"Touch my car again & I'll run you over": Taxi driver blocking cycle lane tells cyclist; Tory MP argues cycling spending shouldn't be government priority; Our fan mail; Kaitlin Armstrong trial date set; UK's busiest cycle crossing? + more on the live blog

I hadn't thought of that. Apart from the pocket money spend his existence generates thousands of pounds of economic activity.

it also ignored the incredible proven ROI investing in active travel has for any country.  38 to 1 just in health benefits. Never mind reduced road spending as wankpanzers damage the road so much. 

Hmmm.

Ian't current Tory policy to invest £9.9bn in Active Travel? Though the Chancellor may have a beady eye on part of it.

And isn't Kit the Twit a rather inconsistent vampire at the Halloween Party making moaning noises?

I'd like to know whether the interviewer asked him if he was wanting to cancel all spending on recharging points, since BEVs don't pay road tax either.

My political diagnosis is that he is an MP representing Nimbyland under close threat from the Lib Dems (26k majority only - a 34% swing like the last byelection and he is cheese on toast). He needs a narrative to defeat the Lib Dem promises to build millions of houses everywhere but North Hampshire. And this a bit of it.

Bobonabike wrote:

I know it's hard to keep up these days, but Malthouse isn't a minister anymore

He's trying to keep his profile up so that when the next minister resigns next week, he'll be an obvious substitute.

eburtthebike wrote:

Bobonabike wrote:

I know it's hard to keep up these days, but Malthouse isn't a minister anymore

He's trying to keep his profile up so that when the next minister resigns next week, he'll be an obvious substitute.

I hope someone produces a minister advent calendar. Each day you get to open a new revolving door, but instead of a bit of chocolate or gift, it's a small piece of poop.

Quote:

predictably, the car that couldn't hold back for 2 seconds to make a safe pass slams on the brakes, reversing lights come on.

'Twas ever so... 

I haven't thrown a pinch in forty years And It shouldn't ever come down to to who will win at fisticuffs,  but I found myself willing you to take on Audi Grandad.

Couldn't they just put Dido Harding in charge of it, and then it would be world-leading investment instead of outrageously costly spending on the tofu eating wokerati?

... as opposed to motor infra and driving - which are apparently a net cost to the economy (if you track all the costs - see "externalities of motoring", something we're really not keen on estimating).

There's nothing wrong with deciding - like e.g. schools - that something is worth paying for of course.  However our litany of "we need motoring to pay the bills" is a stumbling block to facing up to reality - the first step to change.  Unless the bills we're talking about are those from all the people who make money from the motor industry - and their political beneficiaries...

Oddly enough you'd think that e.g. kids being able to get themselves to school (and being healthier / having better well-being as a result of it) might be worth some cash?  That doesn't appear on Kit's balance sheet most likely though...

Quote:

other, more pressing priorities

such as making sure that our Govt's friends and relations and business contacts are all very well remunerated...?

Rendel Harris wrote:

In the Netherlands it has been estimated that the €500M p.a. they spend on cycling infra returns €19bn in healthcare savings alone. This is something the cycling lobby doesn't push enough, in my opinion, the fact that investment in cycling isn't just "something nice", it actually provides a positive return.

Oh, we do, it's just that the media point blank refuse to report it.  Like when NICE said that the best way of tackling the obesity crisis would be if the government hit its cycling targets.  Or the BBC R4 prog "Inside Health" which has been on for many years and, despite some doctors calling cycling the magic bullet for health, has mentioned cycling a couple of times, but only in passing.  The BBC is obsessed with diet, and I've literally lost count of the number of items I've seen/heard about how improving your diet will make you healthy, but I've never seen/heard anything about how good cycling is for your health.

When I heard the Andrew Mar interview with Malthouse, I immediately emailed him, pointing out the incredible health benefits of a switch from driving to cycling, and the staggering ROI, but nothing was said.  I also asked him why the media won't cover the benefits, but no answer to that either.

very much this

the classic is the punishment pass, the people who seem to believe they have a responisbility to enforce the (often made up) rules of the road, and to punish (judge, jury, jailer and even executioner) for any (as they see it) misdemanour. 

I reckon it wasn't punishment, just simple impatience - check out how close the driver was to hitting the car on the other side - quite a risk. Ask the driver and it will be a "What's your problem, I missed them by plenty."

Patrick9-32 wrote:

 If a car is parked on the pavement do I find the driver "just popping into" the shop and punch them?

Other satisfying solutions are available. It may require some gym time that wouldn't help your cycling any, though.

If I ever have a science experiment go wrong in just the right way and get super strength, I'll be doing this full time. Sponsor me to spend a week in your city.

If you check out the "Cars in houses" thread you'll see that either this guy is going round the country in hi-vis practicing his craft unseen like a ninja, or this is unnecessary as vehicles are spontaneously upending themselves with no input by drivers, all the time.

They Drive Among Us (on their phones, for 200 yards, then park on the pavement)

If you ever want to see entitled driving, stand outside a primary school gates at the start and end of the school day.

the little onion wrote:

If you ever want to see entitled driving, stand outside a primary school gates at the start and end of the school day.

My daughter's primary school (in London, so everyone lives within half a mile) puts big yellow barriers across the roads at drop-off/pick-up times, with signs and flashing lights advising that the road is closed. Parents in cars mount the pavement to get round them, presumably to save their kids from a walk of no more than 50m to the gates. 
 

Brauchsel wrote:

the little onion wrote:

If you ever want to see entitled driving, stand outside a primary school gates at the start and end of the school day.

My daughter's primary school (in London, so everyone lives within half a mile) puts big yellow barriers across the roads at drop-off/pick-up times, with signs and flashing lights advising that the road is closed. Parents in cars mount the pavement to get round them, presumably to save their kids from a walk of no more than 50m to the gates. 
 

 

It's notable just how much traffic evaporates at half-term

Brauchsel wrote:

the little onion wrote:

If you ever want to see entitled driving, stand outside a primary school gates at the start and end of the school day.

My daughter's primary school (in London, so everyone lives within half a mile) puts big yellow barriers across the roads at drop-off/pick-up times, with signs and flashing lights advising that the road is closed. Parents in cars mount the pavement to get round them, presumably to save their kids from a walk of no more than 50m to the gates. 
 

 

sounds like a good chance to stand filming them breaking the law, and filing with the police.  

the little onion wrote:

They Drive Among Us (on their phones, for 200 yards, then park on the pavement)

Whilst walking back from my local shop on Monday, I saw a driver playing with a phone in a Range Rover, which was third in line at a traffic light. I called "Oi!" (oratory skills turned up to 11) and made a gesture to get her to put the phone down. She shook her head and mouthed "I'm on the phone" (I lip read so I'm confident that's what it was).

Too busy on the phone to put the phone down. At that point I disappeared in a logic vortex.