Live blog: ONS shopping basket 2018: GoPros in, pork pies out, Kwiatkowski wins Tirreno, Thomas 3rd, Brenton Jones’ rad helmet design + much more
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Tue, Mar 13, 2018 10:20
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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.
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Latest Comments
quiff 7 minutes ago
In principle, it shouldn't matter if you're familiar with a particular junction - that's precisely why we have (relatively) uniform signage across the country (I had this from a driver recently - Him: sorry, I don't know the area. Me: but a no entry sign is the same everywhere...). But in practice in a busy environment like this, simply adding another sign saying look out for cyclists is limited help. I don't love cycling on contraflows / a two way cyclelane on a one way street for that reason. In fact there's a crossing I don't love as a pedestrian which is look right (bikes) look left (bikes) look right (cars), island, catch breath, look left (cars), look left (bikes). (Yes, you could wait for a green man, but then it's still look everywhere (Deliveroo)).
Mr Blackbird 22 minutes ago
I'm not familiar with Jeremy Vine's favourite cycle lane. However I do have sympathy with drivers if they have to deal with "Look both ways for cyclists" as well as "One Way" and "No Entry" signs. Especially if the driver is not familiar with the junction.
chrisonabike 30 minutes ago
@mitsky Alas for a second there I was awarding the motorist in the window there points for wearing hi-vis in their car, then I realised they were also wearing a motoring helmet...
quiff 41 minutes ago
While I understand it in context, I quite liked this to conclude a bike light review: "it’s a reliable set for the price, so long as you aren’t looking to ride in the dark"
mitsky 42 minutes ago
@Bungle_52 My note on the description states "CD20 Driving without reasonable consideration for other road users" I've chased the police to explain which specific action this relates to, close passing and cutting me up or driving onto the pavement near pedestrians.
Bungle_52 48 minutes ago
@mitsky Do happen to know what offence the points and fine were for?
mitsky 1 hour ago
@Mr Anderson Agreed. Perfect example is this parent doing an, approximately, 700 METRE school run. I worked t out by finding where the vehicle was parked on the residential road when I first encountered it. Whilst I can't be 100% sure, I am certain the children had no physical disability that would prevent them walking. https://youtu.be/R-dp-G6W8Jk
quiff 2 hours ago
"Old Man Mountain kit is built tough, and comes with a lifetime warranty – which really matters, when it may well be subject to being battered over many tens of thousands of miles of awful terrain, carrying the equivalent weight of a small-ish child." Obviously it depends how the manufacturer applies its warranty, and OMM might be great - but worth noting that "lifetime warranty" is often less generous than it initially sounds - it's the reasonable lifetime of the product, and only warrants against manufacturing defects. So being battered over tens of thousands of miles is not necessarily going to be covered.
mdavidford 2 hours ago
0.8m of cycleway does seem an extremely selective focus. Do we know which side of the junction those 80cm fall on?
4 thoughts on “Live blog: ONS shopping basket 2018: GoPros in, pork pies out, Kwiatkowski wins Tirreno, Thomas 3rd, Brenton Jones’ rad helmet design + much more”
“Road Safety Minister Jesse
“Road Safety Minister Jesse Norman commented: “The penalties for holding and using a mobile phone while driving have proven to be a strong deterrent, and more and more people are aware of just how dangerous this is.”
Total BS. If the penalties are such a strong deterrent, why do I see dozens of people a day doing it. Yet more spin and newspeak from the person responsible for government cycling and walking policy. We’re as safe in his hands as the NHS.
Agreed! What’s the point of
Agreed! What’s the point of having fairly draconian mobile phone laws now that the great unwashed have worked out there’s basically no such thing as road policing any more due to police funding shortages and austerity?! 10 years ago you’d have a few days every autumn where the nights were drawing in where you’d see cars with defective lights before people got them fixed. Nowadays it’s a joke, I’ve seen loads of cars with no working rear lights at all except the high level brake light and the idiots don’t care. They know the chance of getting stopped by an actual police car is just about zero.
StraelGuy wrote:
Actually I think a lot of the time drivers have their lights on for daytime running only, which means the front sidelights are on but not the tail lights, for a lot of cars. I see this regularly as well.
But with regard to mobile phone use by drivers, I don’t think the penalties are in line with the risk. Using the penalty for DUI of a 12 month ban as a base line, surely the penalty for using a cellphone at the wheel should at least be the same. Given that using a cellphone to send a text while driving increases the risk of a crash by a factor of 23 (according to research by the TRL – it is on the website), then surely the penalty should be higher still, say 24 month ban and a compulsory retest.
Unless the penalty matches the offence, people simply won’t take it seriously. And yes, the minimal traffic policing doesn’t help either. We can than Theresa May for the big cuts to police budgets remember.
26,000 people seam like a
26,000 people seam like a large number given that there is little inforcement. these people must the permanently glued to their phones give how unlikely you are to see a road traffic policemen.
This number is clearly only the tip of the iceberg.