David Furmage said...
Should we make cycling more safer in Dorset?
After reading the Times campaign which has been running for the last 2 days link below ;)
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/public/cyclesafety/article3307439.ece
Should we be providing proper cycle lanes and spend money on bringing back cycle tests to all schools at an early age.?
3/2/12 11:13 AM
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
33 comments:
Topical issue as cycling casualties are reaching record levels as are complaints to police about cyclists. Excellent video on confused.com/car insurance/motorists-v-cyclists/cycling-issues-video. Purbeck Transport Action Group have invited police to discuss issue at next meeting at Wareham Town Hall Wednesday 13 June. Cyclists, vehicle drivers and pedestrians need to be educated about cycling issues. Suggest 20mph speed limit in towns where there are no cycle lanes.
Yes lets make cycling safer..... for pedestrians and other road users. No riding the wrong way down streets no riding on the pavements no riding in pedestrianised areas, sticking to traffic signs, traffic lights etc.
Enforce cycle helments (as they enforce seatbelts) Yes lets make cycling safer!
Cyclists also need to wear high visibility clothing at night, have working lights, have a bell which they should use to warn pedestrians of their approach. They should have insurance and stop, give their name and assist people they run down. They should not ride more than two abreast and have races on public roads. They shold not dazzle motorists with strobe lights. They should stop and let traffic go past if they are holding traffic up. Police should enforce cycling laws instead of turning a blind eye to cycling offences.
Other road users are also often at fault. Pedestrians should not wander off the pavement or cross road against lights in front of cyclists. Vehicle drivers should not park in cycle lanes or open doors in front of cyclists. They should give cyclists enough room when overtaking.
So education is really the key issue here I believe , though sometimes cycling on a pavement next to a busy road can be alot safer for cyclists. Not that should be the case but it happens. Lights at night should be a must and should be inforced more by the police. A on the spot fine should be enforced. As for enforcing helmets , not a good idea I am afraid. Wearing a helmet will not stop a car from injuring or killing you when it crashes into you. Also there's a case study that shows cars give less space to cyclists with helmets on.
Many countries in Europe have proper physical segregation of cyclists from motor beckoned - and indeed of cyclists from pedestrians. This is ideal , but difficult to achieve in Britain where such segregation was never " designed in " in the first place.
All road users need to follow the Highway code as jumping red lights is not safe for drivers or indeed cyclists.
More drivers taking to 2 wheels would save them money and add to the " critical mass" that makes cycling safer. However , many drivers will not get out of their cars until they feel adequate cycle lanes or routes are provided to make cycling safer.
As for the 20 mph zone in towns , that would be the whole of Swanage then :)
Also is there a contact number to this transport group to arrange a meeting here in Swanage aswell?
Wearing a helmet will not stop a car from injuring or killing you when it crashes into you. Also there's a case study that shows cars give less space to cyclists with helmets on.
A car with airbags does not people being killed, but they stop some and prevent serious injury. Also have you ever watched TV where they show how helments have saved lives and stopped injury. Having known someone who did not wear a helment one day- they did all the other times but did not on this occasion new hair do- who was struck by a car and now is disabled I do find your anti helment comments slightly worrying.
And let me get this correct riding on pavements is ok because it helps protect the cyclist? please see recent echo reports of injuries CAUSED by cyclist on pavements etc. I'm allright jack
The contact details for the Purbeck Transport Action Group on the Purbeck DC website are out of date and I have asked the group for contact details. Most of the meetings take place at Wareham Town Hall at 18:30 but we have one meeting a year in Swanage. Members of the public are welcome to attend. The police have told us that they need to be given the questions in advance and will only aswer those questions.
A helmet can prevent a cyclist being killed. My friend was run over by a drunken motorist. He died of his head injuries three days later. If he had been wearing a helmet he may still be alive now. In Spain if the police catch a cyclist without a helmet they confiscate the bike until the cyclist comes to the police station with a helmet and a receipt showing he has bought it.
A 20mph limit should apply for the roads in Swanage south of the steam railway. In residential areas in Germany the speed limits are 20mph and 10mph in places. They work very well in our twin towns of Hemsbach and Rudesheim and cyclists wear helmets there and ride on the road. Ulwell Road is wide enough for a cycle lane and there should be a cycle lane in Shore Road when it is closed to traffic. Cycling is allowed unofficially on the pavement on the A351 at Sandford but it should be clearly designated as a cycle lane and cyclists should sound their bells at pedestrians and give way to them.
