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news
Wing mirror (licensed on Flickr under CC-BY-ND 2.0 by bobchin1941) AA urges drivers to "think bikes" in new road safety campaign
The AA is launching a campaign urging motorists to look out for people on bicycles and motorbikes – and is giving its 15 million members stickers they can attach to their wing mirrors to prompt them to be vigilant for those on two wheels. As part of what it terms a “New Deal” for Britain’s roads, it also says that cyclists must adhere to the Highway Code.
The “Think once, think twice, think bikes” campaign, which will be formally launched in London on Friday, has the backing of cycling and motoring organisations including British Cycling, the police, the haulage industry and the government, reports The Times.
Besides being sent to AA members, 1 million of the yellow stickers, one of which shows a cyclist inside a warning triangle, the other a motorcyclists, will be distributed via Halfords branches and by police around the country.
The AA says that it has carried out road tests to confirm that motorists’ vision when looking in their mirrors is not impaired.
The sticker with the cyclist logo is designed for the left-hand mirror to act as a visual aid when turning left; the one with the motorcyclist goes on the right-hand mirror, to remind the driver to look out for motorcycles before pulling out.
In 2012, AA president Edmund King said it was time to move away from the “two tribes” mentality that often sees cyclists and motorists viewed as separate species when they are often one and the same person, given the label solely due to which mode of transport they are using at the time.
The AA’s chief executive, Chris Jansen, who rides a bike and takes part in triathlons, repeated that call as he told The Times about the latest initiative.
He said: “This is something that we care about because, when you take the emotion out of it, it is about lives and 25 per cent of deaths on the roads are unfortunately the deaths of people on two wheels.
“It is simple, this New Deal: cyclists have to recognise that it is not a one-way street it is not all about the motorist looking out for cyclists.”
Mr Jansen, who confessed to having been stopped by police two years ago after riding his bike through a red traffic light, went on: “The cyclists have to obey the Highway Code, not go through red lights and recognise when they have been well looked after on Britain’s roads by motorists.
“Motorists ‘think bike’ when they are on the roads, look out for cyclists, particularly when turning left and make sure that you give enough space.
“If each group did those two things… we would have a safer Britain and who wouldn’t want that?
“The growth of cycling is something that we rejoice in as a country. If Britain’s roads were safer more people would cycle and more people cycling has got to be good on a number of fronts,” he added.
On its website, the AA outlines advice to cyclists from Transport for London, which the motoring organisation says “applies equally to cyclists in towns and cities across the country” and it also urges riders to “keep up to date with your knowledge of the Highway Code and follow its advice.”
It also has advice to drivers on how to share the roads safely with cyclists, some of which relates to mirrors:
Expect cyclists in unexpected places – always check your mirrors for cyclists before turning.
Watch out for cyclists coming up on your near side when turning left or moving over to the left – check mirrors and blind spots carefully.
When parking check the door mirror and look behind you before you open the door to make sure you don't hit a cyclist.
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
Latest Comments
- GMBasix 29 min 32 sec ago
There are several cycle awareness courses around the country. They may not address psychology in detail, but they take drivers out on bikes. They...
- chrisonabike 46 min 8 sec ago
Why leave yourself open to the problem in the first place? No windows, no draughty windows.
- chrisonabike 47 min 57 sec ago
Yup - although as a more "distributed" / low cost kind of "good" (which the public purse pays towards) cycling will likely always be susceptible to...
- quiff 1 hour 54 min ago
I'm sure they'd ask Lime to do that too. Come and collect your bikes and my neighbour - they're in pieces.
- brooksby 2 hours 36 sec ago
Ireland seems to have a lot of problems with their cycle lanes… Almost as many as England
- quiff 2 hours 20 min ago
Fair point - I was restricting myself to pedal bikes. As I've never spent that kind of money on anything though (mortgage doesn't count), it's kind...
- brooksby 3 hours 22 min ago
And finally: I wonder how many of the "more than 3,000" signatures on that petition are actually locals, who live or work there (and are not just...
- Doug_D 4 hours 58 min ago
Another book suggestion - I can highly recommend "Lost Summers and Half-Forgotten Afternoons: A Mint Sauce collection" - a beautifully presented...
- mdavidford 6 hours 49 min ago
I think you're missing an opportunity to pack even more tech into it - add accelerometers that can detect whether they're pedalling or stepping....
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32 comments
So Chris Jansen thinks that cyclists should "recognise when they have been well looked after on Britain’s roads by motorists", really? Well maybe he should try riding a bicycle in France where cyclists are "well looked after on the roads by motorists", but only because France has the strictest Strict Liability laws in Europe and a law that requires motorists to give cyclists at least 1.5 m clearance when passing. If he is serious then maybe we should get such laws here as well!
