Daily Express - Cycle lanes torn apart by readers for ‘increasing congestion’ and ‘narrowing roads’

[richtea99]

Cycle lanes torn apart by readers for ‘increasing congestion’ and ‘narrowing roads’
CYCLE LANES have not contributed to improving road safety, according to a new poll of Express.co.uk readers.

Snippet:
In a poll that ran from 11am on Thursday, August 5, to 3pm on Tuesday, August 16, Express.co.uk asked readers: “Have cycle lanes contributed to road safety?”
Overall, 4,218 people cast their votes with the overwhelming majority, 89 percent (3,771 people) answering “yes” cycle lanes have contributed to road safety.
Meanwhile, nine percent (367 people) said “no” they have not, and a further two percent (80 people) said they did not know either way.

Hang on!
'89 percent (3,771 people) answering “yes” cycle lanes have contributed to road safety'
That's excellent news, but the reverse of the headline and sub-heading.

It then carries on where it left off, allowing the more swivel-eyed foaming readers to vent.

Sometimes, you wonder if they wrote the opinion piece article first, and then handed it over to a sub to fill in the poll results without reviewing it.

Source (I read it so you didn't need to dirty yourself):

Cycle lanes torn apart by readers for ‘increasing congestion’

CYCLE LANES have not contributed to improving road safety, according to a new poll of Express.co.uk readers.

www.express.co.uk

[Not ebike-specific, apols for that.]

 

[StuartsProjects]

Carefull with that post from the Express, its complete non-sense, the text says;

"Overall, 4,218 people cast their votes with the overwhelming majority, 89 percent (3,771 people) answering “yes” cycle lanes have contributed to road safety".

But the graphic says exactly the opposite;

 

[StuartsProjects]

Hang on!
'89 percent (3,771 people) answering “yes” cycle lanes have contributed to road safety'
That's excellent news, but the reverse of the headline and sub-heading.

It then carries on where it left off, allowing the more swivel-eyed foaming readers to vent.

Sometimes, you wonder if they wrote the opinion piece article first, and then handed it over to a sub to fill in the poll results without reviewing it.

Or more likely they have an agenda that they want to promote that agrees with the readership, and I use the term 'readership' loosely, since most of the intended audiance may only look at the pictures.

So a 'mistake' would that would mabye appeal to so called 'readers'.

Wonder if there will be an apology or correction ?

 

[Sedentix]

" Wonder if there will be an apology or correction ?"

From the Daily Excess? Dream on.

 

[richtea99]

Damn, that's disappointing. I thought maybe they'd come over all reasonable. Silly me.

 

[sjpt]

Wonder if there will be an apology or correction ?

About as much chance as an apology or correction from our prime minster.

 

[WheezyRider]

Meanwhile...build it and they will come:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1559790502588960768

Imagine if all those in the video were in cars...

 

[flecc]

Meanwhile...build it and they will come:

.
Sorry but no, that is a proven myth.

The fact is that they were forced onto bicycles, first by the congestion charge very long ago, then by the added Ultra Low Pollution Zone charge. And as I've previously pointed out, most of the movement to escape the charges wasn't onto bikes but into the low fare buses, the fleet doubling from 4500 to over 9000 now. The age profile of those cycling in your video demonstrates that, the cyclists predominantly young.

That separated cycle facility only arrived very recently, many years after they had taken to bicycles to avoid the high costs of the charges.

Without the motor vehicle road charging, many if not most would still be in their cars, enjoying the extra road space without cycle paths. The areas outside the charging zones prove it, all those who don't have to enter the zones still predominantly drive their cars with very few cycling, known because it's where I live and move, outside of the zones.
.

 

[WheezyRider]

.
Sorry but no, that is a proven myth.

The fact is that they were forced onto bicycles, first by the congestion charge very long ago, then by the added Ultra Low Pollution Zone charge. And as I've previously pointed out, most of the movement to escape the charges wasn't onto bikes but into the low fare buses, the fleet doubling from 4500 to over 9000 now. The age profile of those cycling in your video demonstrates that, the cyclists predominantly young.

That separated cycle facility only arrived very recently, many years after they had taken to bicycles to avoid the high costs of the charges.

Without the motor vehicle road charging, many if not most would still be in their cars, enjoying the extra road space without cycle paths. The areas outside the charging zones prove it, all those who don't have to enter the zones still predominantly drive their cars with very few cycling, known because it's where I live and move, outside of the zones.
.

*sigh*

First they were the lycra, drop handlebar, helmet brigade...now they are all just too young. It's a video from the morning, when people are commuting to work, so it's quite likely that most will be young.

