we will never win this fight, motoring is ingrained into the British way of life, the last time a mass movement made a difference to the policy's of this country was the poll tax riots and that was 24 years ago. I am attending this friday,s critical mass in London not because I think it will make a difference (it wont, it never does other than to further alienate cyclists) but to, in some way show that enough is enough. I have a feeling something big is going to happen and I want to be part of it.
summing up, any shift to make cycling easier will always be met with resistance from the majority motorist, who seem to quickly forget they are the same as us but choose to stay warm.
pedal on comrades.

Re: Plan on Cycle Deaths and Accidents, ideas and suggestion

stewlewis":ikh9enuc said:

lumos2000":ikh9enuc said:

train tracks run all over the country and take the most direct route and the flattest, install a cycle path next to train tracks and that's half the problem solved, intercity there is no simple solution unless your prepared to remove cars or build them out of sponge or inflatable cars

having read the proposal id have to say I probably wouldn't use it for many reasons

Click to expand...

I believe bike lanes and converting trail lines cost about 400k a mile. There are campaigns and volunteers doing this but its getting politicians to spend money and following accidents demanding they do it fast that's the problem.

We'll not remove the cars, wish we could, at least on some roads we could put off any through traffic by there always being cyclist on them.

For what reasons would you not use the scheme? I'd like to hear suggestions, maybe we the riders could all come by a solution.

I'm looking at a simple and inexpensive implementation if a solution that may find itself.

Click to expand...

possibly the way the town I live is structured, this might work in larger city's but where I live its easy to avoid traffic down back roads, alleys and paths ect, a lot of routes i take run parallel to train tracks.
incidentally ive seen clubs and people in brazil using this type of idea to ride, most people in city's ride at night as its to hot during the day, they stay in large groups to stay safe and the traffic is lighter. though this is not for commuting but social exercise

Re: Plan on Cycle Deaths and Accidents, ideas and suggestion

I think you are trying to cure the symptom rather than the actual problem - which is that individuals in society have become very self-focused with lost consideration for the "old rules of society" and consideration of others.

If all road users drove or rode with respect to other users and respected the (highly developed) highway code then a lot of collisions etc could be avoided. People are generally in too much of a hurry and don't have the time to make the effort.

To do this either you change people's attitude by communication and education or you legislate. Personally I think we need to try to set an example because to tell someone else to do something that we don't do ourselves is just hypocritical. So for example, if red lights apply to all road users then we should either obey them or change the law that means does not apply to certain road users. If individuals just unilaterally decide which rules apply and which don't then the general trend will be towards a general disregard of them and so onto chaos. There are groups of people who think the mistake that Emma Way made was tweeting rather than the attitude.