Cyclists “drive motorists somewhat insane”, claims councillor; LTNs ‘need time to settle’; Tokyo broken bar probe begins; Kangaroo rescued by cyclists caught attacking cyclist; Brighton bike lane debate; Gravel champs reaction + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
World champs: mini preview of what's coming up, with men's junior and men's U23 road race tomorrow
We’re hotting up towards the elite road races at the weekend, and with just exhibition events taking place today, tomorrow it’s the turn of the young’uns to show us what could be a glimpse into the future of the pro peloton.
Ethan Vernon (above) goes for Great Britain in the U23 race after finishing 7th in the time trial, joined by fellow promising Brit Lews Askey. There’s also a whole load of Dutch talent that could bag a win over the 160km course including the Van Dijke twins Mick and Tim and Jumbo-Visma’s 19-year-old talent Olav Kooij. It starts tomorrow at 2.25pm BST.
The men’s junior race will just be confined to the Leuven circuit in Flanders, covering 8 laps for a total distance of 121km, and that kicks off at 7.15am tomorrow morning. Oddly there’s no women’s U23 event, meaning it’s just a 75km junior event on Saturday morning before the elite women go in the afternoon. The elite men’s road race is on Sunday.
Old Shoreham cycle lane: claims that traffic "exactly the same" following controversial removal
Happy World Car Free Day to all the drivers on Old Shoreham Road in Brighton.
Where since the cycle lanes have been removed traffic, congestion and pollution is EXACTLY THE SAME! pic.twitter.com/k1bCiGoMpy
— Adam Bronkhorst (@AdamBronkhorst) September 22, 2021
Following the removal of the Old Shoreham Road pop-up cycle lane in Brighton, some have taken to social media in an attempt to show that it hasn’t exactly had the desired effect on improving traffic flow. Adam Bronkhorst took the photo above on World Car Free Day yesterday, claiming traffic is “exactly the same” despite the cycle lane’s removal last week.
Do you have data for that?
I found it much easier to drive down during peak times and there are noticeably fewer cars taking the side streets to get to their destination.
As the above is true, that means lower levels of pollution & pollution spread.— Rico Woj (@shortthought) September 22, 2021
Others claim the removal has reduced congestion on side streets at peak times, and that the photo isn’t a true representation of the situation. What we do know is that the lane’s removal has been extremely controversial, with The Argus reporting that Extinction Rebellion protestors attempted to block the council from ripping it up last week. Local Consersative coucillor Robert Nemeth was ‘applauded’ by another disgruntled social media user for supporting the lane’s removal, simply replying “cheers” to the remark.
Kangaroo rescued from icy water by cyclists attacks another cyclist later in the day
After the heart-warming footage above showing a kangaroo being rescued from icy waters on Canberra’s Lake Burley Griffin, it looks truly grateful for the efforts of the cyclists pulling it to safety. Throwing its arms around one of the men who rescued it, the roo was shivering and seems wholly appreciative. However, footage from later in the day shows a different story…
@fitbyfrank Kangaroo beating up a cyclist 😳 welcome to Australia! #Kangaroofight #Streetfight
This is reportedly the same roo on the same lake, caught squaring up to a cyclist a few hours later! Francesco Collodi can be heard saying “I can’t believe it” at the end of the clip, with the cyclist still not managing to shake off the moody marsupial.
One TikTok user suggested the roo could have come from Melbourne, in the thick of volatile anti-lockdown protests, saying: “The roo just came from Melbourne and learned some bad habits”.
Another praised the actions of the cyclist, saying: “I’m delighted to see the cyclist was just trying to redirect the roo, not fighting back necessarily.”
So much for high-vis improving your safety…
The hill climb overlord has spoken
Cycling brands. STOP showing pictures of famous Flanders climbs that the world championships are NOT using.
— Simon Warren (@100Climbs) September 23, 2021
Have you noticed bike brands using this year’s world champs to post tasteful photos of their bikes on climbs in Flanders that don’t feature on the actual course? Simon Warren, who as the author of numerous books about hills tends to know his stuff about them, isn’t happy…
More news from Canberra... this time it's rubbish bike lanes
#Canberra enters the chat. This is a 5m section one one part of a road “upgrade” in my part of the city. The other section, also 5m long, is on the other side of new traffic lights. 🙄 pic.twitter.com/X5GMMTOuc8
— Paris 1st💉 Lord (@parislord) September 23, 2021
We’ve had a Jekyll and Hyde Kangaroo from Australia’s capital, now it’s time for a measly five metres of bike lane. This is in reply to a cyclist from Worcester in the UK, who calls this painted bit of unprotected cycle lane as “at best pointless, at worst actively harmful.”
For a seriously bad bike lane that’s hard to beat, check out this edition of our live blog from back in March.
