A Tale Of Two Cyclists
Coming back from the shops this evening, I needed to cross the zebra crossing by my house. There were no cars in view, but I could see two cyclists coming towards the crossing. I couldn’t miss one, as he had a high visibility jacket on and lights flashing away. But the second was not so visible.
The first cyclist stopped and as I expected the second to do the same, I stepped onto the crossing shouting a loud thank you to the first cyclist.
I started to cross, when I realised the second cyclist was intending to overtake the first and ride straight across in my direction. I think the first cyclist could have obscured his view of me on the crossing.
When he saw me, he braked hard and virtually ended up in a heap on the crossing. He said nothing, picked up his bike, whilst the first cyclist who’d stopped, shrugged and made a long face, at the antics of the other cyclist.
Luckily there wasn’t any other vehicles behind him, otherwise a simple mistake might have become a serious one.
We may need more cycling and better routes for cyclists, but we also need better standards from all road users.
Cyclists may come off badly, when hit by buses and trucks, but pedestrians don’t fare well, when hit by a fast moving cyclist.
Are These A Good Idea?
This advert for noise-cancelling head-phones are on buses all over London.
Are These A Good Idea?
Personally, I have always hated head phones, even when I flew aircraft, but surely to cut the noise of traffic out, is not necessarily a good idea for pedestrians and cyclists.
We need a serious analysis of accidents involving pedestrians and cyclists.
Keeping Cyclists And Pedestrians Safe
There is a big row at the moment over safety on London’s cycling superhighways.
I wemt to Islington twice today in the morning and to Walthamstow in the afternoon. I saw several instances of bad behaviour, by drivers, pedestrians and cyclists, but the most dangerous ones, were when drivers were turning left and ignoring Rule 170 of the Highway Code and not giving way to pedestrians. In one instance the driver braked hard to avoid pedestrians and a cyclist ran into the back of his car.
So perhaps the best way to cut deaths and injuries to cyclists and pedestrians, is for all road users to obey the law as best they can.
As I said in this post, the Scots have some of the worst pedestrian death rates in Europe and it appeared to me, when I visited, that Scots are much more impatient, than modt of the pedestrians in my part of London.
After my experiences in Croydon yesterday, I would think that signposts showing the shortest and most convenient routes for pedestrians would help too. In a lot of places, cyclists already have these.
Following Cycling Superhighway 2
I came home from Stratford by following the Cycling Superhighway 2 (CS2)
For the first part of the journey I walked and then I hopped onto a 25 bus.
The first part to the notorious Bow roundabout is very good, but between the roundabout and Whitechapel needs a lot of improvement to make it up to the same standard.
Will car drivers and other road users accept the narrowing of the carriageway and will pedestrians and the numerous Asian businesses along the road feel aggrieved at the reduction in pavement space?
I feel though, that the cycling superhighway should be built to a high standard and separated from other road users.
Only time will tell if what eventually happens is a good decision for all those, who use the area.
But we’ve had too many deaths and serious injuries amongst cyclists.
On a [personal note, if I had a nice cycling superhighway running towards the City, say down the Kingsland Road, it might encourage me to get on my bike. That would be something, that would improve my health.
Glasgow’s Impressive Buildings And Structures
There has been a lot of building in Glasgow lately, much of it to do with the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
I was totally surprised by the combined velodrome and sports hall, called the Emirates Arena, which looked a real world class building from the outside.
What with three large football grounds; Ibrox, Celtic Park and Hampden Park, the SSE Hydro and the Clyde Auditorium, Glasgow certainly seems well prepared for the Games.
The finnieston Crane is a Glasgow landmark and was used to lift heavy cargoes onto ships. It reminds me of the massive seaplane crane at Felixstowe, which was used to lift seaplanes and flying boats out of the water. There’s a picture in this report.
i can’t find anything suitable about the Clyde Harbour Tunnel of which the two rotundas are part. They look very much like the buildings of the Greenwich Foot Tunnel in London, except they are much larger.
Getting Back On A Bike
As it was quiet in the city today, I took a bus to Barbican station and had a short ride of one of the Barclays Bikes.
Barclays Bikes
I didn’t go far and I didn’t have any alarms at all.
But it was good to see that my balance was sound.
The BBC’s Gloomy Reporting
Despite the good news of the near £10 billion boost the Olympics gave the UK, BBC London is leading with two negative stories.
In one they are saying local business in London are moaning about loss of business because of the games.
And in the other, we have the residents of Surrey complaining that they have more road closures this weekend because of another cycling event. I suppose that it does make it difficult to drive the 4×4. I did hear once that you need a degree in moaning to live in Surrey.
Of course for balance the BBC is also reporting that too much of the Olympic benefit came to London.
In some ways the best legacy from the Olympics in this weather, are the new air-conditioned Class 378 trains on the London Overground and the S Stock on the sub-surface lines of the London Underground. It can also be said, that the place which has benefited most from these trains, is Derby, where they were built or are still being built in the case of the S Stock. It can also be argued that these trains would have been ordered anyway. The value of the orders is approaching two billion pounds.
De Beauvoir Town’s Cycle Superhighway
De Beauvoir Town is flat and good cycling terrain. I took these pictures this morning in Lawford Road.
I must get back on my bike, as it’s an easy way to get around and we have a couple of roads like this with little vehicular traffic, as they are blocked by iron posts, which are just visible in some of the pictures.
In some ways because the roads are wide and parked cars aren’t a problem, they can use this approach of putting the cyclists down the middle of the road.
Wouldn’t it have been nice if all of London had been built with wide streets like this part of Hackney.
Welcome To Stockholm
I took the train into Stockholm from the airport at Arlanda and then walked to the hotel. I know cycling is good for you, but why do cyclists park their bikes everywhere, so that walking is virtually impossible?
Welcome To Stockholm
In fairness to Stockholm, a lot of building work was going on at the station and the walking path will probably be better in the future. There was the odd map along the route, but not as many as we now have in London. But some might say that London is overmapped. I wouldn’t!
It’s Not Just Cyclists Who Are In Danger
This article in the Standard tonight, says that the police and other government agencies are working together to deal with the problems of HGVs and the cyclists they hit. Here’s the introduction.
A crackdown on unsafe lorries and rogue drivers was launched in London today in a bid to halt the number of cyclists being killed and seriously injured.
Police began conducting “stop and search” patrols after the Government and Transport for London agreed that action was needed to halt the death toll.
But it’s not just cyclists, who are in danger from some of these trucks and their drivers.
As I walked back from the bus stop round the corner tonight, a skip lorry turned left in front of me and crossed my path very closely. The driver had taken the corner very much in a hurry, but at least he’d used his turn indicators, otherwise I might have not been able to ascertain his intentions.
I am always very careful at the junction, as since I have moved here, there have been a couple of serious accidents, one of which resulted in the death of a young girl.
The Anonymous Widower 