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news
Live blog: Kensington and Chelsea turned against cycle lane after 450 emails; Video - Cyclist won't let motorist take shortcut down wrong side of the road, then the police turn up; MSPs vote against 20mph speed limit + more
SUMMARY
Holland Park Avenue (via StreetView)14 June 2019, 15:41
Kensington and Chelsea turned against cycle lane after 450 emails
Even more on Kensington and Chelsea withdrawing support for the Holland Park cycle lane.
The Guardian reports that they did so after receiving 450 emails against the scheme. The newspaper points out this is under 0.3% of the borough’s population.
You can read Simon's account of what the road's currently like for cyclists a little further down the page.
14 June 2019, 15:34
30mph cyclists "more alarming" than 50mph motorists says Dartmoor Speedwatch Group
Our favourite quote, about cyclists riding within the speed limit: "I really think it’s about time something was done about this group of people who seem to be invisible to the authorities but pose a very real danger on the road."
14 June 2019, 14:15
A cyclist's view of Holland Park
Regarding Kensington and Chelsea withdrawing support for the Holland Park cycle lane, our own Simon MacMichael rides that way regularly.
He says:
I cycle through Holland Park Avenue regularly, and it is the single worst stretch of road for cycling between Ealing and the West End.
Westbound is fine - it's a slight downhill, there's no parking on that side, and there's a decent chance of catching a green wave on the lights heading towards Shepherds Bush.
Eastbound, though, is something else altogether.
More often than not, the motor traffic is queued up, the car parking along the parade of shops means there is a constant risk of getting doored, pedestrian islands cause pinch points but that doesn't stop motorists - including those driving buses or coaches - trying to squeeze past, and on top of all that you have to be vigilant at every junction for potential left hooks.
All this in a two or three hundred metre stretch of road.
The boroughs that *get* cycling - Ealing is one, even without Mini Holland money - are doing some terrific work.
Kensington & Chelsea, plus Westminster, don't - and given their central locations, that is an absolute disgrace.
I'm not a bike commuter, I don't ride a road bike in London, and I don't wear Lycra - the stereotype that opponents of segregated infrastructure would have you believe.
I just ride my ex-Royal Mail bike in everyday clothes with my little dog in the basket, and all I want is to get into town in one piece.
And every time I get through Holland Park and up the little kick to Notting Hill Gate, I let out a little sigh of relief.
14 June 2019, 14:08
Mail and Telegraph suggest Birmingham cycle lane has somehow caused congestion despite zero change to motor vehicle capacity
If you’re in a car, the road’s exactly the same. There was always congestion. This isn’t that complicated.
14 June 2019, 12:00
George Bennett has an opinion on Juan Jose Cobo
Cobo was stripped of his 2011 Vuelta a Espana win earlier this week.
In 2012 I was flying to tour of Beijing, I was sitting next to this fat mechanic from Movistar. About half way through the flight I realized it wasn’t a mechanic but the “winner” of the previous years vuelta. Everyone knew he was taking the piss- shame it took this long
— George Bennett? (@georgenbennett) June 13, 2019
14 June 2019, 11:13
Jim Davidson news!
To all you twitter moaners re my coment on my home town. It is purely the congestion and traffic I cannot bare but all you lefties can still call me racsist if if gets you off Charlton? You can bypass London and go through Kent.
— Jim Davidson (@JimDOfficial) June 14, 2019
Jim Davidson began trending on Twitter yesterday evening thanks to this charming post, in which he said he’s "never coming to London again" because of "khan" (sic). For the sake of argument we’ll assume he means Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London.
Twitter then helpfully reminded Davidson - whose act features jokes about gay people and the disabled - that he was in fact due to appear at the Dorchester to ‘entertain’ people literally that evening.
This morning Davidson attempted to clarify his London boycott by saying: “It is purely the congestion and traffic I cannot bare”...
Why the entertainer might want to bare himself to traffic, we don’t know, but on the subject of moaning about congestion while driving around London, Davidson does have previous – he’s complained about the building of Cycle Superhighways in the past, and was caught on camera by the BBC shouting that “Jeremy Corbyn is an environmental disaster” during the Extinction Rebellion protests from the comfort of his large SUV.