Will the beginning of UCI gravel world champs mark the end of peak gravel? Gravel fans are split
Remember our mini report on the King’s Cup, which held its (unofficial) British Gravel Championships the other day? Well barely a day later the UCI has announced that it will be working with the event’s organiser Golazo for a UCI-sanctioned gravel world series and world championship next year.
The UCI says: “From next year, the UCI will organise – in collaboration with events organiser Golazo – a UCI Gravel World Series consisting of events enabling athletes to qualify for the UCI Gravel World Championships. This discipline combines elements of road and mountain bike, and takes place mainly on unsealed roads (gravel, forest tracks, farm roads, cobbles, etc). Races in the UCI World Series will be mass participation events.”
UCI-sanctioned series and world champs for gravel?
— Andrew Hood (@EuroHoody) September 22, 2021
Leaked page from the UCI’s gravel world series rulebook pic.twitter.com/YcWJb1lz9z
— Frederick Dreier (@freddreier) September 22, 2021
Kill it? Nah. Wound it, and twist into an over-regulated, under-supported mutation? Probably…
— Algarvean exile (@VonPinkhoffen) September 23, 2021
Reaction has been mixed, with some saying it’s a good thing gravel being brought to the mainstream, others saying it could ruin the scene and some just speculating on the competitors’ hipster moustache size. Will you be watching the gravel world champs next year?
Other announcements from the UCI’s management committee meeting includes continuing commitment to developing women’s cycling, the launch of a cyclocross team relay test event and more research into the benefit of ketones for performance enhancement.
The UCI says: “Despite the absence of scientific proof of performance enhancement from ketones, and as part of the UCI’s commitment to an honest and credible sport, the UCI Management Committee – like the Professional Cycling Council at its meeting on 20 September – requested that an additional scientific study be launched to clarify the question.
“While waiting for the results of the study, the UCI recommends riders to refrain from using this substance.”
Grant Shapps on cycle lanes and LTNs: "You've got to allow things to settle before you U-turn on it"
Grant Shapps at @CommonsTrans to Low Traffic Neighbourhoods opposition: “Sometimes they’ve tried something and immediately walked away from it perhaps actually because they don’t realise it takes a while to bed in. You’ve got to allow things to settle before you U-Turn on it.” pic.twitter.com/f9XLvsFubx
— Adam Tranter (@adamtranter) September 22, 2021
Further to numerous recent stories about councils ripping up cycle lanes and U-turning on LTNs, transport secretary Grant Shapps gave his opinion to the cross-party Transport Committee.
Asked what his message is to councils and community activists who oppose low traffic neighbourhoods, Shapps said: “We’re very keen to not just go back to the world how it was before, we had huge amounts of congestion, lots of pollution even before the pandemic. The pandemic has seen an enormous increase in active travel, such that the country has never seen before.
“Sometimes they’ve [councils] tried something and the immediately walked away from it, perhaps actually because they don’t realise it takes a while to bed in.
“…You’ve got to allow things to settle before you do a U-turn on it.”
“What’s often forgotten is that every car you take off the road because somebody decides to walk or cycle is a hell of a lot more road space, and actually helps everybody including the motorist.”
As we discussed in the inaugural episode of the road.cc Podcast with regards to the situation in London, Shapps’ words and the general message from the government as outlined in its Gear Change document shows what an unusual time it is for local politics when it comes to active travel. Councils – often Conservative and Labour ones – have fought back against cycle lanes and LTNs on numerous occasions following (what they perceive to be) fierce opposition, while central government is heavily promoting active travel, and instructing councils to build infrastructure that will cut motor vehicle usage.
Vincenzo Nibali returns to Astana
The 36-year-old has returned to the team where he saw his greatest successes, including two Giro d’Italia and one Tour de France titles between 2013 and 2016.
With no assistance from an Astana PR person whatsoever, Nibali commented: “I am very happy to come back to Team Astana, because for me it is a real family that has given me a lot and together with which I have achieved my greatest successes. I know most of the management and staff of the team, so I will return to the team I know really well. Also I have some very nice memories from visiting Kazakhstan and its capital and it was an unforgettable experience.”
Other than really looking forward to going back to Kazakhstan, do you reckon the The Shark can also look forward to recapturing success at the highest level again now he’s back at Astana?
The reality of cycling to work
What cycling to work should be like vs what is is actually like
— 🌱🚲 (@TheCycIist) September 23, 2021
If you commute in a built up area, part 2 might look more familiar to you than part 1…
Are quieter roads upon us?
BREAKING: BP says it has temporarily closed some UK sites due to supply issues with unleaded and diesel fuel resulting from a national shortage of HGV and tanker drivers.
Get the latest updates: https://t.co/hkEnFm0n7N pic.twitter.com/VIwrAoPUAO
— Sky News (@SkyNews) September 23, 2021
The good news: a potential fuel crisis could mean quieter roads for cycling on!