The way forward would be for the police to launch a publicity campaign including using the Gazette to improve safety for cyclists. They have told me to write something but it would be much more effctive if it came from the police.
I am certainly not anti helmet at all , I for one wear one at all times and so do my kids.
But it goes further than that: Focusing on helmets distracts people from what's more likely to actually save their lives: Learning how to ride safely. It's not that I'm against helmets, I'm against all the attention placed on helmets at the expense of safe riding skills. Helmets are not the most
important aspect of bike safety. Not by a long shot.
Unfortuntely, helmets have become a panacea: Many parents and city & state governments think they can slap a flimsy piece of styrofoam on a kid's head and they've done their part to make sure that kids are safe. But it's actually the opposite. This approach is akin to outfitting somebody with a flak jacket and then having them run through a firing range. If you had to choose between giving a child a helmet or the education about how to ride safely, you should choose the education and ditch the helmet every time.
And this brings up another point: The motorists who are so insistent that cyclists wear helmets aren't wearing helmets themselves. This isn't silly: crash helmets could potentially save more lives for motorists than cyclists. About 38,000 motorists die on U.S. roads every year compared to fewer than 700 cyclists. Not sure of numbers for the uk:) If helmets are good for cyclists, they ought to be great for drivers and passengers. Why is nobody banging the drum about this? After all, helmets save lives, right?
The main problem with a helmet law is that it ignores the unintended consequences. If a city passed a helmet law and the only thing that changed was that more cyclists started wearing helmets, then there might be a public safety benefit and no downside. But that's not the only thing that happens when a helmet law gets passed. The most significant result of a helmet law is to discourage cycling. That's because many would rather quit biking than have to wear a helmet, and because a law promotes the idea that cycling is an incredibly dangerous activity. Reductions in cycling by 33% to 50% are typical in places where helmet laws have been passed. (CycleHelmets.org, Cycle-Helmets.com)
Ironically, helmet laws thus make cycling more dangerous, because fewer cyclists on the road means that motorists are less used to seeing cyclists. It's no surprise that the countries with the most cyclists have the lowest rate of injuries per cyclist. Helmet laws ensure that the rate of injury per cyclist goes up. In fact, helmet laws make driving and walking more dangerous, because when people stop biking, they start driving, and it's cars & SUV's that kill other motorists and pedestrians, not bicyclists.
If you yourself cycle then you will understand why riding on a pavement can be safer. One example of this is the road along past the middle school. Many times I myself have ridden along this road and given no space at all. So I hop onto the pavement. It's safer trust me but under no way would I use pavements in town centres that would be silly and dangerous for others.
On reflection I agree that a cycle helmet will not protect a cyclist who collides with a car as the helmet is not strong enough. I was a cyclist for 60 years until my brother took my bike to the recycling centre. I am fully aware of the problems cyclists face.
The best contact for the Purbeck Transport Action Group is Caroline, the minutes secretary at cjrmitchell@btinternet.com. Failing that you can contact debbie-weller@arneparishcouncil.org.uk. They are going to update the information at Purbeck District Council.
Now I thought the "bedroom tax" was introduced to pay for the Sandford bypass. Then that was dropped and the money was going to be used to improve public transport and cycle lanes etc. Can anyone show any examples of this expenditure? At least one of the three routes into Swanage from Norden should be given a cycle lane.
There is a plan to build a cycling route from northern France to Cornwall via Poole and Weymouth but the money will come from the European Union.
On the A351 between Norden and the Purbeck Sports Centre roundabout there is a white line on the left side of the road. Cyclists often cycle between the white line and the verge. This area could easily be widened and changed into a cycle lane. As the police are already allowing cyclists to use the pavement on the A351 at Sandford all the Council needs to do is to erect some cycling and pedestrian signs. These would not cost much.
The road from the roundabout at Corfe to Wareham has a whiteline along the side of both sides of the road this could be widened and put a raised curb along it. We cycle inside this line , sometimes you feel safe other times you don't.
Even a cycle lane along the railway track would be nice:)
Good idea. There is a cycling route by the Severn Valley Railway. I have never had any problems walking along it. It is an 8 mile return ride: route 45 the Mercian Way. It opened in 2005. See http://www.shropshirecycling.co.uk/downloads/cycling-along-the-severn-valley-pdf.
It should be easy to convert the footpath from the Corfe Castle Visitors' Centre to Norden into a cycle route. There was one kissing gate obstructing the path between the visitor's centre and the railway crossing and I had to lift my bike over a barbed wire fence.I was wheeling my bike and not riding it. I did ask the footpath officer to put in a gate to make the path suitable for push chairs and cycles.