14 June 2019, 10:54
People will die because of "cynical political stunt" says cycling commissioner after Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea ditches support for Holland Park cycle lane
Jeremy Clarkson and Felicity Kendal are among those who have spoken out against the proposed scheme.
14 June 2019, 09:48
Cycling Mikey's on TV now
A video's doing the rounds of a member of the public stopping a driver going the wrong way along a road to avoid traffic nearby.
Is it good to be a vigilante and call people out like this when they're breaking the law or doing something wrong? Or is it best left to the cops? pic.twitter.com/CZAUlDJr8u
— Jeremy Vine On 5 (@JeremyVineOn5) June 14, 2019
The clip below is now up for debate on Channel Five show 'Jeremy Vine on 5' this morning. Responses on Twitter are mixed so far, we've stuck the telly on record to see what Jeremy's panel and audience make of it.
14 June 2019, 09:51
Congratulations...
14 June 2019, 09:45
MSPs vote against 20mph speed limit
We saw this one coming. The BBC reports that MSPs have voted down a bill seeking to make 20mph the standard speed limit on residential streets in Scotland.
Campaigners say a default 20mph in built up areas would improve road safety for the most vulnerable road users, and without a national standard, and a simplification of the “labyrinthine” process to reduce speeds, there will be a "postcode lottery" of safety on Scotland’s streets.
British Cycling said the bill, “presented MSPs with a golden opportunity to make our streets safer and more welcoming for people travelling by bike or on foot, giving them a real alternative to travelling by car.”
However, in a letter sent to Sustrans Scotland, the Scottish transport minister, Michael Matheson, said he would not back a blanket reduction of the national speed limit.
A majority of MSPs on Holyrood’s Rural Economy and Connectivity Committee then decided not to recommend approval of the bill, arguing that the “one size fits all” approach proposed was inappropriate.
MSPs voted accordingly. Friends of the Earth Scotland called the move "a damning indictment of a parliament that pays lip service to the need for a reduction in car use".
14 June 2019, 08:34
“That dent in your bonnet is your own fault”
“It's happened before and it will happen again,” we said when reporting a driver’s attempt to head down the wrong side of the road to turn right at a junction in Regent's Park earlier in the week.
Well, here it is happening again.
The video, which was again supplied by CyclingMikey, stars an irate Mercedes driver who simply cannot comprehend why the cyclist is asking him to go back.
After driving into CyclingMikey three times, he gets out of his car, at which point the police turn up.
The motorist was issued with two tickets – one for the driving offence and one for a public order offence.
The attempted shortcut cost him 25 minutes.
The driver from earlier in the week has also been sent a notice of intended prosecution.
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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74 comments
Cycling Mikey, with balls like that you could take the Sa Calobra KOM - downhill, naturally. Kudos to ya!
Isn't there currently a vacancy for PM in the UK?
Cycling Mikey, get your application in!!!
Mikey is an absolute legend and both of his videos this week had me laughing my arse off. If he has the balls to wait at the corner for clowns like this guy, and to stand his ground when confronted, then good on him. I know I wouldn't. And for those who expect the police to sort it out, when exactly are we hoping for them to start?
I’ve seen two Mikey videos for the first time this week. Watching them gives the same rush of adrenaline as reading the Terrible reviews on tripadvisor.
Mixed feelings about this video, if he’s basically making a point of waiting around at this junction in anticipation of these junction-cutters. I get glared at by old ladies if I go the wrong way around a surface car park. Anyway, the police who turned up seemed very nice to him, but I’d be surprised if there weren’t some words of advice that we haven’t seen to Mikey to desist. Plenty more fish in the sea if so, I guess.
It’s curious that Mr Merc saw it as OK to use his car as a weapon, but not his own fists. Several people have commented that Mikey is deliberately putting himself in harm’s way and that he will indeed get “lumped” one of these days. When is someone “asking for it” and when if ever is it ok to give it them?
I wonder too what the conversation among Mr Merc’s peers will be, and when he has to explain his dings to others. “Why was the bloke blocking the road?” will he tell the truth about why, it would be a tall story if he tried to lie, And where does it go from there? “Fair play to him” or “what a ******”?
