Is no pavement-riding rule for cyclists “nuts”? Campaigners in Australia fight to make it legal; Councillor blames police for victim blaming cyclists; Van der Poel wheelies on the beach; National Cyclocross Network; Dream SL8 build + more on the live blog

So sorry to hear that! Just goes to show pr1cks are pr1cks no matter what mode of transport they use!

Jumping the shark.

Sorry to hear about all that.  Which story on the live blog is this anecdote related to?

Weird because I know several wheelchair users, none of whom have ever complained of being hit by cyclists, I have never heard of a cyclist hitting a wheelchair, in roughly 300,000 kms cycling around London I have never seen a cyclist hit a wheelchair or wheelchair users and cyclists come into conflict of any kind and on the first page of Google results for the search "Wheelchair hit by cyclist" there are only two stories, one from Liverpool and one from Tokyo and both in 2018 (loads of "wheelchair hit by car" stories though). You must be proper unlucky, you.

I can't tell you how many electric scooters I've been hit by while waiting at traffic lights...

Hyperbole aside the way forward for active travel isn't a bigger / more shared use paths, any more than exhortation to "share the road" will make them feel safe to more cyclists.

Also - anyone know the status of powered handcycle add-ons? It seems you would then have an EAPC and NOT an invalid carriage at all. I can't recall seeing these in use. Probably Wheels For Wellbeing would have the info but it sounds like the regulations have essentially overlooked these.

https://thiis.co.uk/powered-handbike-attachments-a-regulatory-grey-area/

Apparently fine in NL - but since everyone including pedestriansand indeed those in certain micro-cars are permitted on the cycle path perhaps it's no issue?

https://www.aviewfromthecyclepath.com/2009/04/cycle-paths-and-disabled.html

Shame you have had the expected responses from some road.cc regulars here too. Not a surprise though at all.

Adam Sutton wrote:

Shame you have had the expected responses from some road.cc regulars here too. Not a surprise though at all.

Nor is your response a surprise, as you will side with anybody who spouts exaggerated or false rubbish about cyclist behaviour. Try doing some research on injuries caused to wheelchair users being hit by cyclists on the pavement. You'll have trouble, mind you, because evidence is pretty much non-existent, and yet you choose to believe the person above who has shown themselves numerous times to be virulently anti-cyclist; their only purpose in being on this site, and the only comments they have ever made, is to moan about cyclists. Hardly surprising you seem to feel an affinity with them.

It really is difficult for your ilk to simply acknowledge that there is an element of the cycling community that causes problems, without making lame excuses.

Adam Sutton wrote:

It really is difficult for your ilk to simply acknowledge that there is an element of the cycling community that causes problems, without making lame excuses.

There are certain cyclists who cause problems, certainly (as you're so adamant that riding a bike doesn't make doesn't make you part of the "cycling community" then your desire to classify all wrongdoers on bikes as part of said community is rank hypocrisy to say the least), but cyclists hitting wheelchair users on pavements simply isn't one of them and the OP's claims are quite clearly untrue and motivated by a bizarre hatred of all things cycling that seems, apart from accepting that it's convenient for commuting, rather closely to mirror your own.

Hmmm I mean it's not like the prevalent attitude here towards drivers isn't one of lumping all drivers together is it. Talk about hypocrisy.

I mean at least you kind of acknowledge there is an issue with cyclists, but again you have to make excuses, and downplay issues. Of course you'll struggle to find data on wheelchair users as they are not a large proportion of society (we have one wheelchair user at work, as an example) Downplaying issues that may face is tantamount to people downplaying the issues cyclists face, and the need and benefit of investing in cycle infrastructure. Again my experience of the attitude of a LARGE number of cyclists using the new cycle infra through west London is one of recklessness that causes problems for not just potentially wheelchair users but any pedestrian.

Yes I commute by bike, but not only that I treat it as transport. I needed a few bits today in town and cycled rather than drive (plus once again trains not running) as it would go in a backpack. But whatever helps you quell your cognitive dissonance is fine. I hate cyclists blah blah blaaaaah (I really don't!)

I won't edit, as we know that'll just lead to personal attacks and accusations of lying. But to add on the "I hate cycling" bollocks. The last few years I have cycled more miles than I've driven, including last year when a holiday to the Isle of Skye entailed about 1600 miles of driving. I don't hate cycling or cyclists, far from it. I don't like lumping myself in as a cyclist due to the embarrassing attitude of many who have to make it pretty much their identity.

Adam Sutton wrote:

I don't hate cycling or cyclists, far from it.

Well you give a pretty good impression of someone who does, given that you spend a considerable amount of your time coming on a website dedicated to cycling and 90% of your posts are dedicated to whining and bitching about how crap cyclists are.

Poster has a history of writing anti cycling comments. Standard comment is to say they all jump red lights and ride on the pavement. Nothing constructive, so they take it to the next level.

Indeed - after several "benefit of doubts" I think just taking what they have been previously posting at literally rather than metaphorically tells you what credence to give it.

Of course as Rendel said perhaps they're just an extremely unlucky 10% of the stats.

That doesn't mean that people with disabilities may not have had problems from people on bikes (with or without disabilities... oh, let's not go there too!) and certainly if you're not on a bike someone riding antisocially around you can feel extremely unpleasant. (Some local scrotes riding bikes at me / taking swings at people on the cycle paths come to mind - and I was on a bike myself at the time).

Mmmhmmm.

