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Live blog: Computer scientists use Strava data to identify pot hole hotspots, Lewisham investigating falling tree incident that almost felled cyclist, warning over scam Hövding airbag helmet website, appeal after Wiltshire hit and run + more

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I'm criticising them for not riding in secondary position, not primary. At least 60cms (2 feet) from the edge of the road as the HC explicitly recommends. Leaving aside the small minority of riders who find mounting and dismounting a bike difficult - which sounds suspiciously similar to the motorists "but, but what about disabled drivers?" when talking about LTNs - what's wrong with able bodied riders walking the few metres over that narrow, Victorian bridge? Sure, if there's clearly no-one on it I wouldn't condemn anyone for riding it slowly, but if it's not clear forcing pedestrians to stop and squeeze to the side is, frankly, a rather entitled opinion. Plus it's easy to hold a road bike a little ahead of you and hold the saddle - normally no need to hold the bars if it's straight - so you're really not taking up much more room at all. There's a railway underpass near me that links to a shared then segregated path. It's narrow, and the path approaches at an angle so you can't see if it's clear, but many riders still choose to pedal through despite the clear 'no cycling' signage. Why?? Personally I don't go that way, except on foot, preferring the surrounding roads.
I think you're giving drivers too much credit. Many would not think twice about blocking the road if it makes their life easier, such as when turning right onto a busy road.
They might have to, but they won't. What they will do is pull out over the cycle path while they wait for a gap in motor traffic.
"We have enough regulation." I agree with the exception being legally allowed to sell something which is virtually illegal to use. How many purchasers own a suitably large piece of private land?
@jackcycles I'm not sure my grandchildren got that memo. Cycling should not be just for hardened road warriors.
Chrisonabike There are a number of police forces in England and Wales that are using portable testing equipment already... How effective it is another matter, I haven't looked into the results of failing (I would hope they just seize and crush the motorbike without any faff but I am sure there are appeal processes, promises not to use them on public roads etc).
Woah there - a precision-engineered European-made product, with unparalleled adaptability, is somehow a ‘rip off’? Compared to what - Temu? As per the article, most quality through-axles go for £50-60+, but aren’t adaptable and don’t provide any stand or trailer capability. If you want to balance your £3-4-5k suspension or carbon bike, or bikepacking setup on a budget product subject to highly focused stresses, fair play. Cycling’s a broad church.
@eburtthebike I've found Spanish drivers to be almost entirely excellent around cyclists.
I agree, the study was made after cycle paths that had been introduced in Berlin during the 70’s and 80’s caused a big increase in cycling deaths. It is an interesting study for cyclists to read in order to know what dangers exist at badly designed junctions. Here in Paris we have very few bi-directional paths. The ones I have cycled on have no building entrances or courtyards (so no cars crossing the path) and every junction is traffic lights to prevent accidents.
We have enough regulation. They're running a motorbike without insurance/registration and possibly without a licence, and the punishment for being caught with all that is pretty severe already. The problem is lack of enforcement.
3 thoughts on “Live blog: Computer scientists use Strava data to identify pot hole hotspots, Lewisham investigating falling tree incident that almost felled cyclist, warning over scam Hövding airbag helmet website, appeal after Wiltshire hit and run + more”
I hope that this gent makes a
I hope that this gent makes a speedy and full recovery and that the police are successful in pursuing and prosecuting the offenders.
Given the poor standard by some drivers around here I am only surprised that this hasn’t happened before. Although I don’t know exactly where the collision occurred I have an idea given the police appeal. Many of the roads around Common Platt – particularly from/to Purton – are rat-runs with corners, slight hills in places and surfaces that are broken up and pot-holed. There’s lots of inappropriate overtaking – be a great place to have a close pass operation. Perhaps a close pass operation should be mandatory in any location a collision has occurred after a failed overtake, as this collision seems to be.
In any event, I am glad for the cyclist that it did not turn out any worse (bad as it was), as it so easily could have been worse. But isn’t that the thing – the difference between a close pass and a collision is luck.
I shall be keeping a good look out for, “a heavily-modified silver three-door Vauxhall Corsa with tinted windows and aftermarket wheels.”
Mirror that was knocked off
Mirror that was knocked off looks like the sort that would be put on a 3 series BMW… like the old ‘M’ style mirror.
So keep an eye out for any chavvy cars basically with a missing nearside mirror.
Those pothologists should
Those pothologists should also record sound to identify from the number of people who shout “Jesus Fucking Christ!” whenever they fail to spot a pothole.