The bad news: small chance we could all freeze or starve to death…
4iiii opens UK factory, so you can send your crank off to be fitted with a power meter
The Canadian tech company now has a UK facility, meaning we can take advantage of its popular factory install service – simply send off your left side Shimano crank to 4iiii, and it will be back with you fitted with one of its Precision power meters a week later.
The factory install service is priced at £299.99 – find out more here and read our review of the 4iiii Precision power meter here.
AusCycling hire plane crash expert as part of investigation into Alex Porter's snapped bars at Tokyo Olympics
Some of the most memorable moments of the track cycling at the Tokyo Olympics weren’t the world records or victories, but strange goings on and incidents such as the Danish tape fiasco, Charlie Tanfield being crashed into and the unfortunate Alex Porter losing his handlebars mid-ride.
After some speculation, it turned out that the bars were made by Bastion Cycles rather than Australian team’s bike supplier Argon 18. At the time Bastion said it was conducting its own investigations into the failure, and now AusCycling has released details of its own probe into what happened.
The project lead will be Toni Cumpston, described as “an experienced high-performance executive with a record of success across multiple sports and international sporting systems”. Interestingly the lead investigator John Baker is a mechanical and aeronautical engineer “with a particular focus and expertise in fault-finding and investigations, including several aircraft crash investigations.”
AusCycling’s CEO Marne Fechner said: ‘’At the time we committed to a thorough, independent, and transparent review of what happened, and we’re now well placed to deliver on that promise.
‘’Toni and John are leaders in their respective fields and have the blessing of the AusCycling Board and leadership to find out exactly what happened and what to do to prevent it happening again.”
Full findings are expected to be released before the end of next year – and we’ll have a full story on this later today which is expected to be released before teatime.
North Yorkshire councillor says cyclists "drive motorists somewhat insane" in anti-cyclist bingo game at road safety meeting
It’s widely known that Yorkshire experienced a boom in recreational cycling after the 2014 Tour de France depart, and again during the 2019 UCI Road World Championships; and ahead of North Yorkshire County Council approving the York and North Yorkshire Road Safety Partnership Strategy for 2021-26, some opposition councillors have been sharing their opinions on how cyclists and motorists can co-exist. Not all of those opinions were fact-based, unfortunately…
The Yorkshire Post reports that some members wanted to know what could be done to resolve “escalating” conflict between cyclists and motorists in rural areas, and the anti-cyclist bingo game began with the introduction of Cllr Stuart Parsons:
Cyclists were “making themselves a great number of potential enemies and therefore dangerous situations by their approach to using the roads, especially when they are not road taxpayers when using it for their cycles,” he claimed.
“Cyclists do drive motorists somewhat insane, especially when they are travelling two or three abreast, which they seem to be doing more and more so. On these winding roads it makes it difficult for anybody to pass safely.”
Road tax and two abreast… not bad!
The authority said it was already trying to educate drivers and cyclists on sharing the roads. Cllr Don Mackenzie saying that while some cyclists should learn not to “create obstructions on the highway”, cyclists had his sympathies because their vehicle only weighs a few kilograms as opposed to cars weighing up to two tonnes.
Officers also shared statistics at the meeting to show that cyclists were “at fault for about 70 per cent and drivers 30 per cent of cycle collisions on rural roads”, statistics that road.cc will be questioning further with an FOI request to North Yorkshire County Council.
23 September 2021, 08:30
Vodaphone not exactly ahead of the curve on bike tech according to our reviewer
Vodafone Curve bike light & GPS tracker
23 September 2021, 08:30
We're not sure either to be honest...
Colnago to use blockchain tech on 2022 bikes
New digital passports are designed to ensure the validity and proof of ownership of new Colnago frames, starting with the bike that Tadej Pogačar will ride at the World Championships this weekend
23 September 2021, 08:30
23 September 2021, 08:30
It's my turn for our komoot routes series this month...
The road.cc team’s favourite routes on komoot: Jack's 'slightly longer than an hour' South Staffs lunch loop
This month Jack shares his afternoon loop that extends slightly beyond lunch hour, with a few lumps and bumps along the way
23 September 2021, 08:30
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Latest Comments
I'll counter that by saying the Bryton 750se I have drives me nuts at times. Inconsistantly picks up on routes created on Komoot and the app re-syncs every few seconds when trying to set up the device and sends me back to the home screen. The most infuriating one is that I turned live track on. Once. It now won't turn off and repeatedly flags up the live track is starting, and then disconnecting every few seconds whilst riding. I haven't timed it but it wouldn't suprise me if 10-20% of the time the the screen is covered with an error message. That's been about 6 weeks now. Other than that it's great :/
RE: Police launch road safety operation... by clamping down on cyclists using footbridge Meanwhile in Glasgow, Police Scotland are riding their motorbikes over the pedestrian and cyclists only bridge. https://x.com/FietserGlasgow/status/2065106152917012523?s=20
@Paul J Van Schip certainly seems a bit of a dick, but he's a European and multiple World Champion on the track, pretty sure you don't get there without having some talent in your legs.