OK so that is not to say that all French drivers are totally safe when driving near cyclists, some aren't.
paulrbarnard - Jeeze you need to chill out amlittle. My comments weren't aimed at 'real' cyclist just the ones that give us a poor name who probably don't subscribe to this site. You know the ones that jump red lights on a rusty Appollo bike at night pi55ed up with no lights and not the keen sports rider. I believe my comments are still relevant.
There are no 'real' cyclists, just lots of very different people who happen to be using a bike. Nobody gives 'cyclists' a bad name other than self-serving motorists, the whole 'bad name' thing is drivel.
I certainly don't buy the idea that cyclists should all be judged because some people on a bike behave badly. And you know what, I don't think most motorists do judge things like that.
But it is a bit of a catch 22 thing really. Sometimes some of us on here are a bit parochial and even when a cyclist is to blame for some incident jump to their defence.
It's a bit like the aggro that some Muslims get because when they get the opportunity to condemn Islamic terrorists, they mutter something about condemning all terrorists and then going on to list a litany of grievances and provocations. Which looks and sounds like a bit of tacit support rather than condemnation.
I have plenty to say about bad driving. Lots of us on here have pretty strong views on that. I don't know for a fact but most of us drive as well as cycle at least all my cycling mates do. That aresehole riding a bike like a complete pillock might be a fellow cyclist today but when he is in his car tomorrow he is unlikely to have had a personality implant. Tomorrow he could be your worst nightmare.
It's not to do with whether you are a cyclist or not really but whether you are a considerate road user. If you ride and drive I think that gives you a perspective that makes you more considerate. But it probably is a mindset as well.
The arsehole on a bike is probably just as big an arsehole in a car as well. They are probably just an arsehole.
Condemn them for being an arsehole inconsiderate road user by all means, that what I do. Whatever their form of transport.
deleted 'cos wrong thread!
I used to ride a rusty Apollo bike at night pi55ed up home after Friday night post-work pub outings. I did have lights, but Never Readies might as well not have been there. I'm still not a sports rider. Nice to know you don't consider cycle commuters real. They probably think you're a grumpy judg-mental idiot too.
What in the blue blazes is the AA doing having a criminal as Chief Exec? And why does he assume that because he's one of the minority of criminal cyclists that everyone else needs telling to obey the law?
The only permanent page on the AA's website about cycling is http://www.theaa.com/travel/safe_walking_cycling.html which is all about dangerising cycling and contains bad advice like telling you to ride in single file on narrow roads (what, so cars think they can squeeze past?), riding alone in wet weather even when you're in a group (why not just fit mudguards and flaps and signal stopping?), wearing helmets and luminous clothing (yay, let's imply victim-blaming!) and carrying waterproofs even when it's warm enough that it doesn't matter if you get wet (yay, let's weigh them down like cars!).
British Cycling should tell the AA to sling their hook until they get a non-lawbreaking chief exec and get real about cycling. It's just a bike ride, not a blasted alpine expedition that needs 17 bullet points of prep!
No it's not - there's another linked in the article above and it's from 2012.
I suspect the one you linked is much older (certainly it's an old website design) and it seems to have disappeared from the current version of the site.
On the old website, that page is reached by clicking the link under the 'Related information' on the Walks & Cycle Rides page; there doesn't appear to be any such link now.
Not sure how you found it (Google?) but it looks like a page that should have been archived - the difference in page design suggests it wasn't part of the website revamp.
Some of the advice you mention - riding in single file on narrow roads, for instance - is in the Highway Code, so it's difficult to blame the AA for citing that.
The other reason I think that's outdated is that the AA did have a section providing advice to motorists and cyclists on how to share the road safely - I know that Carlton Reid helped formulate that, and it was better than most advice you see out there.
That all now seems to have been replaced by the page I linked in the article.
Oh I thought that was a dated news item, not a permanent page. It's pretty awful, a mix of bike-bashing and stating the obvious. Cyclists get told not to jump red lights (because of a fine? Nah, don't do it because it's often annoying and/or hazardous to you or others) while drivers get no similar caution, despite being responsible for most red lights jumped and routinely blasting through a cycleway/road junction that I use. Even parking in cycle lanes or driving into an advanced stop box is only "committing a road traffic offence" or "against the Highway Code" rather than mentioning the penalties.
The AA is basically repeating TfL outrages that helped provoke the "Stop Killing Cyclists" protests in London. They seem to be a false friend.
I found it by going to www.theaa.com, not seeing anything to do with cycling on that page, typing cycling in the search box top right and clicking the most likely-looking result.
