Jeremy Vine shuts down councillor who blamed cycle paths for “destruction” of their town; Pedal Me appeal for help keeping staff warm between jobs; Ian Stannard retires due to rheumatoid arthritis; Doctors + nurses back LTNs + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
Doctors and nurses express support for LTNs
More than 120 doctors and nurses have expressed their support for Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTNs) and asked London Mayor Sadiq Khan to implement more traffic safety infrastructure. The letter backs plans for more LTNs across the capital and suggests the concern that many have raised of emergency service vehicles being unable to access incidents because roads are blocked off may not be valid.
The letter cites reduction in fatalities, tackling obesity and air pollution as three key reasons for further implementation of LTNs. It says: “We recognise the adverse impact that motor vehicles have on our patients and the broader community. We therefore strongly support the measures you have been putting in place.
“We are concerned that some of these valuable schemes have been removed, and consideration is being given to remove others. We would like to lend our support to TFLand council leaders across London to continue increasing the road changes to promote walking and cycling not removing them.”
LTNs have become more widespread across the capital since the first lockdown in the spring and often involve barriers, such as plant boxes, being placed in residential streets to prevent motorists from rat running to avoid main roads. The schemes have been widely praised for their efforts to reduce pollution and make streets safer for active travel. However, there has also been a vocal backlash from drivers whose journeys now take longer and some shop owners who claim it reduces custom to their businesses. Yesterday there was a debate in Parliament over the issue.
The full letter can be read here.
Ian Stannard retires due to rheumatoid arthritis
End of an era.
After a hugely successful career, British rider Ian Stannard has been forced to retire from professional racing due to rheumatoid arthritis.
Read the thoughts of Ian and Sir Dave Brailsford:
— INEOS Grenadiers (@INEOSGrenadiers) November 5, 2020
Team Ineos stalwart Ian Stannard has retired after a decade riding for the team. Stannard won Omloop Het Nieuwsblad two years consecutively in 2014 and 2015, and also finished on the podium at Paris-Roubaix in 2016.
Stannard said: “It’s disappointing to have to stop like this but it is clearly the right decision for my health and my family.
“We have explored all of the options this year to deal with my condition, and the team has been there with me every step of the way. I started to hope that I could manage the problem during lockdown, but as soon as I returned to racing I knew that my body wouldn’t be able to perform at any level anymore.”
Team doctor Richard Usher said: “Ian was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis 12 months ago. It has caused him severe inflammation in the joints, and Ian has had pain in his wrists, knees and ankles. We have tried various treatments but ultimately Ian has taken the best decision for his long term health.”
Stannard is perhaps best known for the second of those Omloop victories where he somehow outfoxed Tom Boonen, Niki Terpstra and Stijn Vandenbergh to win from a four-man break. We never get bored of watching it…
Guidelines for media reporting of road collisions
How collisions are reported is obviously very important and can impact how cyclists and other more vulnerable forms of transport are treated by other road users. The draft Road Collision Reporting Guidelines has been produced by the Active Travel Academy in collaboration with representatives from national roads policing, legal, academic and media experts, the National Union of Journalists’ ethics council, RoadPeace, Cycling UK, and has the support of active travel and road safety organisations. The hope is that these new guidelines can prevent victim blaming and an acceptance of road danger – creating a safer environment for everyone who uses the roads.
As part of the consultation you can read the proposals and give suggestions and feedback here. The deadline for feedback is Sunday.
Free Lime rides for frontline workers in London
Frontline workers will be able to use e-bike and e-scooter hire from Lime for free, while lower income users can claim a 50%. The “Lime Aid” scheme hopes to help NHS and emergency services staff commute safely with unlimited 30 minute e-bike rides. Yesterday we reported that new data from Lime had shown a 253% increase in use of Lime’s bikes on London’s new cycle lanes between February and June. It also showed increases in use on existing cycle lanes and routes without cycle lanes.
Canyon announce limited edition Ultimate CF SLX
Designed by German artist and photographer Tino Pohlmann, the Canyon Ultimate Artist Edition 2020 features a 12-speed wireless SRAM Force eTap AXS groupset and CP10 cockpit. Only 50 Ultimate LTDs will be made and and it will cost €5,999 (£5,425). The artwork is designed by Pohlmann who has followed the Tour de France as a photographer for almost two decades.
Pedal Me ask for help keeping staff warm between jobs
Are there any London businesses based vaguely near Shoreditch, Kings Cross, Tottenham Court Road that would have space our staff could access to keep them warm while distributed, now that cafes have closed? https://t.co/TPSDiTEcjd
— Pedal Me (@pedalmeapp) November 5, 2020
Bike cargo and passenger company Pedal Me have appealed for help in keeping their staff warm between jobs, now that the UK is back in lockdown. With no cafes open and no base to shelter at, couriers will be forced to wait outside between jobs. Pedal Me staff transport passengers anywhere within a nine-mile radius of Greater London and also act as couriers for deliveries. However, with the onset of more wintery temperatures and nowhere to shelter indoors, they are now willing to pay a business near Shoreditch, Kings Cross, Tottenham Court Road can help keep their staff warm.