Poor Vincent cannot get over the simple fact that given the choice people prefer dedicated cycling spaces, rather than pretending to be cars like vehicular cyclists.
What is the point of the fancy air sensor if it can't account for changing weather conditions?? If all you care about is a delayed approximation of aerodynamic watts in steady conditions, you don't need any special sensors for that. Just your speed on a decently flat course is enough to approximate rolling resistance and drivetrain losses. And the rest must be aero. If you assume a less aero body position at the same watts, your speed will drop while rolling resistance also drops, which means approximated aero watts goes up. And that's enough to demonstrate what you've shown in your testing protocol ("I sat upright and the number went up a little while later").
Your correction is accurate - it's almost always been "the (lack of) thought that (doesn't) count". "Massive" - less than a billion a year spent on active travel (trying to catch up / building a network across the entire country) Not massive - 6 billion every year (2026-2030) spent on road *maintenance* of existing "already built, goes everywhere, very convenient" road network for inactive travel Ultimately the reason "cycle infra" is *needed* is those unbelievably colossal amounts spent every year (and for more than a century now) on making mass motoring not just viable but apparently the "best choice" for most journeys. As the Dutch and others have shown, the majority of people *are* prepared to cycle and even mix with very light, slow local motor traffic *if* cycling is also made safe and convenient for the whole of their journey (including secure parking at both ends). (The history of the financial drivers of the current situation are a complex topic but note that while people complain about "crumbling roads" and underfunded motor infra - with some reason - by us continuing the fuel duty escalator freeze (for example) we're actually helping motorists pay *even less* for that activity / subsidising more of the cost of driving than ever.)
yes, but people will still object - which was my point.
So ' Priority of Road Users' and 1.5 metre clearance at 30mph has been been reduced to 'sharing'? NCN route 2 here in South Hams is an absolute scream with white vans, tractors and total idiots who refuse,or are totally incapable,to reverse on high Devon banked lanes ...means you have to get off and pedal back to a passing place....could be at that all day...so I don't bother...
@MaxiMinimalist Agreed. The big problem I see now is today's parents grew up being driven to their schools, and therefore, see private motor vehicles as the only viable form of transport. The vast majority of UK infant and primary schools have a catchment area that is within easy walking distance from home to school. Yet, the traffic caused by pupils being driven to/from school is astonishing. Banishing the "School Run" should be a priority for all schools.
When I was a kid (that was during the previous millenium when phones were connected to a plug in the wall), I rode my bicycle to school, music academy, sport grounds, parties even during the winter. The government didn't have to spend, correct that, didn't have to think of spending massive amounts of money to build cycling specific infrastructures. Over the past 3 or 4 decades, cars have grown bigger, taller, safer (for their drivers) and faster. Meanwhile, motorists have become abusive, aggressive, hypersensitive to people moving on two wheels, aka cyclists. Spending billions upon billions on new infrastructure won't address the crux of the matter. Sadly.
56 thoughts on “Cyclists “drive motorists somewhat insane”, claims councillor; LTNs ‘need time to settle’; Tokyo broken bar probe begins; Kangaroo rescued by cyclists caught attacking cyclist; Brighton bike lane debate; Gravel champs reaction + more on the live blog”
Wouldnt you have expected
Wouldnt you have expected removing the cycle lane to make congestion worse, what with all the cyclists back using their cars to travel that section ?
Plus if you saw the governments stats about travel during Covid, all motor vehicle use is regularly breaking 100% at the moment, ie theres far more traffic on the roads currently than there should be still probably because bus & train usage hasn’t recovered yet.
Awavey wrote:
Don’t be silly. Everyone knows that people on bikes don’t need o travel anywhere. It’s about time that road planners considered hard pressed hard working hard driving hard drinking hard bargaining hard standing hard shouldering hard knocking hard deadlining hard limiting hard ….. (did I say pressed yet?) motorists.
I suspect that there’s
I suspect that there’s something akin to confirmation bias going on – the drivers driving along there now don’t feel hemmed in by the cycle lane or something, so they think that everything is much improved even if it objectively isn’t…
brooksby wrote:
Are you honestly suggesting that irate motorists aren’t making objective observations? BollOX!!!! Why do they beep their horns then eh??? answer me that????
Communist.
Busses aren’t stopping at bus
Busses aren’t stopping at bus stops because they are “full” to new capacity, so if people have to get from a to b they do it other than on a bus because you can’t be late for work/school/etc some choose to cycle most choose to drive.