No, it's very easy to blame them: at best, including that bad advice shows that they're clueless. At worst, I expect much of the bad advice only got into the Highway Code thanks to "get 'em off the road" lobbying by motorist organisations over the years.
I live in Devon and we have "think bike" signs all over the place...honestly how am I going to think bike when most motorcycles are usually approaching cars from behind at 120mph hidden in the blind spot. It should really read "bikes think car cos we can't see you Pillocks" .
Back on topic though any support from motor organisation for cyclists is a plus. Give it some support. However cyclist are their own worst enemies riding around through red lights, in the dark with no lights, with only a care for themselves.
Before I get shot to bits by my fellow two wheeled peddlers, I cycle as much as I drive a year.
There you go thats exactly the sort of crap that gets me mad.
I DONT RIDE THROUGH RED LIGHTS. I HAVE LIGHTS WHICH I USE AFTER DARK.
You are perpetuating the myth that all cyclists break the law all the time. That is what motorists use to justify their hatred of cyclists. It's just complete bollocks. In the last couple of years I have seen THREE cyclists, yes just three, jump a red light and that was all at the same time on a sportive in Somerset. The rest of the cyclists who stopped, probably 20 or more at that time, gave them a proper bolocking for it.
Now it is probably different in London, but I don't live in London and consider anything that happens inside the M25 as being largely irrelevant to the world at large.
Oh and I drive more than I cycle, probably 10 to 15K in the car and only 3K on the bike. Does that make me a motorist or a cyclist? I don't feel the need to justify being a cyclist...
its a positive move from the AA
this evening I cycled from Kingston-Upon-Thames to Regent Street in Central London to Camden Town NW1.
Unfortunately I saw more sketchy behaviour from fellow cyclists than the various motorists I encountered during my 20 mile journey.
One lady on a bike with no lights, just seemed intent on jumping every red light in her path. I saw approximately another 20 cyclists with no lights, riding in the dark. I saw cyclists riding on the pavements at various points of my journey. I had a number of cyclists riding 'at me' going against the traffic flow, and one guy on a road bike going straight through a red light and nearly riding into me, told me to "f*ck off" when I shouted a warning at him. Saw numerous cyclists jumping red lights, causing motor vehicles to swerve to avoid them.
I saw a good number of "boris bikers" just doing whatever the hell they liked including riding against traffic on 1-way streets, riding across open traffic crossings (causing all the traffic to brake hard) and wobbling down the pavements
I agree that motor vehicles have much higher probability of killing people, but cyclists of all shapes and sizes need to start using some common sense on the highway, and stay off the darn pavements!
You know what, everywhere else in the world nobody cares, it's only bike, you London folk need to lighten up.
If, on your driving test, you failed to check your left door (not wing - unless you have a Morris Marina) mirror, before turning left you would not pass your test and couldn't drive unaccompanied (by an experienced licence holding driver) on the road.
How come once you pass you never need check a mirror again. Unless you have a stupid sticker to remind you. If you need that then you shouldn't be driving on the road as you are dangerous to other road users.
Agree with oozaveared. It is like some people think that cars shouldn't be on the roads and that cyclists are all holier than the pope. Get real, there are more cars on the road, we don't live in Amsterdam. We have to take what we can and not scorn any initiative. until the government forces every vehicle owner and manufacturer to fit an anti run over cyclist sensor, its not going to be a perfect world. Even then, there will be people on this site who whinge that the sensor interferes with their fcuking garmin.
It's not just "like" that. Some of us do actually think that.
You don't have to have believe anything about morals to realise that cars are noisy, dangerous climate changing pieces of s**t and that life would be more pleasant without them.
OK, let's make you safer by painting a nice wee paint stripe in the gutter to make you safer. It's a recognition (which you seem to desperately crave) that there's a place for you on the road.
Your lack of ambition rears its flopping head again.
Ush, just wake up and get a reality check. We are not going to get 40 million people to give up their cars. I suggest you go live on jersey.
I ride a bike for christs sake, I'm not happy about the state of the roads and I hate bad driving (and bad cycling) but I know I'm not going to get 1/2 the country to relocate their home or place of work so they can ride a bike everywhere. What do we do, have all companies give us an extra 7 hours of a week so we can ride in on our gay little fixie with narrow bars and hipster jeans. FCUKINGHELL, get a grip.
By all accounts, why not stop there. Chuck the bike away and buy a horse. I don't think your pedal biased utopia is ever going to happen unless you want us to head for 3rd world status.
Can I also suggest when you buy your next bike, your swim over to taiwan and back then ride it from Turkey home This way you won't create any unnecessary road use, such as the truck that would deliver it to the distributor
and shop.