In June we highlighted the problem facing delivery cyclists who weren’t able to use resteraunt toilets during lockdown. How can bike couriers be better supported during this lockdown?
Netherlands cycling statistics
What does “Cycling For Everyone” look like?
The Dutch made 4.8 billion bicycle trips in 2019, covering 17.6 billion km, or 1,019 km per person.
Women cycle more than men, kids cycle more than adults, and older adults (65+) cycle more than young adults.https://t.co/ktOsBGpj6e pic.twitter.com/w2T9BbLBuG
— Modacity (@modacitylife) November 3, 2020
25km to go on Stage 15 of La Vuelta
🏁Etapa 15 – Stage 15 | #LaVuelta20
🎥🚴 @cattamat en solitario hacia el Alto de Padornelo / Cattaneo leads solo heading to the last climb of the day! ⛰️
👉https://t.co/zqaO4Bw62K pic.twitter.com/T3UX1CnL89
— La Vuelta (@lavuelta) November 5, 2020
Deceuninck-Quick-Step’s Mattia Cattaneo has a 30 second lead ahead of the breakaway he left behind on the last climb of the day. That nine-man group contains Rui Costa, Luis Leon Sanchez and Guillaume Martin. The peloton with the GC favourites are 1:47 in arrears to Cattaneo. We have 4.5km of the climb left then a descent and a flat run to the line.
Some bad news on the road today was the abandon of AG2R Brit Harry Tanfield whose gruelling ascent of the Angliru as last man on the road on Sunday won him fans everywhere.
last man up the Angliru, British rider Harry Tanfield, 40 minutes behind British rider Hugh Carthy. beautiful views; brutal suffering. cycling in an image! pic.twitter.com/N512mVlWW2
— ricky (@veloricky) November 2, 2020
La Vuelta Stage 15 won by Jasper Philipsen
Philipsen in the fast lane 👀@jasperphilipsen #lavuelta20
— FloBikes (@flobikes) November 5, 2020
What a grim day to ride your bike in Spain. That looked tough, 230km and over 4,000m of elevation in miserable conditions. Jasper Philipsen was the man smiling at the end though. The UAE youngster beat Pascal Ackermann and Jannik Steimle on the uphill sprint to the line. Bahrain McLaren’s Fred Wright was fourth as all the GC favourites finished on the same time.
Insync Bikes welcomes decision to keep bike shops open
Manchester bike brand Insync has praised the government’s decision to class bike shops as “essential” and therefore allow them to continue trading during the lockdown. Insync have also announced that they plan to build 50,000 new bikes between now and Christmas.
Insync’s head of business Gopal Krishan said: “Allowing bike shops to remain open, as essential retailers, shows the significance of this form of exercise and should boost further the industry.”
Jeremy Vine responds to councillor who blamed cycle paths for "destruction of their home town"
By way of example, this post from a prominent Chiswick councillor talked today about cycle paths as a “triumph of evil” that have resulted in “the destruction” of her home town. pic.twitter.com/ii0XVF00Cz
— Jeremy Vine (@theJeremyVine) November 5, 2020
Broadcaster and cyclist Jeremy Vine emphatically responded to Hounslow councillor Joanna Biddolph, who compared cycle paths to the “triumph of evil” and claimed they had caused the “destruction of their home town”. Vine’s reply also highlighted a west London church that had claimed a cycle superhighway would “do more damage than the Luftwaffe”. Vine explained that the exceptional levels of traffic near his home last night were not, as some anti-LTN groups have suggested, because of cycling infrastructure but instead because of unusually high levels of motor traffic.
“Disappointingly, a number of people have since used the exceptional traffic levels to argue that places like Chiswick, Kensington and Hammersmith should now rip out all their cycle lanes — which have only just been put in place after years of campaigning,” he said.
“Furthermore, the cycle lanes didn’t cause the traffic yesterday — they simply allowed some people to avoid it. If all the cyclists used 4x4s instead, the jams would have been even longer.
“Last night took things to a new level — drivers stuck in traffic, caused entirely by an excess of cars at a given moment, seeking to use their own behaviour to dismantle the tiny number of safe routes built for people who ride a bike.”
Addressing solely the issues arising yesterday, it is worth pointing out: shocking traffic and dangerous pollution have been a feature of London for decades. pic.twitter.com/ip3eLorcPf
— Jeremy Vine (@theJeremyVine) November 5, 2020
It’s been pointed out to me that the local church also asked for people to pray that God would cancel the cycle lane pic.twitter.com/YOwFZpO6MO
— Jeremy Vine (@theJeremyVine) November 5, 2020
5 November 2020, 09:33
5 November 2020, 09:33
Help us to bring you the best cycling content
If you’ve enjoyed this article, then please consider subscribing to road.cc from as little as £2.49. Our mission is to bring you all the news that’s relevant to you as a cyclist, independent reviews, impartial buying advice and more. Your subscription will help us to do more.
7 Comments
Read more...
Read more...
Read more...
Latest Comments
With so many people using and looking at mobie phones whilst driving and other distractions, may I suggest you always wear Hi viz and stay at home.