For all the lovely speeches
For all the lovely speeches Boris the Liar makes about sorting climate change he is not directly addressing the issues with either his own party councillors or the electorate. In order to “encourage” people out of their cars we need to make the options more attractive, that obviously means good public transport and active travel infra but it also means making the use of cars less attractive. ie long journey times, high running costs etc…
All of this is clear from the Gear Change policy document. The trouble is that for many this sounds like levelling down not levelling up.
Oh, come on! The Gear Change
Oh, come on! The Gear Change policy was last year, you should have forgotten about it by now. I’m sure Johnson has.
It would be good to hear a
It would be good to hear a speech from a senior minister direct to the nation, explaining that global heating is real, and setting out in broad terms the steps required to tackle it.
There would be no first class
There would be no first class air travel, free food, or photo opportunities at the top of the Empire State Building associated with that.
Awavey wrote:
Anyone got numbers on the relative contributions of extra delivery vans (more online shopping), said increased use of cars and taxis over public transport and less car sharing? How does that weight up against less commuting and maybe still a general reduction in travel? I’d love to see a graph…
Well the goverment stats
Well the goverment stats about travel during Covid I refer to might be a good place to start 🙂
So cyclists rudely interrupt
So cyclists rudely interrupt kangaroo while it’s taking a bath; kangaroo then takes against cyclists – doesn’t seem that unexpected really.
In seriousness, though, I think the ‘grateful’ and ‘wholly appreciative’ thing is more anthropomorphic projection than reality. To me, it looks more like it’s just having difficulty standing (due to the slippery wet surface, probably compounded by being weakened by its stint in the water) and is just grabbing out for support at whatever happens to be nearest.
Call me a cycnic about the
Call me a cycnic about the OSR cycle lane, but could the ‘reduction in traffic’ being touted by motorists be something to do with the fact that Brighton is a seaside town and the cycle lane was removed at the end of the school holidays in a year when there have been record numbers of staycationers in the UK?
Therefore the reduction in congestion has little to do with the fact that the cycle lane is not there but more due to the fact that there are signficantly fewer visitors in the area?
Typical Australian poor
Typical Australian poor-quality “cycling” infra. Needless conflict because cyclists are forced to share with marsupials – needs a dedicated wallaby-pass.
Isn’t the point of Khan’s
Isn’t the point of Khan’s photo also that the road is flooded due to a teensy bit of extra rainfall that the capital had, which one can also blame on the climate emergency?
(I’m losing track a bit now, by the way: are we referring to this as “climate emergency”, “climate change”, “climate collapse”, or “OMG this could be the end of civilisation”?)
Presumably the Mayor of
Presumably the Mayor of London, might like to have a word, on his doorstep so to speak,with Ealing borough council then, voted to remove 7 LTNs theyd installed at last nights council meeting.
Awavey wrote:
Does teh mayor have any direct authority over the councils?
Werent the LTNs funded by TfL
Werent the LTNs funded by TfL via the mayors bold London street space plans…
Also would it not be paradoxical (others may use different words) to claim in one breath climate change is on our doorstep, its OUR problem too, but to then use the get out that you dont have any direct authority on this part,literally on your doorstep, to do anything about it, so just ignore it, quick do a Boris & muppets meme to distract people.
Awavey wrote:
I thought (not arguing with you per see you may be correct) that the mayor has control over TfL controlled highways. The money for the council controlled ones came from their own budgets or gov.
The council cannot impose or block schemes on TFL roads and vice versa
As for councils being paradoxical, well…..
Awavey wrote:
No, the Mayor only has control over TfL roads (principally main A road arteries). LTNs were funded and encouraged by central government. Try persuading a cabby of this though…
When asked a question in the
When asked a question in the London Assembly on this subject, the mayor said LTNs are delivered by London Boroughs,but funded through TfL or the DfT, as part of MY (the mayors) London streetspace programme.
I’m not saying the mayor can overrule a boroughs decision here in some kind of turf war over who controls which roads, as no he doesnt directly control what happens on those borough roads or stop those LTNs being ripped out, but it was his streetspace scheme that TfL, who he is chair of the board for, followed in awarding the money to the borough to specifically put some of the LTNs in,which they have now voted to take out.
Surely he can pick up a phone,better still pop round in person,maybe best walk or cycle, to ask Ealing what the hell they are actually doing and why are they wrecking his streetspace scheme for Londoners, when he is so passionately demanding everyone including individuals, businesses and government do everything they possibly can to prevent climate change.
Abdicating responsibility by suggesting it’s not in his direct control, is the path of inaction, that he also tweeted about today, that we should not choose to follow.
My office is just out of shot
My office is just out of shot to the left in the picture of Towerr Bridge. Pre-pandemic, I was a daily cycle commuter into London. However, on the last occasion that I rode into London I got demolished by a right hook, spent 9 hours in A&E and was told on discharge that I had had a miraculous escape. Unfortunately, my wife had a call from a PCSO who wasn’t too sharp and left more questions unanswered than not. My wife then spent a very unpleasant 6 hours unable to establish how badly injured I was (given that the initial list was life-threatening).