More broadly - are "cyclists" a thing?  Mostly no - that's just out-grouping.  However I don't think it's controversial to say that in the UK currently the demographics of "people on bikes" are not identical to those of the general population.  This is unlike places with mass cycling e.g. Scandinavia or NL, where - with some details - everyone cycles.

In the UK it's still more "the fit and the brave".  And probably "the poor and the environmentally conscious" and ... the bloody-minded.  And yes - some antisocial types.  Whether there are more of the latter end than you'd find not on bikes I don't know.  I imagine if you're into crime though you'd want to upgrade to powered transport...

If we were serious about fixing things for those with disabilities or there were actually safety issues with cycling* there are some really obvious things to tackle (outside from demanding "police this menace" or banning cycling...):
a) Rationalising the rules about what constitutes a mobility aid and where they can be used.
b) Safe space for cycling / wheeling / mobility vehicles - separate from motor traffic where speeds and/or volumes are high, and separate from the footway where there will be more than a handful of cyclists or pedestrians.

Oddly despite the occasional loud noises this doesn't seem to be a priority for Parliament / the media / local authorities.

* Although we're content to ignore some of those with motor vehicles which cause a lot more casualties, so...

Well, they got seventeen responses, including this one, so I guess they got what they wanted.

Feck me there are some horrific comments on that post.

Hirsute wrote:

She was in my blind spot

Cleared by jury

Obviously, beware the dangers of internet sleuthing from news reports... but we have a lorry crossing a solid white line into a bus / taxi / cycle lane where it shouldn't and a driver who it seems cannot have done all his checks.  Not guilty of causing death by careless driving.  Note - not dangerous, not even careless.

On the other - the jury were told that due to blind spots that large vehicles are always a danger.  That the cyclist failed to notice the lorry and they arrived at the same time.  Video apparently shows they checked behind them (presumably the near side lane) but didn't notice the lorry in the further lane moving into the near side one.  Plus the driver claimed he had to be in that lane earlier than the indicated turning point - and a colleague also crossed into it early.  He had only been working in the area four weeks - hence maybe picked up this move from others?

Trigger warning - there's an awful lot of "passive language" e.g. "she was crushed by a lorry which strayed into a bus and cycle lane".

From here:

thisisoxfordshire wrote:

On that day, El Len Tham was cycling along the shared footway and cycle path on the A4165 going towards Oxford.  As she approached the crossing near the Park and Ride, she checked over her right shoulder twice to begin the process of moving into the shared bus, taxi, and cycle lane - which is clearly marked both by signs and white markings on the road saying 'bus lane.'

Presumably near here?

Ghost bike parked beyond the crossing.

Here is where you can turn in and cross the bus lane.

From your article and previous ones by the oxford mail (I've just pulled out paragraphs of note):

oxford mail wrote:

As Ms Tham entered that shared lane she appears to have been unaware of a large goods vehicle which made its way across the white lane marking into the shared cycle lane.

James Lindsay drove into the 44-year-old Ms Tham, [ also known as Ms Moilanen], during the morning of February 8 last year as he entered a shared cycle, bus, and taxi lane outside the railway station.

 After the collision, Lindsay brought his lorry to a stop and got out of the vehicle to check what had happened, thinking that "something had fallen from the lorry" according to his later interview with police officers.

A co-worker of Lindsay who drove another lorry just in front of his on the day of the incident, could be seen doing a similar manoeuvre on the vehicle's dashcam

There was footage from the lorry's front and side dashcams.

oxford mail wrote:

Lindsay also maintained he had no choice but to enter the bus lane before its end in order to reach his destination at Kidlington Park and Ride.

“Anyone could approach your blind spot, and if you don’t see it, you don’t see it.”

Lindsay admitted that there were always blind spots when driving a vehicle of that size, which was roughly 10m in length.

The prosecutor said "As regrettable as it is for a man whose record shows he is a careful and capable driver, on this occasion he wasn't."

The jury clearly disagreed.  Tragic accident.  Large vehicles, you can't see well out of them.  Just one of those things.

Large vehicles, you can't see well out of them.  Just one of those things.

Yep, you're bound to kill the odd one, every now and then. I rather suspect (NAL) that if he does kill another one, the fact of the death of the first would be withheld from the jury- because he was found not guilty. Not that they would take much notice anyway

Leaving all that aside - and I'm not a local / don't know this area - but:

a) I know some people find them useful, but why are we still mixing buses and bikes?  Really dissimilar modes and at best only likely to get in each others' way.
b) Where is the separate cycle path (not shared use footway)?  Why doesn't that continue south into Oxford?  Such a route would serve a satellite town and a transport hub (park and ride / railway station)...

The ACT (Canberra) is the best city to ride in Australia.  You can ride on the footpath at any age, you don't have to dismount to cross roads, you are meant to wear a helmet but that law isn't enforced, we have on road and off road bike paths on all major routes and most minor ones and no matter where you live you are never further than a 20minute ride from a country road with minimal traffic.      Oh - and we have flat roads, rolling hills and small mountains. Heaven!

I am in Melbourne, there are some great shared paths along local creeks and rivers. On road facilities are hit and miss in and round the city. Don't know how often the helmet law is policed, not willing to find out.

It'll make a change from being ankle openers

I wonder if Shimano are going to recycle all those recalled Ultegra/Dura-Ace cranks into bottle openers?

Well, if they can use pasta for cranks, surely they can use cranks for...?