Yes, people should use bikes for short distances more, no they don't because a) its always raining, b) they are scared of the roads and don't want to put their children at risk c)they are fat and lazy d)their bike will be stolen when they
leave it e) they are so business with coping to keep their heads above water, balancing stresses at work with family and the ever rising living costs that spending an extra 30 minutes on the bike isn't an option
You are a fool and contribute nothing to resolving the issue with such a bigoted view of the roads.
The word BALANCE is alien to so many people.
Wonderfully ironic. Thank you.
Edmund King is more friend than foe, he's often spoken up for cyclists and this can either do no good or some good, it certainly doesn't do any harm imho.
The AA are under no obligation to do anything for anyone other than their members, so the fact that a major motoring organisation is at least trying to help is surely a good thing.
Let's not look a gift horse in the mouth. The AA and the IAM are not cycling lobby groups but they are at least trying to say something to motorists about being more considerate to cyclists. It's a lot better than if they decided to adopt a passive agressive anti-cycling tone which they could do. I am a cyclist and probably like most people on here I also drive a car. In the past I also rode a motorbike.
Motorists are not exclusively discourteous, or careless to cyclists. Mostly its an equal opportunities environment where they cut each other up, fail to look in their mirrors, pull out in front of each other, hoot their horns in anger and it has been known for them to hurl abuse at other motorists to the effect that they / their type of vehicle, should not be on the road. That could be because the driver is too young, too old, too female or their vehicle is too old, too small, too big, too fast, too slow.
Sometimes reading some of the posts on here I wonder whether some people on here aren't angry with motorists before they even start riding. There's certainly enough bad and inconsiderate driving to complain about without going out looking for it.
paulrbarnard and don_don are absolutely right.
This is all based on the "evens stevens" view which equates the (inevitable) carelessness/rule-breaking by cyclists with that of those - yes, drivers - who have far, far more potential lethality.
On top of this we have the patronising rubbish wherein cyclists have to "recognise when they have been well looked after on Britain’s roads by motorists" - as if drivers are doing us a big favour by not threatening our lives by rule or law breaking behaviour.
And then publicity campaigns like this, even where they are correct by reminding drivers to use their nearside wing mirrors (what else do they think they're for, by the way?), are notoriously ineffective unless backed up law enforcement.
I think cyclists need to stop being fobbed off so easily. To see how the AA have done stuff like this before, take a look at http://rdrf.org.uk/2011/05/05/the-automobile-associations-latest-bit-of-... and http://rdrf.org.uk/2011/05/04/resistance-to-the-cheek-of-the-automobile-... and of course here http://rdrf.org.uk/2011/04/18/what-a-nerve-how-dare-the-aa-lecture-cycli...
Its a positive thing that millions of people will receive a reminder to be careful. Can't image many will stick it on their mirror but its all part of a wider marketing campaign and between this and topgear, the issues have never been so high profile.
A sense of entitlement is rife on all sides, which needs to be replaced with more tolerance swiftly followed by road infrastructure changes... which as mentioned above, will take time.
It can only be a good thing. Anything to raise awareness. Can we get Ford to glue them onto every White Ford Transit they produce?
At the same time
Cyclists, please just behave on the road. Sick of seeing idiots jumping lights. it is a minority but its appalling behavior.
http://www.gloucestershireecho.co.uk/undefined-headline/story-20724373-d...
For those expecting things to improve, they aren't without a huge amount of money from central government. Council tax freezes, which is where road maintenance is funded from, mean cut backs, patching rather than fixing etc.
I would love to be proved wrong, for the roads to be fixed, for cycle paths to be provided. I just don't see it happening.
For those who are sniping, you would do well to know who your friends are. Edmund King is a pretty decent guy and one of the few representative for motorists who does speak up on cycling issues.
Mr Jansen was the patronising git I was referring to...
I've never run a red light on a bike and know the highway code and follow it. Surprisingly I even find it easier to keep to the speed limits on my bike even though I don't have to legally. How many people in cars can say the same? I had points on my license years ago for speeding in a car, I used to 'amber gamble' at the lights but it seems that doesn't matter according to the popular wisdom I only break traffic laws when I'm on a bike, so don't worry about all the infractions you make when driving, it's fine as long as you look out for cyclists.
So I have to stick rigidly to a code that is written almost entirely from a driving standpoint, and which the majority of drivers flout widely?
And I have to show gratitude to drivers who deign not to cut me up or otherwise abuse my vulnerability?
Thanks for f*ck all..
This can only be a good thing let's hope the ball keeps rolling.
Always the sop 'of cyclist behave', yet cars just have to 'look out'. Sick of the patronising attitude of so called road safety initiatives.
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