As a consequence, I am now banned from riding into London. I tried it once and then I found out how serious the ban was. The point is, I have been knocked off my bike by a car twice in London – both times on the magic blue paint of CS7, and those stupid wands achieve next to nothing in most places. Both times, it really hurt.
London really needs proper, pedal powered infrastructure and fewer cars and vans. Seemingly, the latest thing is to accuse protesters blocking M25 junctions of putting people’s lives at risk by delaying ambulances (cp LTNs and cycle lanes). If it is a legitimate argument that traffic jams cause deaths by delaying emergency vehicles, then logically one should ban on-street parking, which would both clear the streets and reduce the number of vehicles. It would also drive the AA, RAC et al mad with fury
Khan blames his own shocking
Khan blames his own shocking ineptitude on climate change. Hasn’t he just approved a £2.2bn Silvertown Tunnel road? How about the millions of extra people he’s encouraged to come and live on flood plains? How about just cleaning the drains? Didn’t he just drive a 13mpg cavalcade of limousines to take his dog for a walk? No one does hypocrisy quite like Sadiq.
Nigel Garrage wrote:
Sadiq Khan is one of the highest profile political figures in the country and one of the, if not the, highest-profile Muslim leaders in any non-Muslim country anywhere in the world. He is a target for both right-wing racist extremists and Islamic terror groups. Sometimes the Metropolitan police detail assigned to his security will decide (and it’s entirely their decision) that certain areas are too dangerous for him to walk in with his family and will say he has to go elsewhere. On such occasions, they will travel with him in their operational vehicles. Hope that clears that up for you.
Prepared to bet you don’t complain about the Prime Minister, or the Queen, or (heaven forfend) your pinup boy Trump travelling with heavy security and several vehicles, now what could there possibly be about the Mayor of London that provokes your particular ire and scrutiny? Oooh, that’s a tricky one…
Rendel Harris wrote:
Setting aside the fact you’ve cherry picked one incident out of Khan’s avalanche of hypocrisy, let’s examine what you’re saying in more detail.
Mr Khan’s dog needs walking at least twice a day, and according to you as “the highest-profile Muslim leader” he needs detailed protection at all times. Now for some reason Mr Khan chooses to walk said dog in a park 4.5 miles away when there’s another one right by his house, by driving in a cavalcade of a Jaguar V8 (13mpg) VW people carrier (36mpg) and Volvo hybrid-petrol SUV (let’s guess 50mpg).
If, perfectly reasonably according to you, Mr Khan walked dog in said park twice a day 365 days a year, that would result in a total round-trip mileage of 6,570 miles (there and back, 18 miles a day), consuming 505 gallons of fuel for the Jag, 182 gallons of fuel for the people carrier, and 131 gallons of fuel for the Volvo.
According to Carbon independent, CO2 emissions from petrol and diesel are around 10.9kg per gallon, so Mr Khan’s trips would produce 8916kg or 8.916 tons of CO2, which according to Worldometer is more than 50% more than the average UK person’s yearly CO2 footprint of 5.55 tons. Just for talking a dog for a walk.
But that’s not all, what about the cost to the hard working London Taxpayer? Well, let’s assume that there are four accompanying officers costing £150/hour between them, and that there is wear and depreciation on the cavalcade of 2.50/mile, a very conservative estimate. If traffic moves at approx 15mph between Khan’s residence and the park, it would take 438 hours to actually drive to the park, plus another 365 hours a year (assuming 1 hour of walks a day) of waiting around for Mr Khan to actually walk the dog.
Total cost: £120,450 staffing, plus £9,855 vehicle cost = >£130,000 monetary cost. To walk a dog who’d have been just as happy frollicking around in the local park. No wonder Khan needs to raise taxes and cancel road improvements!
You appear to have missed the
You appear to have missed the bit about there are times that the Mayor is advised by the police to avoid certain areas. It’s lovely to see all your little sums, gold star, but he doesn’t do that every day, most of the time he walks his dog in Tooting, I’ve seen him.
As you’re so keen on adding up, go and figure out the carbon and financial costs of Johnson and Carrie going on their holidays, or your hero Trump flying to one of his own resorts in AF1 virtually every weekend of his presidency for a round of golf.
I am a hardworking London taxpayer, which you’re not, and I’m happy for the Met to spend what they deem necessary to provide security for our Mayor. I don’t suppose in the whole year it costs a fraction of what it’s cost to fly the PM and his entourage to New York for a couple of days to talk shite about Kermit the frog to the UN.
Rendel Harris wrote:
He’s also missed the point that actually he cherry-picked the incident in question, using the Daily Mail as his source of flem.