Compare and contrast with the “two doctors” sketch, where at least we don’t get shunted by the car and a lot of swearing. Were they doctors? The woman passenger looked and sounded the sort, but there was a lack of specifics.
Hypothetically, If they did establish their credentials, “here look, Mrs Turbot with her gall bladder complaint, 15 minutes from now, half a mile that way” does that change anything, or not?
We get a lot of coutesy with my mother in her electric wheelchair crossing the road - she has no chance at fisticuffs, but a motorist would surely lose the argument on social media against the 87 year old amputee. Awful that it probably comes down to that calculation to choose to be nice.
+1 one the “hard-pressed motorist” concept. Just remember, the world’s biggest bullies make the world’s biggest victims. Boo-hoo.
we have ambulances for when it's an emergency. And paramedics on bikes.
You are asking for a rational reason for an irrational response.
In the video the driver hits Mikey twice, so in the eyes of the driver "he was asking for it".
I'm afraid many drivers get a bit rabid if their behaviour or status is challenged especially by a mere cyclist. From the youtube comments
"He is probably pissed off because he cannot afford a proper Merc and even bought the poverty spec. When morons spend money for a badge and I bet it had the Renault Engine."
We have ambulances for that sort of emergency.
Can our London lot confirm that shutting the park gates at rush hour as mentioned in previous articles would get rid of the traffic at that junction or make it worse? As far as I'm aware, all the traffic is filtering our of one of those gates and without that access, they would have to take a different route.
Khan congratulated on making London a Davidson-free zone https://newsthump.com/2019/06/13/sadiq-khan-congratulated-for-making-lon...
You should always look both ways when going left or right at junctions. Imagine the situation where a T junction on a more open road. A car begins an overtake of another vehicle just as you appear turning left but only looking right. A serious accident taken place because of two factors, the driver overtook at the wrong time, and you didnt look left.
Having taught my kids to drive and cross the road too, for their safety-LOOK BOTH WAYS !
It could save your life
I agree it is important to look left for traffic on the wrong side.
Note: Highway Code Rule 167
"DO NOT overtake where you might come into conflict with other road users. For example approaching or at a road junction on either side of the road"
You're not rude Rick, nor a bastion for how things were, you're not even a very good gammon... But you are a bell end!
Since when has it been legal to go down a one way street the wrong way, no matter how short?
The island was put there by the designer for a reason.
Two solutions. The police put a static camera there, and record all the drivers going the wrong way, and keep collecting fines until motorists get the message. Nice little income for the Met
2nd install some of those cats claw thingy's so any cars going the wrong way get their tyres ripped to shreds.
That wouldn't work because idiotic c*mstains like this one would find some way to block the camera...
https://metro.co.uk/2016/04/28/mysterious-man-pulls-up-behind-police-van...
There are all these comments about how Cycling Mikey ought to have left it to the police...
Is that the same police who (allegedly) will tell callers their crime number so they can go claim on insurance, but not do anything more, if someone tries to report a burglary?
The same police who we're told not to bother unless its really really REALLY urgent, because they don't have the resources or the time to deal with anything less than an ongoing terrorist incident?
CyclingMikey you absolute f*@kin hero
A motorcyclist doing exactly the same thing (ignoring a keep left sign) trying to save a 'few seconds' hit my wife as she crossed the road with her bike to get to the island.
The result is that she now has a knee replacement and has been medically retired from her job.
There is simply NO excuse for ignoring these signs.
Agreed. There's a similar crossing on Blackheath, on my morning ride. Here, if you're interested..
https://goo.gl/maps/FSCA16egQHgVNWTWA
There's almost always stationary traffic there in the morning. Keep heading north east and you get to the entrance to Greenwich Park. I was crossing there, looked right and headed to the central bollard, glancing left as I did so. Became aware of movement out of the corner of my eye to my right. A motorcyclist was on the wrong side of the road, shouting abuse at me to get out of his fucking way.
She was crossing here:
https://goo.gl/maps/HNFLMYVEk9mKtrer7
As she lay on the floor the motorcyclist said 'It was either you or a car'
Cycling Mikey is in the right. And it's very worrying that car drivers think i's ok to make such a move, which could lead to a nasty crash.