I'm not going waste time worrying about how the facts are causing you cognitive dissonance, I'm just pleased that a lot of people who would not of cycled, as before they considered it too dangerous, are now involved in a healthy activity that will do a lot of good on many different levels.

 

[flecc]

First they were the lycra, drop handlebar, helmet brigade...now they are all just too young. It's a video from the morning, when people are commuting to work, so it's quite likely that most will be young.

What a weird thing to say, all ages up into the sixties commute into London, not just young people. So I was illustrating that most do so using public transport.

As someone who has cycled lifelong I welcome that cycling, but I don't delude myself as you are doing. That video emphatically does not illustrate that the facility got those people cycling as you were implying, the facility being very new. The positive moves to get London commuters cycling began in 1981, forty-one years ago, and were given a major boost with the start of the congestion charge in February 2003 nearly twenty years ago.

Ken Livingstone's campaign from 1981 was always to get people out of cars by using public transport or cycling instead, and it's public transport that has been the big winner since even now barely 4% of Londoners cycle commute. The widespread public perception still remains that cycling is dangerous.

More of those better cycling facilities will only marginally help to increase cycling while they are not almost universal. Experience here and elsewhere shows that until they are nearly universal, only forcing people out of cars really succeeds, but with the benefit mostly for public transport.

So that is where the emphasis also needs to be, enforcing less car usage, and it seems that the government is seeing that too with various measures making car driving ever less attractive.
.

 

[StuartsProjects]

The areas outside the charging zones prove it, all those who don't have to enter the zones still predominantly drive their cars with very few cycling, known because it's where I live and move, outside of the zones.

I have friends in Northolt, and always used to visit each year for a pig roast, been going for 30 years maybe.

Then there was the pandemic.

I returned to Northolt this June, and was struck by the change in driving attitude since my last vist 3 years earlier, and the difference from where I live, South Wales.

I found North London driving was completly manic and very agressive, everyone (else) seemingly driving beyond the limit, desperate to beat their competitors to every junction or turn.

It was noticable, to me, how few cyclists I saw out and about, but why be surprised, with the roads inhabited by speeding nutters in cars, you would have to be daft to risk it.

Perhaps Mr Shapps could come up with plans to enforce good driving behaviour ?

 

[flecc]

I found North London driving was completly manic and very agressive, everyone (else) seemingly driving beyond the limit, desperate to beat their competitors to every junction or turn.

There can be an element of that driving in rush hour commuting, but it certainly doesnt stop people cycling. Just look up the many videos and stills of London cycle commuting on the web. According to the GLC there are just short of three-quarters of a million cycle trips every day in London, most of them during the commuting rush. Of course where impressions are concerned there's also the long known element of drivers from slower areas outside of London unable to cope, or appreciate the higher skill levels at play here.

Outside of the rush hours it's not remotely like that in my South London area where I've seen a vast improvement in driving courtesy over the last 15 or so years, especially with regard to the way drivers treat pedestrians and cyclists. It's no exaggeration to say many drivers were unknowingly operating to the new highway code rules for pedestrians long before they were announced, particularly at junctions and islands.
.

 

[StuartsProjects]

There can be an element of that driving in rush hour commuting.

I suppose there can be.

But this was circa 18:00 on a Saturday.

 

[guerney]

Some drivers resist slowing down at roundabouts - I was amost hit twice over the past couple of days, with drivers braking at the last moment. I wasn't even riding along the edge. Sterling Moss's ghost possesses many, or they're stuck in Gran Turismo video game mindset, or something. The mad van drivers are the most frightening, as are SUVs. Traffic is much denser than it was.

 

[Nealh]

Mostly is lack of good road craft, the speeding at roundabouts is just that. The brain doesn't compute a cyclist easily at high speed. The other very poor bit of road craft is cutting the corner entering a T junction, add speeding to the list and generally a lot of drivers road craft is at a very poor level.

 

[guerney]

As soon as the amber light started flashing, a BMW driver accelerated at me today at a pelican crossing. I had to jump out of the way. Didn't catch the plate, wish I'd had my helmet camera. We're one of the most surveilled countrys in the world, I'm sure systems could be taught to mete out justice automatically, to the many badly behaved drivers out there. For instance, drivers who don't indicate should be quite easy for so called AI to spot.

 

[sjpt]

Traffic is much denser than it was.

So it seems are some drivers.

Though my feeling is that despite a small minority (*) of counter-examples most drivers are more considerate than they used to be. (*) small minority, but still large number