Gaimon's top 5 common bike/car collisions; Police slammed for “be seen” advice video; Egan Bernal's new skill; Oncoming motorist takes ‘racing line’; How pedestrians react when you pass; Speeding in London; Decath-gone - retailer short of bikes + more

It was on the BBC, though you have to go a fair way down the article to find the mention of cycling and walking in a bullet point, and the headline / lead paragraph focuses on increasing car taxes.

Also in the Indy, under a general 'green revolution' headline, and in the Grauniad, although you have to go to the last paragraph and a quote from Greenpeace to find a mention of cycling there.

mdavidford wrote:

It was on the BBC, though you have to go a fair way down the article to find the mention of cycling and walking in a bullet point, and the headline / lead paragraph focuses on increasing car taxes.

Also in the Indy, under a general 'green revolution' headline, and in the Grauniad, although you have to go to the last paragraph and a quote from Greenpeace to find a mention of cycling there.

Thanks.  While stuff like this should be headline news, the media ignores it.  I trust everyone on this website has written to their MP demanding action?

I didn't finish it. Found it faintly annoying. Usual guff about sharing the roads and all road users but then started immediately talking about daylight running lights on bicycles,, bright clothing, and how a helmet might help if you fall off.  A person on a bike in civvies might have been a better representative than someone in full Lycra, IMO.

Ann Shrimpton is part of the Broughton Cycling Group and the facebook does mention setting up a Road Safety campaign so I assume this is part of that. 

It was well-meaning, but awful.  Loads of time focussed on the helmet, when perhaps the time could be better spent on items such as; cyclists can ride two abreast, it makes them easier to overtake safely. Pass cyclists as you would any vehicle; cross to the other side of the road to overtake when you can see the way ahead is clear and it is safe to do so.

What I'd love to see in one of these videos is a reminder that any reasonably fit cyclist can easily be travelling at 20+mph and therefore overtaking is A) going to take longer than you think, B) likely going to require you to break the speed limit and C) probably not worth it. The number of times I have cars half overtake then just sit beside my back wheel because they've realised they actually don't have time to overtake before the queue/lights/pinch point, suggests this is not in drivers' minds.

jacko645 wrote:

What I'd love to see in one of these videos is a reminder that any reasonably fit cyclist can easily be travelling at 20+mph

Talk for yourself.  I need gravity assistance nowadays. 

I often wonder whether the two, excessive speeding and drug driving arent more closely linked, as speed cameras of course dont stop drivers and do drug tests, but some of the really aggressive driving you can encounter Im convinced is a direct result of those drivers having taken class a drugs.

as the article says its not that more people are drug driving now, its just the police have been able to stop more people recently.

and I think thats the thing that concerns me most riding on the roads thesedays, as its something you as a rider have no control over, you can to some extent seek out safer to ride routes to protect yourself from drivers making bad choices, but you cant ride in a way or pick a route, that stops you encountering drivers whose decision making has already been impacted.

Awavey wrote:

I often wonder whether the two, excessive speeding and drug driving arent more closely linked, as speed cameras of course dont stop drivers and do drug tests, but some of the really aggressive driving you can encounter Im convinced is a direct result of those drivers having taken class a drugs.

as the article says its not that more people are drug driving now, its just the police have been able to stop more people recently.

and I think thats the thing that concerns me most riding on the roads thesedays, as its something you as a rider have no control over, you can to some extent seek out safer to ride routes to protect yourself from drivers making bad choices, but you cant ride in a way or pick a route, that stops you encountering drivers whose decision making has already been impacted.

Because of my job, I see a lot of statistics and data on road crashes. This reveals some really interesting stuff. One thing I've noted is that there is a link between driving offences and criminal behaviour. The simple explanation is that criminals are risk takers and that as such, they're more likely also to be driving offenders. It's also of note that criminals are more likely to be drug users and are more likely to be under the influence of drink or drugs while driving their vehicles, which are also more likely to have no insurance or VED paid or to have a valid MOT.

OldRidgeback wrote:

It's also of note that criminals are more likely to be drug users and are more likely to be under the influence of drink or drugs while driving their vehicles, which are also more likely to have no insurance or VED paid or to have a valid MOT.

There was a study which looked at people who parked in disabled bays/family bays in supermarkets, when they were able bodied and solo, and a significant proportion of them were wanted criminals.

That driver was lucky it was Only A Cyclist (TM) - another motor vehicle of any size and their car would have been a write off (and that would be the best case scenario...)

I did like his charming reaction, reminicent of Modern Toss.