But he is likely to get smacked some day by an over-aggressive driver. If I was him I'd just video the drivers making the illegal turn and submit the evidence to the cops. He could make himself visible and if asked, say to the drivers that's what he plans on doing. Doing things his way he will merely fuel the dislike of cyclists amongst the minority of over aggressive idiots who shouldn't be allowed to use a skateboard, let alone car.
Basically, I think a less confrontational approach would be more effective.
That said, it was very amusing when the cop car turned up.
Whatever people may think about the Mikey's tactics here, it really is highlighting a genuine problem. Too many drivers do this at this point. You could go stand there for half an hour during any morning rush hour and you will see multiple drivers do the same thing - it's really not isolated incidents. They see the queue ahead and swing out to the right to get past it. The problem is (beyond the simple law breaking) that most of the time they haven't really looked to see if the route is genuinely clear, because it is impossible to see from that position what is going to be coming round the corner. By the time the car has swung across to the wrong side of the road cars or cyclists may have turned left. It is hugely dangerous and I have seen a number of very close calls in just the last few weeks, with cars almost having head on collisions and cyclists having to take evasive action.
Given that it is such a common occurence here, I would like to see a temporary enforcement camera installed. Have Heavily fine every driver on the wrong side of the road, and hopefully it will act as a deterrant and thereby improve safety for all users of the park.
Actually, just remembered my one triumph for rights of way on 2 wheels was someone reversing back over a bridge to let me cross when she could clearly see me (my priority - clearly signed at both sides of the bridge) and should never have started to cross in the first place.
I didn't actually do anything at the time, but the noisy motorbike, leathers and dark visor must have been intimidating enough to make her back off of her own volition - I'd stopped the bike to make it very awkward, but not impossible, for her to get off the bridge.
I'd likely never have got away with it on a push bike - in fact, I tend to avoid that bridge altogether on a bike for fear of a head-on with a car half-way across it, regardless of direction or rights of way.
So you create a situation and then complain about the situation.....
I can see the guy in the cars logic, he wants to turn right and the road is clear, nobody is coming and in fact traffic moves easier. He's not expecting to be ambushed by someone who didn't really want to use the road at all and is just being a twat.
Typical nonsense from those without a driving licence with no perspective on how the roads work for all users.
Meanwhile the video taker will probably turn left on a red light later that day.....
The problem is if you're joining that road it's a tight corner with poor visibility and you'll only be checking to your right (quite apart from the fact what the driver is doing is completely illegal)
With left turns you have an expectation that there won't be anything on the wrong side of the road, otherwise give way lines would be utterly pointless
Of course you can see the entitled anti-social twat driver's "logic". It's the same "logic" you use, isn't it? The 'might is right and I don't care about anyone but myself because rules are for other people" logic.
I see more of what goes on that you as you don't even have a driving licence and have probably never had to take in the world at more than 15mph. It's easy to be right and not make mistakes on a bike when you're travelling so slowly. I know this from from experience of nearly all forms of motorised of transport (apart from lorries) as well as cycles. You're more biased than me about what should be the rights and wrongs of using the road, even though you clearly can only see the cyclists view.
This said I think you'd be pretty good at driving the outrage bus. ALL ABOARD!
As someone with a driving licence for 20+ years, driving daily, i find:
-It's easy not to drive on the wrong side of the road.
-It's easy not to repeatedly drive into someone standing in the road until your bonnet is dented.
Obvious troll is obvious.
Thought so - entitled petrolhead who only cares about himself and sees the world through a windscreen. Are you one of the berks who nearly knocked me down when driving on the wrong side of a traffic island when I was crossing the road as a pedestrian? Sounds like it.
(Similar logic to "How can you complain about people stabbing people when you dont' carry a knife in the street" "You can't object to racism unless you've been a member of the BNP")
Statistics are that 80% of cyclists also drive. I've held a driving licence for 25 years and my daily commute to and from work by car is 35 miles.
I see appalling illegal driver behaviour every day, including recently having nearly been taken out by a red-light jumping fellow motorist. If a cyclist does that there's barely any risk to me at all.
In the meantime here's an article about one insurance company's views on the insurance risk for drivers who also cycle, informed by a scientific study, not anecdote.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/carltonreid/2018/10/09/cyclists-are-better-...
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