Telegraph claim Jeremy Vine’s “favourite” cycle lane is controversial… for making drivers look both ways at junction; GC action expected at Dauphine + more on the live blog
Anti-cycling articles? From the Telegraph?
Long time readers of the live blog might be a little weary of Steve Bird’s antics. If you’re not, then as Bluesky user Still last identified, he has a track record of anti-cycling infrastructure articles for the Telegraph. And a lot of articles…
His latest work is aimed once again at undermining the cycling credentials of Jeremy Vine, a man who last year said he would stop sharing his home-edits of bad driving encountered on his cycle to work due to the online abuse he received, but has continued to discuss the matter on his morning Channel 5 phone-in show. I’m afraid I’m not a regular viewer.
“Jeremy Vine’s favourite cycle lane causes 500 percent increase in accidents” goes the headline. The article leans heavily on a petition by David Tarsh, a man who is also behind several other anti-active travel petitions. The cycle lane targeted this time is on King Street in Hammersmith, part of Cycleway 9 which runs from the town centre to Waterman’s park. But as Leo Murray observed on Bluesky, the Telegraph’s data is rather selective to include this menace of a junction.
“The 0.8m stretch of Cycleway 9 on King St selected by Tarsh includes a notoriously dangerous junction where a side road gives access to the A4: Weltje Rd. Weltje also lies between two large secondary schools, and schoolchildren crossing it as well as cyclists in C9 are routinely hit by cars here.” Murray writes.
“This junction has been an obvious fail since day one of C9 opening. As the casualties racked up, the council carried out some minor tinkering to the junction design. It didn’t help.
“We (local Evil Cycling Lobby) have written to [Hammersmith and Fulham Council] & discussed the problems here with cabinet members & officers constantly for the last 5 years. But they are too afraid of the motorist backlash that Tarsh et al will whip up if they do the obvious thing to fix it: close Weltje Rd to the A4.”
Bird, for his part, writes that the bike lane “has been controversial because it involves a two-way cycle track built on a one-way street.
“The council was forced to install signs warning motorists joining King Street that they should look both ways for hazards, despite the route still being one-way for cars.”
I’m not quite sure why a warning sign constitutes such a disaster, but anyway. Vine is somehow relevant to the story because he once described the roundabout, before the Cycleway was opened, as resembling a scene out of Ben-Hur. Good to know the Telegraph understand their audience demographics.
Maybe the last word should go to Vine though, who shows some rather effective restraint.
“Causes a 1,000 per cent increase in cycling journeys” would be a better headline
📻 ‘Jeremy Vine’s favourite cycle lane causes 500pc increase in accidents’https://t.co/LiSfaR0Npr
— Jeremy Vine | Here, on Tiktok, Insta & Facebook (@theJeremyVine) June 6, 2026
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Latest Comments
Happens on a regular basis - seems to be one of the many exciting new 'features' of the new platform.
@Rendel Harris Thanks for that - every day's a school day. I had actually put 'Pedant mode off' under my comment but it didn't post and then as we all know, and are frustrated with, we can't edit posts any more. I will not correct anyone again - however, -ize still looks too American English for me. Cheers
We also have a greater volume of traffic, including on residential roads which were once quiet. Spending billions on infrastructure such as protected cycle tracks and modal filters is the only thing that will lead to mass cycling. Look at London. Why is there mass cycling there? Infrastructure. The Netherlands? The same reason. And often the only way to achieve meaningful change is reallocating some space and priority from motor vehicles, which is why the government's 'don't scare the horses' attitude is concerning.
You think there might be a clue to that in the name "City Light Set"? Marking it down because it's no good for fast riding on unlit roads seems somewhat akin to buying a micro-hatchback and then complaining that it's rubbish at pulling a plough.
This is like something from a kids' activity book. "The editor has a bit of a hangover this morning. Can you help him match the headline to the correct story?"
@kinderje Are you aware that -ise endings are actually the newer form, having supplanted -ize (as used by Shakespeare, the King James Bible and Jane Austen, amongst many others) in the mid 19th century? Etymologically there is a far better argument for -ize endings for words with Greek and Latin roots than the -ise ending which arose from Victorian publishers imitating French verb endings. Both endings are now regarded as acceptable in British English, although the Oxford style guide recommends -ize. It is most certainly not incorrect.
@Backladder Given that the makers are selling it as being useable on any ride on open roads, it doesn't seem unreasonable to try to test it in those conditions.
'Leasting'? That's a whole 4 letters less.
Although usually the easiest thing of all would be for them just to stop for a few moments while you cycle past them (which requires a lot less space to do safely than them passing you), but most people seem allergic to stopping, even for the briefest time.
@Backladder Oh I think I can guess - the nearest indoor velodrome to road.cc HQ looks to be some distance away in Wales, whereas Odd Down Cycle Track (where this test was conducted) is just 2 miles away.