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Live blog: The end of cars parked in cycle lanes? Government dismisses mandatory helmet/hi-viz and compulsory cycle insurance suggestions; Cav’s unique Thanksgiving message, South African cyclist survives knife to the head + more
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Thu, Nov 22, 2018 15:12
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Alex has written for more cricket publications than the rest of the road.cc team combined. Despite the apparent evidence of this picture, he doesn’t especially like cake.
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Latest Comments
kil0ran 20 minutes ago
I was a few bikes away from the fatal collision during Ride London a few years ago, I barely avoided the victim's dog which was running loose. Definitely one of those slo-mo adrenaline fuelled moments and I was only doing about 40kph. At lead out speeds it really doesn't bear thinking about.
open_roads 23 minutes ago
@Xenophon2 "That’s a lot of batteries to keep track of, to the point that I have a dedicated charger with 3 m USB-C cable in my office, another one at home. Can’t imagine having to deal with another battery such as on the Flight Attendant." Top tip: In reality most of the SRAM stuff lasts a month or two even with pretty heavy usage. I just charge all the batteries on the last Sunday of every month and have yet to be caught out. The SRAM batteries are so cheap / small / light it's also worth keeping a spare in a saddle bag or similar.
ajuk.uk@gmail.com 55 minutes ago
@chrisonabike There does seem to be evidence that 20 mph limits work on roads that already lend themselves to such low speeds, and I do think the lack of a 25 mph limit option is an issue for some roads. Speed limits should especially not be set very low in the hope that many or most drivers will only exceed them by a set amount because, not only is it not true that many people drive like that, the opposite can happen. Instead of targeting the drivers most likely to cause harm, you're putting the prohibition onto the behaviour of more sensible drivers and forcing the police to target them. The DfT guidance used to have a paragraph calling out this presumption. The extent to which road design and conditions at the time dictate traffic speeds is too stark to ignore. I've seen urban roads with signed 40 mph limits have lower average speeds than some roads with posted 20 mph limits. And yes, that road in Gloucester has signs openly inviting drivers to go faster, and almost none of them do: the non-compliance was about 2%. Compare that to over 99% non-compliance on some roads in Wales. What I'm mainly talking about is the increasing imposition of 20 mph limits on much higher-standard main roads. That's where you see extreme levels of non-compliance. In some cases, the average speed has even been known to go up after the limit has gone down. Showing such contempt just brings speed limits into disrepute and my contention is that drivers should take speed limits seriously.
ajuk.uk@gmail.com 55 minutes ago
@chrisonabike There does seem to be evidence that 20 mph limits work on roads that already lend themselves to such low speeds, and I do think the lack of a 25 mph limit option is an issue for some roads. Speed limits should especially not be set very low in the hope that many or most drivers will only exceed them by a set amount because, not only is it not true that many people drive like that, the opposite can happen. Instead of targeting the drivers most likely to cause harm, you're putting the prohibition onto the behaviour of more sensible drivers and forcing the police to target them. The DfT guidance used to have a paragraph calling out this presumption. The extent to which road design and conditions at the time dictate traffic speeds is too stark to ignore. I've seen urban roads with signed 40 mph limits have lower average speeds than some roads with posted 20 mph limits. And yes, that road in Gloucester has signs openly inviting drivers to go faster, and almost none of them do: the non-compliance was about 2%. Compare that to over 99% non-compliance on some roads in Wales. So no, when speed limits match the road, compliance is much higher, but speeds are not. What I'm mainly talking about is the increasing imposition of 20 mph limits on much higher-standard main roads. That's where you see extreme levels of non-compliance. In some cases, the average speed has even been known to go up after the limit has gone down. Showing such contempt just brings speed limits into disrepute and my contention is that drivers should take speed limits seriously.
Rendel Harris 1 hour ago
@jaymack Yes...to an extent, and I'm happy at the moment with my twelve-year-old Dura Ace mechanical, but I must admit when I had Ultegra Di2 I did notice not so much the ease of shifting but the perfect trimming of the gears after every shift so that the chainline was always absolutely perfect and that did enhance the simple pleasure of being outside, for me anyway. At least until that day I forgot to charge the battery which died at the turnaround on an eighty-mile ride and had to ride a very lumpy forty miles home stuck in 50x14...
Rendel Harris 2 hours ago
@Daclu Trelub Well no, given that I object to the use of derogatory slurs against people with mental health issues I think I'll "bother" the person who's using derogatory slurs against people with mental health issues. Have a little think, if capable: if your mother or someone else close to you had dementia or mental health issues, would you be happy for people to be pointing at them mockingly saying, "Looks like she's a few chips short of a fish supper"? Stop it.
Daclu Trelub 2 hours ago
@Rendel Harris Go and bother somebody else with your opinion.
jaymack 2 hours ago
I'm sure electronic gears, pedals, seat posts etc. are each a modern marvel but they all seem to solve a problem I've never encountered. However I have encountered others faffing while searching for batteries, cables and even a firmware update. All of which just gets in the way of cycling's simple pleasure - being outside
Rendel Harris 3 hours ago
@Daclu Trelub Yeah...that sort of expression is OK when being jocular about someone who's a bit dense or slow on the uptake, is it really appropriate for someone who quite obviously has mental health/dementia issues?