The costs, if they are realistic (let’s take them at face value), are the costs of ensuring an individual can exercise the role of Mayor without curtailing their own personal life in doing so. Just as the costs of protecting any individual might range from incidental to full-on, whole-family CPTs and relocation, the costs of ensuring that a person can fulfil the role of Mayor extend to them being able to do normal things, protected fromthe risks that the role specifically brings.
It’s not security to walk a dog; it’s security to be Mayor.
brooksby wrote:
All the above are effectively equivalent & interchangeable. Except, of course, the last one. It’s a bit hard to see how “civilisation” could end when it hasn’t even started yet.
RE: climate emergency etc.
RE: climate emergency etc. Part of the solution – unless you think that this is just a technological fix – is the bald fact of needing to drive less / transport fewer things. However at a cycling advocacy meeting last night I was interested to find the consensus of activists there was that essentially we can’t say that. It just shuts down the conversation with most people e.g. everyone not reading this forum. So when engaging you have to keep emphasis largely on positive changes e.g. not “we can’t have parking outside the school (because you are the problem)” but “isn’t it great when you can hear each other chat / you’re not dodging traffic with your kids?”.
Luckily consensus-building applies less on internet forums.
Just politics I guess. Does remind me of those games where you have to convey something without saying the actual words though.
The inconvenient truth is
The inconvenient truth is that the 10% of highest earners on the planet are responisible for 50% of carbon emissions. To be in this illustrious 10% you have to be earning around £26K. So those that believe that this is an issue with emerging economies are just delusional.
I think politicians and others do need to come clean but I would agree that it can be sold in other ways. Eg promote the health benefits – more exercise, cleaner air and better diet will lead to longer life expectancy. The trouble is that the departmental way that government is run does not lead to a holistic approach.
I rarely watch the news these days, but I’m sure that Johnson said that he was in New York to talk about climate change and a trade deal that would include beef. Talk about mixed messages! It makes you wonder what he actually knows about the causes of climate change.
IanMK wrote:
Yes – as many of us in this forum will be in the richest 1% of the world’s population and even people on benefits in the UK may be in the top 10%. (I’m certainly not suggesting that makes it easy for those on benefits before anyone starts…merely highlighting we all consume at a rate high above the world’s per capita energy / resource usage.)
I wasn’t even thinking of “politics” at the national level, more the local debates and relationships with our friends and neighbours that give you and me the chance to actually change something. (And in the process benefit ourselves from said relationships). Doesn’t mean we shouldn’t lobby or challenge MPs too of course!
For the record, this is the
For the record, this is the report I slightly misquoted ?
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/sep/21/worlds-richest-1-cause-double-co2-emissions-of-poorest-50-says-oxfam?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other
Yep, same one as Ol’ Man
Yep, same one as Ol’ Man Hembrow was quoting and quibbling with both the Grauniad’s reporting and the original in my link. The one thing that seems sure is we in the UK ought to tighten our belts on energy usage – unless we choose another path and say “bollocks to it”.
Not the UK
Not the UK
Pretty much defines entitlement.
Kagaroo’s are a right bunch
Kagaroo’s are a right bunch of bastards, almost as unruly as squirrels!
Hey, I was at the King’s Cup
Hey, I was at the King’s Cup gravel festival on Sunday and I can tell you the race was an absolute blast. See for yourself, here’s a video I put together.
https://youtu.be/eUsVSJFXO2o
Always good to see Sadiq Khan
Always good to see Sadiq Khan highlighting climate change – the man who requires a fleet of 3 x Range Rovers just to take himself and his dog for a walk in the park less than 1 mile from where he lives.
It would be good to know what
It would be good to know what personal changes politicians have made to reduce their carbon footprint. It’s called leading by example.
“The authority said it was
“The authority said it was already trying to educate drivers and cyclists on sharing the roads. Cllr Don Mackenzie saying that while some cyclists should learn not to “create obstructions on the highway”, cyclists had his sympathies because their vehicle only weighs a few kilograms as opposed to cars weighing up to two tonnes.”
I’m on a roll with this theme today – if the objection is creating obstructions on the highway, ban parking on the street. Fewer cars, more room for the remainder – all good…..
Cllr Don Mackenzie saying
Sure, cyclists, that’s the problem. If only they drove cars instead then they would not “create obstructions on the highway.”
That made me smile as well.
That made me smile as well. Every night there is a queue of traffic coming in to my town. I’m always appreciative if a driver pulls over a bit to let me filter more safely but it doesn’t happen often.
