by juliantenniscoach » Mon Dec 14, 2015 11:56 am
I think there are examples of poor riding/driving every day that probably we all see. Obviously a car hitting bicycle is going to potentially have far more serious consequences than the other way round.
It's just a personal opinion, and I have no research to back this up, but I think frustration has an awful lot to do with it. I rode to the Olympic Park last Saturday to race and the volume of traffic was incredible. Even more so when crossing Tower Bridge, where east London seems to be nothing more than road works and building sites. I witnessed numerous minor 'road rage/altercations' between drivers trying to squeeze into non existent gaps. Fortunately nothing involving my friends and I. But from Northcote Road to the Olympic Park we were faster than any cars without breaking any traffic laws.
The other thing that I find frustrating even as a rider, is the new traffic separation works that are being constructed. As a driver they are reducing the already limited space available. As a rider they are too narrow at roundabouts and other junctions for the number of cyclists today. Secondly the cyclist only lights are bewilderingly complicated and in my experience, go against the flow of the traffic. I can't help thinking that in 10 years time the planners are going to look back and realise they have made an expensive and serious mistake.
The solution? I have no idea, it'll take someone way brighter than me to figure it out. But the numbers don't work right now do they? More people commuting into an already crowded city, public transport jammed at rush hours, roads congested by cars in conflict with an increasing number of cyclists. It's not great I'm afraid.
I think there are examples of poor riding/driving every day that probably we all see. Obviously a car hitting bicycle is going to potentially have far more serious consequences than the other way round.
It's just a personal opinion, and I have no research to back this up, but I think frustration has an awful lot to do with it. I rode to the Olympic Park last Saturday to race and the volume of traffic was incredible. Even more so when crossing Tower Bridge, where east London seems to be nothing more than road works and building sites. I witnessed numerous minor 'road rage/altercations' between drivers trying to squeeze into non existent gaps. Fortunately nothing involving my friends and I. But from Northcote Road to the Olympic Park we were faster than any cars without breaking any traffic laws.
The other thing that I find frustrating even as a rider, is the new traffic separation works that are being constructed. As a driver they are reducing the already limited space available. As a rider they are too narrow at roundabouts and other junctions for the number of cyclists today. Secondly the cyclist only lights are bewilderingly complicated and in my experience, go against the flow of the traffic. I can't help thinking that in 10 years time the planners are going to look back and realise they have made an expensive and serious mistake.
The solution? I have no idea, it'll take someone way brighter than me to figure it out. But the numbers don't work right now do they? More people commuting into an already crowded city, public transport jammed at rush hours, roads congested by cars in conflict with an increasing number of cyclists. It's not great I'm afraid.