Most of the bridges between Corfe Castle and Swanage were built to accomodate a double track but as the railway is single track it should be possible to accomodate a cycle track.
There is a plan to build a cycling route from northern France to Cornwall via Poole and Weymouth but the money will come from the European Union.
The EU is broke, my friend.
Pie in the sky.
I love cyclists. I really do. That fetching lycra......
Seriously, why should cyclists have vast sums spent on them when they do not contribute to the road fund through a tax disc? And it is not fair to say that many cyclists pay road tax. Many do not, and many who do are not cyclists.
It is a serious and fair question.
I love cyclists. I really do. That fetching lycra......
Seriously, why should cyclists have vast sums spent on them when they do not contribute to the road fund through a tax disc? And it is not fair to say that many cyclists pay road tax. Many do not, and many who do are not cyclists.
It is a serious and fair question.
Prepare for the Furmage led assault my friend. I hope you have your tin hat with you .
When a driver scowls at a passing cyclist and shouts: “You have no right to be on the road - you don’t pay road tax!” are they right?
No, according to advisers at HM Revenue & Customs and the Treasury.
“Road tax” does not exist, and has not existed since the 1930s. What drivers do pay, however, is Vehicle Excise Duty, which is often known as road tax but is not strictly the same thing (a point that should have been made clear in today’s edition of The Times).
Firstly, a poll by British Cycling found that 87 per cent of its cyclist members also regularly drive cars, and so pay the same vehicle and fuel duties as other road users.
Secondly, this tax is paid into a central pot. The money made from Vehicle Excise Duty does not go directly back into the roads and highways. Cyclists - like everyone else - pay council tax, income tax and all sorts of other direct and indirect taxes which pay for the provision of public services, be they hospitals, trains or roads.
And thirdly, Vehicle Excise Duty is based on your vehicle’s emissions. Since a bike creates no emissions, it pays no Vehicle Excise Duty.
So, from a tax perspective, a cyclist has as much right to be on the road as any other road user and an extra levy would not be warranted.
With that in mind, would drivers and cyclists alike please sign up to our ‘Cities Fit For Cycling’ campaign and help make the roads safer for everyone.
With that in mind, would drivers and cyclists alike please sign up to our ‘Cities Fit For Cycling’ campaign and help make the roads safer for everyone.
I will if cyclist do the following. helmets complusary, insurance (they cause accidents aswell) some sort of test? get fined points etc when( and this is frequent) break the road traffic act. respect other rd users and pedestrians. keep their cycles in good repair ie lights etc. have some sort of recognised lights not look like a large lorry when riding 3 abreast ( head torches). Then I might consider. after all as a demon car driver I have to keep within the law! P.S I was right about his reply.
Huffing and puffing cyclists do create excessive quantities of CO2 to add to the climate change problem.
And that lycra cyclists wear! Made from petrochemicals, it will not biodegrade in a land fill. It is the modern day fashion equivalent for adult men of speedo skimpies.
Helmets compulsory , why? Like my above post states , you say helmets save lives , then drivers should wear them too , no , i mean they save lives right ? Have insurance , got lights. Done my cycle tests while they still did them at school :) which is something they must introduce back into schools. Even paid a for a small coloured disc for 5 years while I lived in Belgium to have my bicycle on the road. These things above are all brought up in this campaign , so petrol guzzlers in your nice tin coffins it's education that is the key here and it's got to be right aswell or it will never work , though some drivers could be doing with sitting their tests again for sure aswell ;)
Now Lycra is not for the faint hearted and is more for the leg shaving brigade. And I will be honest here some cyclists who are ladies do look nice in Lycra , though I do prefer the casual urban mountain bike fashion :)
How do cyclists manage in Belgium? Are there any lessons we can learn from them in the UK? I have visited Bruges a couple of times and there seemed to be a lot of cycle paths shared with pedestrians although walkers needed to look out for cyclists.
Mr Furmage dont keep banging on about gas guzzng tin coffins people dont keep harping on about moronic knuckle dragging cyclist. I need to go to ringwood can you give me a lift on yor bike plz I need to arrive dry and warm. Cars are a modern day neccisity, some drivers are bad I agree, but by the same token some cyclist cause lots of trouble, and just because you have insurance and have done a test it does not mean everyone has. After all not every car driver has insurance. No one here says helmets saves lives, it just helps protect the head. If you are that against them please stop wearing them and also stop your kids wearing them. On a personal note I expect you are going to stand for council/parliment as you seem to have a wide and varied opinions hardly a subject goes by that you dont post about.
