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Boardman volunteers to help make London safer for cyclists.
Olympic great Boardman: We must rethink roads so that riders feel safe
Mark Prigg 06.01.09 THE mastermind of Britain's cycling gold medal haul today called for a complete overhaul of London's roads. Chris Boardman told the Evening Standard he wants to see roads transformed to make them safe for cyclists. And the Olympic star said he would be happy to advise Mayor Boris Johnson. Boardman, 40, said: "In order to make cycling in London viable Boris Johnson really needs to make some ballsy decisions, and now is the time to do it. "At the moment cars have priority and that has to change." Boardman has proposed re-painting road markings to give cyclists more room and giving them two-way access on one-way roads. Kensington and Chelsea council is already testing a scheme for cyclists to be exempt from one-way road restrictions after hundreds of cyclists were found to be flouting the rules. Boardman wants to see an expansion of this kind of scheme across London. He said: "People just do not feel safe on the roads. We need to completely rethink the allocation of road space, and it is more than making cycle lanes wider. "I would absolutely love to speak to Boris Johnson about this. I think he has to make his move now." A spokesperson for Mr Johnson said: "The Mayor shares Chris Boardman's passion for cycling [and] has committed £55million to be spent on cycling commitments." Campaigners backed Boardman's plan. "There is an awful lot more the Mayor could to do improve cycling," said Tom Bogdanowicz, of the London Cycling Campaign. The calls come after the launch last year of the Standard's Safer Cycling campaign. Boardman is considered one of Britain's greatest cyclists, having won a gold medal at the 1992 Olympics and broken the world hour record three times. He has since retired from competition and is a technical adviser to the British Olympics cycling team, which won 14 medals, including eight gold, in Beijing. http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standa...afe/article.do I like The Standard making a sly dig in the article about "hundreds of cyclists flouting rules"! Number of cycle commuters in the UK= 1m Number of uninsured drivers on UK roads= 1.2m. |
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Boardman volunteers to help make London safer for cyclists.
On 6 Jan, 14:01, spindrift wrote:
Olympic great Boardman: We must rethink roads so that riders feel safe Mark Prigg 06.01.09 THE mastermind of Britain's cycling gold medal haul today called for a complete overhaul of London's roads. Pothole removal? Excellent! Chris Boardman told the Evening Standard he wants to see roads transformed to make them safe for cyclists. They are, as safe as roads (or any hard surface) Boardman, 40, said: "In order to make cycling in London viable Boris It is viable Johnson really needs to make some ballsy decisions, and now is the time to do it. "At the moment cars have priority and that has to change." Boardman has proposed re-painting road markings to give cyclists more room and giving them two-way access on one-way roads. Paint? That does nothing -- see ASLs or the gutter-bound death lanes with pictures of bikes on, perhaps enforcing the current laws (for cars and cyclists alike) would be a good start. Kensington and Chelsea council is already testing a scheme for cyclists to be exempt from one-way road restrictions after hundreds of cyclists were found to be flouting the rules. Boardman wants to see an expansion of this kind of scheme across London. Contraflow cycles lanes are quite easy to put in, just remember to change the no-entry signs to no-motor vehicle He said: "People just do not feel safe on the roads. Only when you get criminals attempting to intimidate. IME that's bus drivers and van drivers I like The Standard making a sly dig in the article about "hundreds of cyclists flouting rules"! Number of cycle commuters in the UK= 1m Number of uninsured drivers on UK roads= 1.2m. Interesting statistics, any links to back that up? |
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Boardman volunteers to help make London safer for cyclists.
spindrift wrote:
Boardman, 40, said: "In order to make cycling in London viable Boris Johnson really needs to make some ballsy decisions, and now is the time to do it. Vision of Sir Humphrey's - "that would be a very brave decision minister" inducing a panic in the wretched Jim Hacker. (Yes Minister) -- CTC Right to Ride Rep. for Richmond upon Thames |
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Boardman volunteers to help make London safer for cyclists.
Paul Weaver writes:
[Boardman] said: "People just do not feel safe on the roads. Only when you get criminals attempting to intimidate. IME that's bus drivers and van drivers Bus drivers, van drivers, BMW drivers, taxi drivers, private hire vehicle drivers ... I don't know that they're necessarily criminals (you could argue that intimidation of this kind is common assault, but I doubt you'd make it stick) but I have been the target of attempted intimidation by all the above in recent months. Taxi drivers in particular - I'm sorry if anyone reading this is a cabbie and feels slighted by my generalisation, but an unrepresentative minority of your colleagues really are making you all look like tits, and the PCO are toothless. spindrift wrote: Number of cycle commuters in the UK= 1m Number of uninsured drivers on UK roads= 1.2m. Interesting statistics, any links to back that up? Brake claims 1.2 million uninsured drivers based on a DfT consultation from 2004, though I believe this figure is heading downwards as more effort is being made to catch them http://www.brake.org.uk/index.php?p=709#_ftn1 Five minutes work with Google failed to find a source for the former, though. Perhaps soeone else can help. -dan |
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Boardman volunteers to help make London safer for cyclists.
Daniel Barlow wrote:
Paul Weaver writes: [Boardman] said: "People just do not feel safe on the roads. Only when you get criminals attempting to intimidate. IME that's bus drivers and van drivers Bus drivers, van drivers, BMW drivers, taxi drivers, private hire vehicle drivers ... I don't know that they're necessarily criminals (you could argue that intimidation of this kind is common assault, but I doubt you'd make it stick) but I have been the target of attempted intimidation by all the above in recent months. Taxi drivers in particular - I'm sorry if anyone reading this is a cabbie and feels slighted by my generalisation, but an unrepresentative minority of your colleagues really are making you all look like tits, and the PCO are toothless. spindrift wrote: Number of cycle commuters in the UK= 1m Number of uninsured drivers on UK roads= 1.2m. Interesting statistics, any links to back that up? Brake claims 1.2 million uninsured drivers based on a DfT consultation from 2004, though I believe this figure is heading downwards as more effort is being made to catch them http://www.brake.org.uk/index.php?p=709#_ftn1 Five minutes work with Google failed to find a source for the former, though. Perhaps someone else can help. From: http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/roads/miud...ntheukb?page=1 http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/roads/miud...ngintheuka.pdf WHAT IS THE SCALE OF UNINSURED DRIVING IN THE UK? 3.5 The honest answer to this question is that we do not know for certain, for a very obvious reason: those who drive whilst intentionally avoiding taking out insurance cover are hardly likely to self-refer. There is, however, a range of evidence from survey sources, conviction records and industry estimates from which we can build a picture. Specifically: • DVLA’s most recent survey estimates that almost 6% of registered vehicles do not have valid vehicle excise duty. It is likely that the overwhelming majority of these vehicles are being driven by drivers who do not have third party cover. • The Motor Insurers’ Bureau (MIB), using information based on the MIB levy, the number of cases they deal with and (limited) information on the number of cases which insurance companies settle themselves, estimate that up to 6% of vehicles on UK roads are being driven uninsured. • The Association of British Insurers (ABI) estimates that 5% of drivers are uninsured. • In its 2004 annual report on motoring, the RAC estimated that 5% of motorists were driving uninsured and that the number was on a rising trend. From this data, a defensible (but probably conservative) estimate of 5% is reasonable. Moreover, it would appear that the phenomenon is on the increase and at current levels adds up to a significant social problem with, as we shall see, significant associated costs. continued |
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