Taking The Lane

Interesting angle here - http://tinyurl.com/4n5lce5 *
(* it's just a direct link to a jpg, no need for alarm...)

A wheelchair user adopts the 'Taking The Lane' strategy, in a US city by the
looks of the picture. I hadn't heard of this before, but it seems
perfectly feasible that disability rights campaigners might assert their
entitlement to use roads along with other vehicles and users (I guess they'd
rightly say it is smoother and more convenient to go straight down the
centre lane than to negotiate multiple crossings, kerbs and ramps etc on the
pavement).

Here in UK we now have ubiquitous electric shopping carts. It's not always
clear what their Road Traffic Act status is, but they are a frequent sight
in most towns and suburbs nowadays, trundling randomly along the roads,
pavements and retail premises (and leaving a wake of damage sometimes).
Throw in the Segways, and the electrically-aided bicycles, and the walking
aids (wheeled zimmer frames) and the nature of modern traffic suddenly
changes quite markedly.

Will the future public highway need to have a 'slow vehicle' lane,
positioned between the pedestrian pavement and the motor traffic lane(s)?

Steve Walker wrote:

Will the future public highway need to have a 'slow vehicle' lane,
positioned between the pedestrian pavement and the motor traffic
lane(s)?

Maybe, maybe not .. if the 'slow lane' is as well-kept as most cycle
lanes then it probably wouldn't be worth it.

Personally, I'd say no. There's no great problem with slow road users
mixing with faster road users in most towns, so long as those slow
users realise that there are some roads that they would simply be
unsafe on and might cause more problems for themselves than they solve,
given than many 'fast' (probably a relative term in a congested city)
vehicles might not be driven as well as they ought to be.

--
Paul - xxx

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On 02/03/2011 19:17, Steve Walker wrote:
A wheelchair user adopts the 'Taking The Lane' strategy, in a US city by the
looks of the picture. I hadn't heard of this before, but it seems
perfectly feasible that disability rights campaigners might assert their
entitlement to use roads along with other vehicles and users (I guess they'd
rightly say it is smoother and more convenient to go straight down the
centre lane than to negotiate multiple crossings, kerbs and ramps etc on the
pavement).

And it's not really possible to use the margins of US roads due to their
atrocious conditions. I can think of several places in Manhattan where
this kind of action would be not only perfectly reasonable but not cause
a problem, but equally many places in the US where some redneck in a
truck would run you down just because, so it's a pretty bold action.

- --
Guy Chapman, http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk
The usenet price promise: all opinions are guaranteed
to be worth at least what you paid for them.
PGP public key at http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk/pgp-public.key
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On Mar 2, 9:53*pm, "Just zis Guy, you know?"
wrote:

some redneck in a truck would run you down just because

I'm generally no fan of rednecks, but you're being ridiculous, and not
for the first time. If you want someone who hates certain road users
so much that he knowingly endangers lives then I suggest you look
closer to home. Supporting anti-car measures which you know to be
killing people isn't a whole lot better than deliberately running
people down.

Paul - xxx wrote:
Steve Walker wrote:

Will the future public highway need to have a 'slow vehicle' lane,
positioned between the pedestrian pavement and the motor traffic
lane(s)?

Maybe, maybe not .. if the 'slow lane' is as well-kept as most cycle
lanes then it probably wouldn't be worth it.

Personally, I'd say no. There's no great problem with slow road users
mixing with faster road users in most towns, so long as those slow
users realise that there are some roads that they would simply be
unsafe on and might cause more problems for themselves than they
solve, given than many 'fast' (probably a relative term in a
congested city) vehicles might not be driven as well as they ought to
be.

I would agree with that - a general speed limit reduction for urban space
seems sensible anyway. But I wonder about the safety of a manual
wheelchair with a dim rear light wombling along an open road at night.
They just really do belong on the pavement. Incidentally my 'slow lane'
would be several meters wide and properly surfaced, because there would be a
lot of overtaking and paralleling going on.

But then the wheelchair user or Segway user will ask why we think it's OK
for a cyclist to block a lane and trundle along at 20mph on an open road,
and it's not so easy. Pragmatically, the cyclist is much better equipped
to be agile in such conditions and would be safer than an 8mph disability
scooter with a rain hood, but to an 38 tonne truck who hasn't stopped since
Rotterdam, the distinction might come too late.

On Wed, 02 Mar 2011 16:03:23 -0800, Nuxx Bar wrote:


I'm generally no fan of rednecks, but you're being ridiculous, and not
for the first time. If you want someone who hates certain road users so
much that he knowingly endangers lives then I suggest you look closer to
home. Supporting anti-car measures which you know to be killing people
isn't a whole lot better than deliberately running people down.


And not even TMH deliberately runs people down.


--
67.4% of statistics are made up.

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On 03/03/2011 07:24, Peter Keller wrote:
On Wed, 02 Mar 2011 16:03:23 -0800, Nuxx Bar wrote:


I'm generally no fan of rednecks, but you're being ridiculous, and not
for the first time. If you want someone who hates certain road users so
much that he knowingly endangers lives then I suggest you look closer to
home. Supporting anti-car measures which you know to be killing people
isn't a whole lot better than deliberately running people down.


And not even TMH deliberately runs people down.

It happens:

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23823467-van-driver-sacked-by-firm-after-deliberately-swerving-into-london-cyclist.do

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php/4083-SUV-driver-accused-of-murdering-bicycle-messenger-finally-goes-to-trial

As you know, Peter, a driver who intends only to scare can cause serious
injury or death. Especially if, as most drivers do, he overestimates his
own skill.

- --
Guy Chapman, http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk
The usenet price promise: all opinions are guaranteed
to be worth at least what you paid for them.
PGP public key at http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk/pgp-public.key
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