Perhaps Mr Furmage should start small and run for Town Council.
Sorry but not against helmets at all as stated in my posts above If you care to read them that is , and I did not relize that we can't have views and opinions on a vast array of subjects. I shall place my blinkers back on:)
Anyway Robin , good question , we can learn so much from the way cycling is part in Europe not just Belgium:)
Kids cycles miles to school , people from all ages cycle and for miles too ;) Trains have extra carriages for bikes , train stations have bicycles park you can leave your bike at , train station have hired bikes , the cycle network is well mapped and sign posted , most cycle paths are away for all cars so helmets are not needed, all cycle paths are connected to France , Germany , Netherlands .
Link below shows the network in Belgium and Netherlands
http://m.youtube.com/index?desktop_uri=%2F&gl=US#/watch?v=sx1TsHc4ZgI
, most cycle paths are away for all cars so helmets are not needed,
So you don't hurt your head if you have an accident where no car is involved??
Look at any video about cycle paths in any country in Europe , bar the UK of course and you will notice hardly anyone wears helmets. Why this is I don't not know maybe because they are near no roads at all , people take there time cycling and dont rush judgements to put them in a risky situtation , though I crashed badly out Mountain biking in Scotland which I was confined to a hospital bed for 3 months , never had a helmet on , bounce off a concrete path on my head then bounced down a grass bank and compressed my spine in 4 places. Still here to tell a tail. And do you know what saved me from brain damage, added calcium and cod liver in my diet. Like I have said a few times now I am in no way anti helmet , it's peoples choice if they want to wear a helmet.
Mr Furmage I'm not going to even bothre to make comments about helmets anymore ..... you are so irrational at times it beggars beleief.
Where I live (abroad) all public buses have bike racks fitted to the front of the bus, over an extended bumper. They hold 4-5 bikes and are free - first come, first serve. The bus stops, you lift your bike on the rack, get on and pay.
It would be something if W&D could do this on the 40 and 50 service.
Also, where I live all kids 12 and under are required by law to wear cycle helmets. They may not save a broken limb, but they will prevent brain damage.
So glad becomes a bit boring when i have to say the same thing over and over again :)
Have seen that bus rack idea on some American blog pages and what an awesome idea aswell. Let's face it we are so behind on this subject in the UK , it makes you wonder sometimes how we have some of the best cyclists in the world in all aspects of cycling. Where abouts is this bus rack you talk about? Be good to hear ideas on how cycling fits into lives from different countries :)
Seriously, why should cyclists have vast sums spent on them when they do not contribute to the road fund through a tax disc? And it is not fair to say that many cyclists pay road tax. Many do not, and many who do are not cyclists.
Why don't you suggest that all pedestrians are taxed for using pavements? Cycling is not a second-class activity and those who choose to cycle should have every right to suitable cycling facilities whether that be cycle routes, secure places to park the bike securely or whatever. There has been a huge increase in people using bikes in recent years in no small part to some of the excellent improvements that have been made.
Let's have lots more safe cycle tracks, better education of car drivers and a respect for all. Far too many people have the attitude that the car is the only solution. More cyclist are injured being hit by cars than car drivers being hit by cyclists.
Try googling 'bus bike rack' and you will see lots of photos.
No doubt a carrier at the front would be considered a health and safety risk by the numpties who thing the front bumper of a bus is any more friendly.
Where I live (in the States) you can cycle all year round; there are extensive bike paths and literally hundreds of miles of bike trails. It and other such amenities (like free county parks, boat launches and beaches) are paid for by 'Penny for P-----' (name of county) whereby an extra penny is applied to sales tax for expressly the purpose of providing such amenities. It is very popular. Of course, sale tax is 7%, not 20%.
:) when the safest cyclist dies , who is safe?
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-24033836-tributes-paid-after-brilliant-cycle-courier-dies-in-crash-with-coach.do
To the above post a sad day for the cycling community:( thoughts go out to close family and friends
Anyway just been looking at the planning application for the travel plans for the new free school. Looks very promising:)
http://planning-purbeck.dorsetforyou.com/Planning/Web%20Importer%20Attachments/38299/013a%20620120079The%20Swanage%20School%20-%20Travel%20Plan%20v2_Redacted.pdf
Here's a reason why we don't feel safe on the roads
and the justice system is wrong in the case:(
http://m.youtube.com/index?desktop_uri=%2F&gl=US#/watch?v=TSG_XE8Qh60
Post a Comment