The Bike Lane Debate

[noah]

Gotta disagree with you there. When my cheapo bike broke and I started commuting on my <25lb Zaskar (with lightweight wheels etc.) my commute became a lot more enjoyable. Being able to accelerate hard, stop on a penny and change direction quickly makes you both faster and safer.

agree with you there mate. infact i quite like commuting on my bmx over my mtb sometimes as it's so much more nippy and stronger. but doing it on a cheap heavy bike is just a pita.

[jamiecockrill]

hate to wade in on a big ol' conversation like this, but cycling has been pretty much my only mode of transport for the past 4 years (throughout my degree) and more often than not, it's the person driving/riding the vehicle/bike that makes the most difference to how dangerous they are and not the mode of transport itself.

I've seen some horrible examples of cycling, more often than not by people obviously poorly educated on basic rules-of-the-road. However equally I've seen just as many (and significantly more dangerous) examples of extremely poor driving here in Oxford. The police here in Oxford are pretty good at picking up particularly poor cyclists, as well as the poor drivers and so I guess it's just a case of educating people, rather than making seperate roads for them. I absolutely detest those cycle paths on pavements as it makes me really rather nervous using them, particularly when people are walking with children.

I take the same level of care and sense of duty to other traffic on my bike as I do in my car and as mentioned by another poster, I think I'm a better driver because of it.

I cycled over the Alps last summer, starting in the busy city of Nice and off through the Alps to Grenoble. One thing that was particularly noticeable was the level of respect that other road users had for one another. Particularly cars giving bikes a lot of room when going past. A general level of courteousy is all that is required of you to ride a bike on the continent and it gets you pretty far, even in cities.

I most certainly agree that perhaps a licencing system would be a good idea and that cyclists using the roads badly should be treated the same as cars etc.

I personally feel a bit proud of the fact that I use my bike to get around when I could use a car. I help reduce congestion and pollution and stop myself getting too fat. I always wear my helmet and treat other road users with respect, even when more often than not, motorised vehicles in England are absolute pigs to bikes.

As for a 50ft race, I held a Suburu until it was most of the way through 2nd gear the other day, so I don't think there's many cars out there that'll take a decent sprinter over 50ft!

[yamangman]

I lived in Cambridge for some years and the place is well kitted out for cyclists, but I would have to say the place is 50/50 for cycling fools who don't mind running you down whilst you're on the pavement, even though there is a road or cycle lane right next to them. Mostly women too it has to be said. At the risk of sounding bigoted... I guess it is beacuse they are more nervy about cars.

[soopahfly]

I don't mind them, but because of loony drivers, I don't use them.
I ride outside them. A couple of cars have lost wing mirrors and gained scratches from getting too close when I used to ride in the lanes.

[jackvdbuk]

i do prefer cyclin in road/ cycle lane but tbh theres none in my bourogh... and i get awfully scared cyclin in the road..

do the drivers kik u in the nuts? or harras u?

[dangel]

How can you expect cyclists to obey the rules of the road if they're never (forcibly) obliged to learn them? It would be in their interest to have training and yet few see it as an issue.

Sure a car is more dangerous but car driver's don't have the excuse of not knowing better - they had to pass a test to prove their worthyness to use the roads. That wasn't just for others safety but for their _own_ too. Cyclists round my way put themselves at risk as much as car drivers do by driving badly - so why not help them improve their chances of survival?

I hate _all_ bad road use - car, lorry, cycle, tractor - but we've one set of road users out there with (potentially) no training in the laws their supposed to abide by. Curious isn't it?

[killkoy]

This article seems to be relevent to the bike lane debate
http://www.ctc.org.uk/DesktopDefault.aspx?TabID=4516

[soopahfly]

I don't understand why he stopped tbh.
I've never stopped for the police whilst on my bike.

They usually just want to harass me.

[Rack]

Hang on, you said you agreed with me that those who don't obey the rules of the road should be banned, but now you admit to riding in a pedestrian area. You are obviously one of the 90%. I didn't say they were crap, I said they endangered others, normally with a blase attitude to traffic laws.

You are right, there are always a few idiots in cars, or on bikes or bicycles. But it's not a few idiots on bicycles, it's 90% of them.

lol, you're cracking me up.

What we need for both cars and bikes is more enforcement of the road rules, training about road rules and the mentioned seperate, well designed bike paths. You should be talking about having cyclists responsble for their actions, not banning them.

What about the fact that 4 young people get knocked down by cars EVERY DAY! Bikes are comparitively safe, don't get all high and mighty about bike riders being hazards, PLEASE TELL ME HOW MANY ACCIDENTS YOU HAVE SEEN BIKES CAUSE, because I have only seen ones caused by cars doing stupid things. If each of those kids was in an accident with a bike it wouldn't be an issue, as we wouldn't be talking about hundreds of fatalities a year.

And Yes, I've been riding a bike in london for about 4 years, and every day I see heaps of cars run red lights, turn without indicating, cut people up, driving too fast. I ride my bike occasionally in pedestrian areas above walking speed, and I slow down to below walking speed at junctions or when it's busy.

Let me make this clear: the reason I break the rules most of the time is that when I try and follow them I just end up in more danger, which at the end of the day is what I want to avoid. It's part of the bike riding culture in London, you really think the way to change that culture is your moronic idea of banning all cyclists, please think again. All you're doing is alienating yourself from the debate as a 'high and mighty car driver who knows better'. I agree that the best solution is seperate bike lanes, but London wasn't even designed for cars, let alone cars and bikes. They should invest in some bike lanes that run totally seperately from roads with some enforcement, and to get that it will require a lot of investment. Having ridden in Denmark where bike culture is totally different (mutual respect between cars and bikes for a start, clear rules and clear paths for both) and it's a different world.

[ja3h]

I learnt how to ride a bike just over a month ago, a few days later i bought a cheap full suspension bike from Halfords, then 3 weeks later i bought a hybrid bike. And yesterday i bought a road bike. I agree with the posts above, i feel much safer knowing that i can stop quicker and accelerate much faster when i need to. I've had a drivers license for two years so i know the rules of the road, my friend that i go cycling with hasn't taken a driving lesson and i was shocked to find out he didn't know much. I had to explain round abouts to him :|

There are a few cycle lanes in my area...by cycle lane i mean a little bit of paint with a bike on it!
Most of the roads are too narrow and even though they are marked out for cyclists cars still go over them. I've been told to ride quite far out from the pavement - the drivers i've come across have been fine with a few exceptions:
Bunch of chavs in a polo who overtook me extremely close and a fat woman in a car who was trying to overtake me for a while - when she did overtake she beeped and shouted "buy a ****in car"