The design of the "car" has played a role in this. SUVs and what the Americans call "trucks" are exempt from the pedestrian safety regulations which apply to passenger cars. Had the victim been hit by a car designed in the past twenty years he would have been "scooped" onto the bonnet and either over the roof or off to one side. Still a serious injury risk and potentially fatal but they have the benefit of those passive safety systems to improve their chances. With vehicles with such a high bonnet line as this Volvo has what tends to happen is the person bounces off the bonnet and falls on the road in front of the vehicle where they're then run over. This has happened time and time again and is becoming more of an issue as the numbers of vehicles exempt from the safety standards grows.
@Accessibility for all Reducing the speeds wouldn't have helped in this case as the driver was reported doing 65 in a 40 zone on the approach to the junction, his driving described by the witnesses as erratic and evidently had no intention to stop to give way even though he had been warned by the passenger who apparently shouted "bike" three times just before the collision. He would have likely flown through that junction even if it was traffic light controlled with a red light for him at the time. In my own experience the entire area i.e. east of Lymm towards Warburton and along Dunham Road all the way up to Altrincham and past into Hale Barns, all those wealthy, posh settlements around Manchester Airport are best avoided by road cyclists. A disproportionally high number of psycho drivers must for some reason live in that area because every single time I went there on my road bike in the past, I either got harassed myself or witnessed proper dickhead driving - speeding, close passes, overtaking into oncoming traffic or round a blind bend, accelerating towards pedestrians already crossing the road, you name it. I gave up road cycling in that area years ago and only use the local TPT these days.
In respect of the murder charge: based on him hitting Mr Mullins and making no attempt to help him (this killing him), how would the case compare to a hit and run driver who seriously injures or kills a cyclist, knowingly, and flees the scene without helping? Would this make the cut for a murder charge? Or is there something very different going on here that I’m missing? Genuinely curious because I don’t recall there being a murder charge before for this kind of thing unless it was premeditated. In fact, in my experience most cases like this seem to go the opposite way - where the driver can merely say the sun was in their eyes and get away with a slap on the hands.
@Rendel Harris...and there was me dishing out the praise!
@polainm He must also be an already hardened criminal. It wasn't mentioned during the court proceedings to avoid influencing the jurors and ensuring he had a fair trial, but he had been released from prison shortly before this incident and was couch surfing at his cousin's house days before. Just look at his face, he's only 35, but looks older than his victim who was 56. Must have spent half his adult life in prison.
@jaymack They did offer him manslaughter though but he declined to plead guilty. Without wanting to seem curmudgeonly, yes great that they preferred the most serious charges but hard to see how they could have done differently considering that Richardson got out of the car, saw Mr Mullins was stuck underneath and then got back in and carried on. That clearly moved it above anything that falls under death by dangerous driving.
@thrawed Agree - the UK winters are utterly grim; grey, wet & windy. Not the type of weather you really want to go out and ride. Everything get covered in filth, and takes time to clean it after a ride. Oh for colder, drier & crisper days which can be enjoyable to be out in.
@ymm In my view, lax sentencing of dangerous drivers, especially where cyclists are involved, makes the judge, jury and CPS complicit in UK driver culture. This driver is a sociopath.
@Mr Blackbird i reckon the libido is a bit overrated. I'd let that go rather than a limb or a nice bike.
7 thoughts on “Jeremy Vine shuts down councillor who blamed cycle paths for “destruction” of their town; Pedal Me appeal for help keeping staff warm between jobs; Ian Stannard retires due to rheumatoid arthritis; Doctors + nurses back LTNs + more on the live blog”
Ian Stannard! *claps*
Ian Stannard! *claps* monster engine and one of if not the best classics wins in the modern era.
Big fan of Stanno, very sad
Big fan of Stanno, very sad to hear the reason for having to retire as that’s going to be a real challenge to adjust to.
This is the sad bit of the
This is the sad bit of the statement for me :
” perform at any level anymore”. Seems to suggest any competitive riding is curtailed.
Bit maudlin but it conjured up visions of his kids (if he as any) learning to ride with him on the sidelines.
In addition to his own
In addition to his own highlights Stannard was part of the Sky squad behind Froome winning the Tour in 2013, 2015 and 2016 and the Vuelta in 2011 and 2017, and Cavendish winning the Worlds in 2011 (seems so long ago). And for most of those he was doing large amounts of the hard domestique yards – managing the breaks and dragging the peloton along for hundreds of kilometres. I generally don’t much like it when athletes are described as having been “a great servant to” a team or country, but in his case I think it’s well deserved. Thanks Yogi!
Yup – there was a mega London
Yup – there was a mega London-Surrey Classic shift he put in one year I seem to recall. Huge number of times he utterly buried himself for the team, which is why he’s been in contract for so long. If Luke Rowe’s the brains as road captain Stannard was the attack dog.
what was it about the traffic
what was it about the traffic yesterday, it was like everyone was out on one last drive before lockdown or something ?
I only experienced the early
I only experienced the early morning stuff, the bit before most shops were even open. And it was busier than I had seen since the before times.
This morning seemed kind of new normal, but had gone very dead by this evening.