Yet another journalist......

[oldtom]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21786511

I must have missed this article when it was in the news but it's another newsman trying out and opining on his brief experience with an ebike. There have been untold articles in a similar vein over the years and this one differs little from others I have read.

The reason I draw attention to it is because of the figures presented for ebike sales compared to other countries. Obviously, I don't know if they are accurate or indeed where our journo acquired them but even if they are only approximately true, we are still years behind some other european countries in ebike uptake.

Whether we need further and better bike-centric legislation first before other road users change their attitude towards cyclists and cycling generally, I don't know but before large numbers of non-cyclists feel confident enough to take to the roads, things need to change. I'd guess any substantial increase in cycling numbers would produce an increase also in ebike sales.

Tom

 

[flecc]

Those figures are accurate, The Netherlands and Germany having by far the largest pro-rata e-bike usage. With three times the population of the Netherlands, The UK has one tenth of the e-bike sales they have.

 

[davidw]

Those figures are accurate, The Netherlands and Germany having by far the largest pro-rata e-bike usage. With three times the population of the Netherlands, The UK has one tenth of the e-bike sales they have.

No doubt because they live in a cycle friendly country and have an infrastructure to go with that - and we don't.

 

[enndee]

yeah must agree with that. I've been out cycling more since I got my bike a couple of weeks ago and keep wondering what it is with cycle lanes round here. One I noticed started part way a long a road going the wrong way down a one way two lane road. How is that safe and how on earth do they expect cyclists to have got to the starting point in the first place! Lots of weird ones putting cyclists on pavements for a few yards then on to the road then stop completely. A lot seem to go against the flow of traffic causing confusion. I've got one where I go head to head with buses on a narrow one lane and cycle lane, you can see the drivers concern as it's so narrow a gap, would just take clipping the pavement or a pot hole and squish.

 

[oldtom]

No doubt because they live in a cycle friendly country and have an infrastructure to go with that - and we don't.

That's certainly part of it David but there are huge cultural differences in perception, long overcome in places like Holland and Denmark which have never been addressed properly in the UK. Perceptions and attitudes towards priority on the road are vivid among road users in those places whereas cyclists here are still regarded as a nuisance, just getting in the way of drivers who want to get from traffic light to traffic light as fast as they can.

The only way I can see our roads becoming safer for cyclists now would be to spend a billion or so on a national highway patrol, disguise all Gatsos, crush offenders' vehicles, remove licences and jail repeat offenders for long periods. Because all education so far attempted has failed miserably to produce the desired effect, a more radical approach ought to be applied

Tom

 

[enndee]

cycle lanes round here seem to be designed to put car drivers, cyclists and pedestrians in conflict. Car drivers have a hard time on uk roads already compared with other countries I feel - the US was a dream to drive in could go anywhere all relaxed got back and got stuck in a traffic jam from in the airport car park onwards.

Anyone know if councils get paid per mile of cycle lane they put in, whether practical or not?

 

[flecc]

That's certainly part of it David but there are huge cultural differences in perception, long overcome in places like Holland and Denmark which have never been addressed properly in the UK. Perceptions and attitudes towards priority on the road are vivid among road users in those places whereas cyclists here are still regarded as a nuisance, just getting in the way of drivers who want to get from traffic light to traffic light as fast as they can.

Indeed, this matter goes far beyond having good facilities. The culture and attitudes in the UK are very different from those in much of Europe. Given good facilities most here would not dream of cycling and would still regard cycling as a sporting and fitness pursuit. Even those who do use a bike as transport often do that at breakneck speeds as if their life depended on it, vastly different from the type of cycling common in such as The Netherlands.

 

[davidw]

Indeed, this matter goes far beyond having good facilities. The culture and attitudes in the UK are very different from those in much of Europe. Given good facilities most here would not dream of cycling and would still regard cycling as a sporting and fitness pursuit. Even those who do use a bike as transport often do that at breakneck speeds as if their life depended on it, vastly different from the type of cycling common in such as The Netherlands.

I agree Flecc. It is all in those two words" culture" and "attitude". The culture is so ingrained, the attitude negative where it is not hostile. Look at the old newsreels.They poured out of the factory gates in their hundreds - on bicycles. Well the working classes did because they couldn't afford anything else, and cycling clubs flourished with, in the North East at least, annual Meets where clubs comprising hundreds of cyclists all got together at Whit and similar times. Now the descendants of those people can afford to go out in their cars and as you say wouldn't dream of cycling. An unconscious inverted snobbery?

 

[flecc]

Now the descendants of those people can afford to go out in their cars and as you say wouldn't dream of cycling. An unconscious inverted snobbery?

Quite possibly. I understand that immigrants from the third world also have this attitude where the bicycle is the transport of the poor, reinforcing a national prejudice. We do seem to be culturally aligned more with the USA than Europe in many respects, sometimes an undesirable aspect of the "special relationship".

 

[drsolly]

I cycled at uni, because A) everyone else did and B) we weren't allowed cars except with special permission. And because there were *flocks* of bicycles on the road, I felt safe in the herd. Also, when you're 18, nothing's dangerous.

Then 40 years went by, in a car.

Then I started geocaching, and one route went down a disused railway, converted to a cycleway, so I got out an old three-speed Raleigh and discovered that:

1) You don't forget how to cycle
2) It's like flying

And I loved it. So I did more biking. Then I thought, wouldn't it be nice to have someone doing a bit of pushing. So I got a Forza electric bike.

Six years later, I have a collection of several electric bikes, and my current favourite is one I built from various parts, with a battery I got from an RC shop.

But I mostly cycle off-road, where it's (relatively) safe. If I fall off (I fell off last Friday), I get maybe bruised (and last Friday I didn't even get bruised), I don't get run over by a bus and killed. When I'm in traffic, I'm very conscious that between me and a series of 40 mph killer machines, is a white line on the road, if that.

Maybe people don't cycle in the UK because it doesn't feel safe?

 

[flecc]

Maybe people don't cycle in the UK because it doesn't feel safe?

That's a major reason, in fact for at least 25 years an ever increasing number of parents won't allow their children to ride a bike due to the perceived dangers.

That's resulted in a very high proportion of adults who have never learnt to ride, so are now unlikely to ever attempt it.

 

[enndee]

Took my 6year old daughter out for her first cycle outside the garden yesterday, very nerve wracking cars too close, roads narrow with pot holes, uncut bushes and parked cars making it worse. Didn't put her off but then she's yet to understand how easy it is to get badly injured. Me I do and could see all the dangers, makes you see why the way things are put people off cycling and I agree with drsolly in that when there are flocks of cyclists people feel safer and so are more likely to cycle which leads to more flocks...