Really interesting feature on the BBC website today.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-15975564

A sobering peace of research.

I noticed that there is a "white" bike by the Lewisham roundabout, signifying the death of a cyclist.

It bring home the fact that that whilst some of the comments on forums such as these are tongue in cheek, and facilitate healthy debate. We all need to be careful both of ourselves and other road users

I know that various people on these forums have opinions about the rights and wrongs of things that some cyclists do, and notwithstanding the wrongs mentioned below it seems that the roads and courts are still very much weighted towards cars and trucks.

See these two articles:

Cycle on pavement, injure pedestrian, fined £300 here
Drive HGV & kill cyclist: get fined only £200 here

This post was last modified: 22-12-2011 12:43 PM by ryananglem.

The most worrying piece of text within the second article reads:

"Mr Justice Silber said a police officer involved in the crash investigation said he was "unaware of anything which could be done to prevent accidents of the kind in which Miss Cairns was tragically killed".

Which would suggest an attitude of s**t happens. Something can always be done, either by the cyclists of the driver, to prevent these accidents.

..or indeed the council. I have noted that over the last few weeks there has been a swathe of protests against Boris and TfL who were aware that there was a dangerous junction in the cycle superhighway at the Bow roundabout (after the study that they commissioned warned them, and they then disregarded it) but it took 2 cyclist deaths in the space of 3 weeks to revisit the layout's design.

Realised I should have added councils and regulation after I'd posted my comment.

Personally, as a miminum, I'd like to see cycle boxes at every main juncton and offenders penalised.

Despite having just bought some new rear lights I've just had to find the cash for these after following two cyclists using them in the last week:



Very impressive bang-per-buck and very pleased with them so far - certainly feel safer with them on board.

If you get them from Evans before the end of January 2012 and quote 10NY (online or in-store) you'll get 10% off which brings them down to about the lowest you'll find (£67ish for front, back, rechargeable batteries and charger).

Is it a 'light to be seen by' or a 'light to see by'? I find the stretch from Dulwich Village up to the South Circ quite dark although my current lights help more than my original ones.

How big is the battery pack? And where do you attach it on the bike?

Opinion seems to be split on whether or not the front is enough to use as a 'to see by'. It is very bright but whether or not it is focused enough I dont know - you also get quite a low burn time on its non-flash setting (due to its power source - more on that below).

I ride that stretch of road too so know what you mean about the darkness but personally haven't found the need to light the road so I bought these purely as 'to be seen by's.

The thing I like about them is that each runs off a single 'camera battery' - C123A or something like that - slightly thicker than a AA but shorter - so there is no battery pack. I've always steered clear of lights with short burn times so I've had to change that with these as even on flashing you only get about 6 hours with rechargeable batteries but it is a trade-off I'm happy with given how bright the rear light is. I use the front alongside a Hope Vision 1 which is perfectly bright enough but I was concerned that it offered no visibility from the side:



The only 'problem' I've had so far with the Exposure lights is that the rear offers no adjustability on up/down angle so points at the angle of your seatpost (or wherever you attach it). I've remedied this with a fag butt wedged between the bottom of the bracket and my seat post for the moment!

In case your weren't aware The Times newspaper has just launched a Cycle Safety campaign, it consists of 8 core measures and I would urge you to write to your MP asking for their support.

- Trucks entering a city centre should be required by law to fit sensors, audible truck-turning alarms, extra mirrors and safety bars to stop cyclists being thrown under the wheels.
- The 500 most dangerous road junctions must be identified, redesigned or fitted with priority traffic lights for cyclists and Trixi mirrors that allow lorry drivers to see cyclists on their near-side.
- A national audit of cycling to find out how many people cycle in Britain and how cyclists are killed or injured should be held to underpin effective cycle safety.
- Two per cent of the Highways Agency budget should be earmarked for next generation cycle routes, providing £100 million a year towards world-class cycling infrastructure. Each year cities should be graded on the quality of cycling provision.
- The training of cyclists and drivers must improve and cycle safety should become a core part of the driving test.
20mph should become the default speed limit in residential areas where there are no cycle lanes.
- Businesses should be invited to sponsor cycleways and cycling super-highways, mirroring the Barclays-backed bicycle hire scheme in London.
- Every city, even those without an elected mayor, should appoint a cycling commissioner to push home reforms.

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/public/cyc...307439.ece

Ironically, I think the following is the best summary of the manifesto: http://www.goinggoingbike.com/blog/the-t...-cyclists/

Support the campaigh: http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/public/cyc...y/contact/

AMEN to better training for drivers and cyclists.

