No penalty for driver overtaking on wrong side of pedestrian island; Mayor against pop-up cycle lanes because of inexperienced cyclists; More cyclists than drivers stopped on Box Hill; Sophie-Ellis Bextor in A+E after bike crash + more on the live blog

A road.cc reader has made us aware of an open letter to Chichester residents from the Mayor, Councillor Richard Plowman, who appears to associate inexperienced cyclists with a rise in cyclist incidents and fatalities. 

In the letter Councillor Plowman said: "The Government’s promotion of cycling is welcome, but there are consequences. Bicycle sales have risen a massive 40% and even with the drop to 1950s levels of traffic on the roads during lockdown, cyclists’ accidents, particularly fatalities, have doubled.  Road traffic is returning to pre-pandemic levels and construction traffic on St Paul’s Road, Orchard Road and Lavant Road has increased as building at White House Farm is under way again. I heard recently of a gentleman who had not ridden a bicycle for many decades. He bought a brand-new one, set off down his drive, wobbled, crashed into the gate, fell off and broke his shoulder. Hardly a help to the NHS!

"There are initiatives for so called ‘pop-up cycle ways’, but the overriding issue is one of safety. There are now many cyclists who are inexperienced. Children are often seen on two-wheelers that are too big for them. How many riders will stop cycling to work when the weather is cold, wet and miserable, especially when social distancing will mean few spaces at work for changing? The City Council is heavily involved in this matter, and advice and training will be available soon to keep road users and pedestrians safe."

The road.cc reader who shared the letter told us: "This is after starting with concerns that people aren't abiding by the 'no cycling' rules in the parks or through the city centre, (where there are no safe alternatives), and in the same breath talking about increasing general traffic, and highlighting HGV's etc for local building works. 

"This is after the death of a much loved local lady, Gina McWilliam, who was killed by a HGV driver in Bosham in 2019, resulting in a ground roots campaign for a safe cycling route so people could cycle in safety into Chichester.

"I'm absolutely disgusted by it."

Since the lockdown, there has been numerous examples of council and government figures making controversial comments about cycling infrastructure - Geoff Driver, who heads Lancashire County County Council, dismissed Cycling UK’s petition for cycling space as ‘childish antics’, while Walsall’s council leader Mike Bird somewhat paradoxically said he was against the installation of more cycle lanes because he belives bikes and cars can't mix safely, and because of “cyclists riding two, three or four abreast”.

Lancashire Police are appealing for witnesses after a male cyclist in his 50's died in a collision with a Ford Transit Tipper van in Altcar, West Lancashire.

Police were called at around 8.10pm on 2nd June, and after being taken to Aintree Hospital by emergency services, the man was pronounced dead a short time later. Police say the cyclist was travelling in the opposite direction to the van when they collided. The road was closed until 1.30am this morning while investigators attended the scene.

Sergeant Steve Hardman of the Lancashire Police Tac Ops team commented: “First and foremost we send our deepest condolences to the family and friends of the man who died.

“We are now working extremely hard to piece together exactly what occurred and we would ask anybody who saw the collision, and has not yet been spoken to by police, to make contact with us as soon as possible. Similarly if you have dashcam footage showing the collision, or if you saw either of the vehicles involved in the moments before it happened, please get in touch.”

Anyone with information can call 101, quoting log number 1405 of June 2nd.

Be like Mads this #WorldBicycleDay pic.twitter.com/Ywi6fzNq9t

— CORSO (@CORSOsports) June 3, 2020

The Dane shows us that he also uses his bike to shop for vegetables as well as winning word titles in this ad campaign from Trek to support World Bicycle Day.

Using a model they're calling 'Retail Lite',  Halfords will open another 100 stores to take the total now physically trading up to 153. Before the reopening most of Halfords' 446 stores were operating under a 'Dark Store' model, with customers placing orders out the front of the shop. The reopened stores will only allow a certain number in at all times, with a marshalled queue outside, and have safety notices inside reminding customers to keep their distance. Cleaning stations are located at the front of stores, staff are wearing visors and customers are asked not to handle products.

This news comes as Halfords have reported am increase in demand for e-mobility, with e-bike sales doubling. CEO Graham Stapleton commented: “With lockdown restrictions lifting many of us are starting to think about returning to work, and what our commutes will begin to look like. We’ve seen a big surge in demand for e-bikes and e-scooters, with members of the public turning to e-bikes to help them commute to work as an affordable alternative to public transport or driving."

It appears Councillor Mike Bird needs to make his mind up, as the Walsall Council Leader was quote in the Express and Star as saying that installing more cycle lanes would present an "insurmountable challenge" due to the "dangers" of mixing cars and bicycles... which is strange, because the idea of cycle lanes is to remove the dangers of mixing cars and bicycles. He also claims to have seen cyclists "taking ownership" of the road and "riding two, three or four abreast".

A full story on this will follow when we've got a comment back from Cycling UK.

Cycled into Bank this morning for my Home Office immigration appt. The heart of the City, this place is normally buzzing as one of the world’s financial sector hubs. This video was at 10:30AM today on Weds. Spooky. pic.twitter.com/2dttCtdzDR

— Shaun Wallis (@shaunbwallis) June 3, 2020

It's still difficult to get used to just how deserted some city streets have been since the pandemic began in March... and here's the scenes you would be greeted by today if cycling through London's usually bustling Bank area. Spooky indeed...

Is this the disciplined and organised office of a top of his game professional lorry driver? No. Its a blocked field of critical view likely to hide and kill a pedestrian or cyclist. #JOUCVU pic.twitter.com/iwpT8Gvf0W

— Hants Roads Policing (@HantsPolRoads) June 2, 2020

It's pretty scary to think that anyone was sharing the road with the driver of this lorry, let alone vulnerable road users; as Hampshire's Road Policing Unit caught the driver with a dashboard piled so high with junk that it was clearly obstructing his view of the road. Hants Road Police haven't yet said where the incident took place or what action they will be taking against the driver.