Quote:
[quote:]Officers also shared statistics at the meeting to show that cyclists were “at fault for about 70 per cent and drivers 30 per cent of cycle collisions on rural roads”,
[/quote]
I read some stats recently that stated that 75% of recorded cycle incidents were single bike collisions. In that context it might make some sense, only I’m sure it wouldn’t paint quite the picture the councillors had hoped
Having done the basic
Having done the basic research, which took me about five minutes (OK, I’m a committee wonk, it’s part of my job) the troubling part is on p.68 of the committee papers (here) where the officers compiling the report appear to have assigned blame to cyclists for any accident where they have not taken ‘action to ensure their mode of travel has followed appropriate safety measures or safety checks have been made, e.g., bicycle safety checks prior to travel and ensuring high visibility is displayed on the journey. ‘
Victim blaming or what? If you FoI that report, the request should and will be refused – it’s already in the public domain, even though some buffoon at the council has tagged the agenda papers as ‘Official – Sensitive’ – a category of information that doesn’t apply to agenda papers in local government. If you just get the raw stats, and don’t know that they’re based on victim blaming (e.g. not wearing Hi Viz) you may be misled into believing that all those KSI’s are the fault of cyclists….
I’m sure I’m just being dense
I’m sure I’m just being dense, but I couldn’t find the 70% figure in those papers.
Nor me – but I did find the
Nor me – but I did find the victim blaming bit, and I’m willing to bet the price of a new chainring that’ll be the explanation of figures that look way out of kilter. The report is woefully light on analysis – there again, it’s a strategy, not an in depth analysis, and the preparation of strategies, even when done by officers, relfects the desires of the politicians.
exilegareth wrote:
Victim blaming or what? If you FoI that report, the request should and will be refused – it’s already in the public domain, even though some buffoon at the council has tagged the agenda papers as ‘Official – Sensitive’ – a category of information that doesn’t apply to agenda papers in local government. If you just get the raw stats, and don’t know that they’re based on victim blaming (e.g. not wearing Hi Viz) you may be misled into believing that all those KSI’s are the fault of cyclists….— exilegareth
Thanks for finding that, and while you might be right about your suggestion of where the 70% figure comes from, there are no figures attached to that statement or anywhere else in the document that I can find which support that cyclists are at fault in 70% of collisions.
I’ve scanned through the document and can find no supporting figures or anything which even vaguely resembles it, but the report itself is woefully inadequate and has serious omissions e.g. p71 Vulnerable groups only mentions motorcyclists, not pedestrians or cyclists.
road.cc is right and the council needs to explain the figures as quoted by council officers at the meeting, as the figures aren’t in the report and therefore not in the public domain.
exilegareth wrote:
I don’t even know what to say. That’s sickening. Thanks for your post
Well done Road.cc for taking
Well done Road.cc for taking up the point about the statisctics. Be interesting to compare them with those from WMP perhaps?
Bike blog in the hate filled
Bike blog in the hate filled guardian, environmental impact on bicycles
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/bike-blog/2021/sep/23/why-arent-more-big-bike-firms-tracking-their-environmental-impact
I thought it was a good
I thought it was a good article. Interesting to see the stats on e-scooters.
“The authority said it was
“The authority said it was already trying to educate drivers.” But they haven’t even educated their own councillors! Cllr Stuart Parsons thinks that road tax still exists and it’s illegal to ride two abreast. Mind you, trying to educate that idiot would tax the best of teachers.
“Officers also shared statistics at the meeting to show that cyclists were “at fault for about 70 per cent and drivers 30 per cent of cycle collisions on rural roads”.
I’m so glad road.cc is questioning those figures, because they imply that in the majority of collisions between cyclist/driver, it is the cyclist’s fault, whereas official police data shows exactly the opposite, with drivers much more likely to be at fault. I look forward to reading the officers’ explanation, which I’m sure will make perfect sense. If it turns out that the officers manipulated the figures to make cyclists look bad, they must be disciplined.
eburtthebike wrote:
Because they probably know that that is a wall that doesn’t need banging with their own heads. You can inform councillors till you’re an apolitical shade of blue in the face, if it doesn’t suit their particular hobby horse in that moment, it is but an inconvenient buzz in their ear.
It is interesting, because I don’t think I’ve seen a split before. Bear in mind that, even if the figures are based on an analysis of the stats19 data, broken down into rural/urban road types (definition required), and perhaps even analysed for the local area rather than national average, they are based on police giving their view of the causes. If the cause is not clear, or the only evidence is from the survivor, the conclusions may be skewed. Still, it’s the best we’ve got.
World champs road race. BBC2
World champs road race. BBC2 14:40 Sunday (or Eurosport)
Mens Elite World champs road
Mens Elite World champs road race. BBC2 14:40 Sunday (or Eurosport)
Womens Elite world champs road race BBC2 14:00 Saturday (or Eurosport 1 11am)
There, FTFY.
If motorists stopped
If motorists stopped blocking the sides of the roads with groups of two abreast empty seats the cyclists might take them seriously when they complain about cyclists riding two abreast.
Amen to that!
Amen to that! 😀