To the gentleman (I use the terms loosely) who loudly beeped at me on Brockley Rise this morning to get out of his way and overtook aggressively when I didn't and then joined the end of a long queue of traffic 2 seconds later, I was cycling in the middle of the road for a very good reason - the burst pipe near the Dalmain Scool had rendered most of the left hand side of the road an icy, slushy mess and so the safest place for me on the bike was in the middle of the road (and I was cycling at a decent speed too).

If you'd wound your window down when I politely knocked as I caught up with you, you might have heard what I was trying to tell you - or perhaps you did and you still thought that a shrug was the appropriate response to someone telling you that they were just trying to stay safe.

This post was last modified: 03-02-2012 10:53 AM by AMFM.

I have signed up.

Whole heartedly agree with the training of cyclists and drivers. I recently did an HGV course (arranged by betterbankside and the met) and its quite incredible how little drivers can see up there. Based on that though, I'm not sure how much good fitting extra mirrors on trucks would do. They really add a false sense of security as much as anything. Compulsory Sensors though are great idea. This point alone would save lives.

Incidentally, compared with the 16 cyclists that were killed on London's roads last year there were zero killed in Paris in the same period. None!

Note the sign on some lorries If you cannot see me, I cannot see you.

I was very interested to discover when they can see you, but you appear and disappear from view very quickly depending on where you are. Not something easily describable in an forum post.

Also I now understand how important those stop boxes are to the safety of cyclists, I always thought they were just a nice piece of road furniture, but there really should be harsh penalties for vehicles that stop in them as they make the difference between HGV drivers knowing you are there and not. Its a life and death situation in some cases.

And in exchange for all these concessions to the cyclist, will they then become licensed and insured?

I am insured on my bike and I take responsibility for my actions, unlike many motorists.
The idea of having license plates would be unworkable but I would be happy to do it if you would agree that pedestrians should also be licensed and insured when using the streets.[/quote]

The video on this news story...wow, just wow

The cyclist is very lucky to be alive, and the driver gets 17 months. Something wrong somewhere

Totally agree.

17 months does seem on the slim side.

The report mentions that the bus driver, “…was previously of excellent character…”.
I think this can be a fine proposal by the defence to help to ameliorate the length of the sentence.


And the report also mentions that his defence said, “…the collision happened in "a moment of madness".”

I’ve had plenty of moments of madness in my life. Many of them happened in my youth. Although sometimes one or two of them pop up now and then. Especially with the help of some of my so-called friends, Mr Carling and Miss Stella Artois.

On my bike, I will confess that I’ve been quite the prissy little thing pedalling wildly along, florid faced, after some vehicle when the driver has done me wrong.

To help not to get to that flash point, I have developed a little technique that works well for me. I have recognised that if I hop off my bike every 10 to 15 minutes, when commuting between The Hill and Marylebone at peak hour, and walk the bike along then the natural tension that builds up wears off rather quickly. Aaaah! Within a couple of minutes usually. I don’t spot the tension creeping into my mind and body until it naturally releases during the walking bit.

I love walking through Dean’s Yard at Westminster Abbey. Very peaceful. The gates at either end are just so beautiful. I feel like I’m entering into Hogwarts. It’s most hauntingly beautiful at day break.

Dean’s Yard at Westminster Abbey

Then when I hop back on my bike and almost get side swiped by a lorry because the driver is yakking on their mobile phone I tend to shrug my shoulders and pedal onwards whistling a happy tune again.

I need some technique like the above as I’m a spectacularly grumpy, middle aged man who is highly likely to have a Michael Douglas styled Falling Down moment. I never planned any of this, you know.

It just seems to me that the driver had his falling down moment and didn’t have a very successful technique to pull himself up.

Excellent post Cellar Door.

Urban cycling should be everything that travelling by bus, car or taxi is not. I love the fact that when I pass someone I know I can just stop to chat or wave as the drivers with their Edward Munch faces can only motor on past.

Like you there are now a few miles on the body clock so road rage isn't usually a problem. As a helmetless cyclists sails past me through a red light all dressed in black I may tut tut but anything more is really too much.

I have also learnt something that should really be obvious. If you see an example of bad driving that endangers your life (using a laptop whilst driving down the Old Kent Road springs to mind (I kid you not)) the driver is rarely mature enough to acknowledge their faults. Indeed they may assault you in their rage.

If, however you feel youself being sucked inexorably into the vortex of the dangerous driver's inner scream, my technique is to hum something calming. Current favourites are the theme tune to Local Hero, various tunes from Mary Poppins and "I wanna be like you" from the Jungle Book.