Xenophon2 4 hours ago
I'm a bit on the fence. Currently riding a gravel bike with a Force AXS XPLR groupset, Favero assioma pro powermeter pedals, Garmin varia rear light, lupine front light, Edge 1040. That's a lot of batteries to keep track of, to the point that I have a dedicated charger with 3 m USB-C cable in my office, another one at home. Can't imagine having to deal with another battery such as on the Flight Attendant. BUT....everything's dead easy to set up, no cables to route through the frame, no cable stretch, no derailleur adjustment.....
15 thoughts on “Live blog: The end of cars parked in cycle lanes? Government dismisses mandatory helmet/hi-viz and compulsory cycle insurance suggestions; Cav’s unique Thanksgiving message, South African cyclist survives knife to the head + more”
Interesting and welcome
Interesting and welcome approach. Typically BikeAbility training is free for kids, wonder how much it would be for adults? Needs to be priced right. Doubt that the DfT will fund it, needs an innovative approach from insurance companies/other providers.
kil0ran wrote:
How would passing a bikeability course reduce the risk ? bear in mind this is talking about people that have already been trained and passed the government approved driving test, so these people should already be aware of the dangers on the roads, and of how to safely pass other road users.
I can see people simply turning up for the course to get a discount and it making not a blind bit of difference to their driving. It’s not about people being unaware of the risks in many cases, it’s people who don’t care. Those who would be interested in taking the course to improve their driving are probably the last people that need to be on it as they already consider others.
StuInNorway wrote:
Might work if the course includes repeatedly scaring them sh:tless by being close passed by an HGV at 40mph.
StuInNorway wrote:
Like people who choose to do a speed advisory course when they’ve been caught speeding? (apparently, people do sometimes still get caught for speeding! Who would have thought?!)
kil0ran wrote:
Not sure they hand out Bikeability badges at the end of it, but my local council (Trafford) offers FREE one-to-one cycle training to adults.
There are also commercial outfits out there that offer Bikebility training to adults, suspect prices vary.
How is that going to work for
How is that going to work for those of us who cycle regularly but didn’t take the Bikeability course? Hoop jumping?
Luca Patrono wrote:
My daughter (just 12) said to me that she’d been offered Bikeability L3 at school, but that she really didn’t want to do it. I said that was fine, that I’d never even done Cycling Proficiency BITD, and that she’d pretty much pick up the skills taught by – you know – just riding.
(That said, I think that some sort of cycle training or cycling experience should definitely be mandatory for anyone planning to get an HGV/PSV licence).
Luca Patrono wrote:
Depends on what your insurance premium is and the discount offered. Might be worth taking it – should be an easy hoop to jump through…
Lets say it costs £50~£100 to take the course, and you get a 5 to 10% discount for passing
£500 insurance premium –
£2000 insurance premium –
So it may pay for itself or at least recover most of the cost at your next insurance renewal. And don’t forget to multiply the discount by the number of years you expect to continue driving 😀
CygnusX1 wrote:
Depends on what your insurance premium is and the discount offered. Might be worth taking it – should be an easy hoop to jump through…
Lets say it costs £50~£100 to take the course, and you get a 5 to 10% discount for passing
£500 insurance premium –
£2000 insurance premium –
So it may pay for itself or at least recover most of the cost at your next insurance renewal. And don’t forget to multiply the discount by the number of years you expect to continue driving 😀 — Luca Patrono
Fully comp for my Passat was £220, it’d need a fair few years to break even even if the insurers offer it. Those that offer discounts for advanced driving, camera fitted etc IME are more expensive at the base price so negates any ‘saving’.
I foresee quite an industry
I foresee quite an industry developing in fake insurance reduction claims either through dodgy training courses, downloadable fake training certificates or people just brazenly claiming to have taken the course.
Now if it was a new classification on the driving licence that required you to pass a cycling test it could be more robust and easier to verify on the roadside.
billymansell wrote:
It’d be in the insurance industries interests to make sure that the training courses are effective. They’re not going to be happy with fake training certificates if the underwriters have to pay out claims with reduced premiums.
Ouch! that photo of the SA
Ouch! that photo of the SA guy looks gruesome. Cue comments about how he should have worn a helmet…
Dooring a cyclist does matter
Dooring a cyclist does matter, so I can’t understand the “Near-dooring of a tandem” story. The tandem riders should be ashamed they didn’t try to educate the offending driver. The driver will just continue their bad behavior until another cyclist(s) gets hurt. They took the time to tell other cyclists with a video as documentation, which amounts to basically preaching to the choir about the drivers poor choices.
Wait, did the government just
Wait, did the government just make a rational decision based on facts and reasoning?
What is happening and can we have some more?
Canyon48 wrote:
All the big name politicians are tied up with Brexit shenanigans, so they can’t impart their usual wisdom over small issues like this.
Don’t worry, normal service will be resumed shortly.