How cycle friendly is the UK?

Is it really true that the UK is the most cycle-unfriendly country in
Europe?
Or do Bristish cyclists just like to moan?

I'd like to know your opinion.

I've cycled in Austria, France, The Netherlands, Denmark, Germany,
Italy, and Sweden. I'm not British, so when I first moved to this
country I had no prejudices, and I must admit - my impression was not
all that bad. True, cycling here is a long way from cycling in The
Netherlands. But I wouldn't say Britain is the worst country for
cycling. In my opinion it comes somewhere in the middle of the list.

Unfortunately, cycling facilities in the UK are appalling. At best the
so-called cycle lanes in British towns and cities are a bad joke. At
worst, they're outright dangerous. And all those roundabouts don't help
either.

But the behaviour of British drivers makes up for that disadvantage. In
my experience British drivers are the most considerate in Europe apart
from Sweden. If you don't believe me you should try cycling in Italy!
Idiot drivers are a minority, and you get them everywhere in the world.
Am I just lucky because there aren't many chavs on the roads around
where I live (Cambridge)? How is the situation in your town?

I must admit that London drivers are a lot more aggressive (maybe it's
just all the foreigners from hot countries who live there - curiously,
there seems to be a correlation between latitude and how cycle-friedly
a country is :-) )

What I also like about cycling in Britain is that the weather is almost
ideal for it. When you're exerting
yourself you don't want it too warm, neither do you want to cycle in
the frost. By and large, cycling in
the UK is very pleasurable as long as you avoid big roads.

Do you agree?

Try cycling in Southern Ireland, I lived there 3 years, riding a bike
is suicidal, a quarter of the drivers have never had to pass a test, a
quarter are drunk, a quarter on a never ending provisional license, the
rest think what is that nutcase doing on 2 wheels. I am lucky, I now
live in Hull, plenty of cycle lanes, possibly the best cycle city in UK
apart from York. But the motorists in Hull another story. As for Ann
Wiiddecombe you could do with a little exercise so get on a bike,
reduce the chance of heart attack and save the health service some
pounds.

col wrote:
I am lucky, I now
live in Hull, plenty of cycle lanes, possibly the best cycle city in UK
apart from York. But the motorists in Hull another story.

Ha, I second that!

Timo wrote:

Is it really true that the UK is the most cycle-unfriendly country in
Europe?
Or do Bristish cyclists just like to moan?

I'd like to know your opinion.

I've cycled in Austria, France, The Netherlands, Denmark, Germany,
Italy, and Sweden. I'm not British, so when I first moved to this
country I had no prejudices, and I must admit - my impression was not
all that bad. True, cycling here is a long way from cycling in The
Netherlands. But I wouldn't say Britain is the worst country for
cycling. In my opinion it comes somewhere in the middle of the list.

Unfortunately, cycling facilities in the UK are appalling. At best the
so-called cycle lanes in British towns and cities are a bad joke. At
worst, they're outright dangerous. And all those roundabouts don't help
either.

But the behaviour of British drivers makes up for that disadvantage. In
my experience British drivers are the most considerate in Europe apart
from Sweden. If you don't believe me you should try cycling in Italy!
Idiot drivers are a minority, and you get them everywhere in the world.
Am I just lucky because there aren't many chavs on the roads around
where I live (Cambridge)? How is the situation in your town?

I must admit that London drivers are a lot more aggressive (maybe it's
just all the foreigners from hot countries who live there - curiously,
there seems to be a correlation between latitude and how cycle-friedly
a country is :-) )

What I also like about cycling in Britain is that the weather is almost
ideal for it. When you're exerting
yourself you don't want it too warm, neither do you want to cycle in
the frost. By and large, cycling in
the UK is very pleasurable as long as you avoid big roads.

Do you agree?

Cambridge is atypical. There's a critical mass (small "c", small "m")
of cyclists so drivers expect them and behave accordingly. Round here
there ar a lot of charvers and psychos.

"Timo" wrote in message
oups.com...
Is it really true that the UK is the most cycle-unfriendly country in
Europe?
Or do Bristish cyclists just like to moan?

I'd like to know your opinion.

What I find most dangerous is that drivers here often insist on overtaking
against oncoming traffic when there is not enough room. I've done a lot of
cycling in France and find that drivers there will nearly always wait until
there is no oncoming traffic and then pass wide. I'm not really interested
in cycling facilities and would rather most were removed so that it would be
better understood that cyclists have equal status with other vehicles.
Saying that I think that most motorists here take good care and that bad
driving examples represent a very small percentage.

Ken.

You're right about the cycling facilities. It's a case of
all-or-nothing. Poor cycling facilities are worse than none at all.
There is a big cycle path debate in Germany. Opponents claim that cycle
paths don't avoid accidents because most collisions happen at
junctions. Probably true, but I do think that cycle paths increase the
perception of safety at least, and therefore encourage more people to
cycle. The only country where cycle paths have been a great success is
the Netherlands, but that's because there are no gaps and cyclists
normally have priority at junctions. Would be hard to achieve in the UK.

Timo,

The casualty figures show that, on a per km ridden or per trip basis,
the UK is one of the most dangerous place in Europe to cycle. There is
plenty of research showing that on the whole UK driver attitudes to
cyclists are pretty appalling and what's more many motorists let these
attitudes influence the way they drive. (See the Scottish Office report
'Drivers and cyclists as equal road users, for example). It seems
demonising and marginalising 'dangerous' cyclists, or come to that any
cyclists, is a favourite pass-time of the UK media. (Lycra louts,
two-wheeled terrorists', 'tree hugging muesli munchers' etc etc ad
nauseam). Cycle sport has always being marginalised in the UK as
opposed to Continental Europe. UK cyclists (and pedestrians) injured by
drivers are the least well served in Europe by the justice system. (An
EU/ European Federation of Road Traffic Victims report called 'Impact
of road death and injury' found that UK victims of road crashes and
driving crime were the least satisfied in Europe with both the
financial compensation provided and the sentence the driver received).
The police and 'Community warden's in the UK seem to make a sport out
of fining 'pavement cyclists' in contravention of Home Office
guidelines on the use of fixed-penalty notices, and do so in areas
where in countries such as Holland or Denmark or France no one would
even think of fining a cyclist.

However, moving to France this year has been a revelation and I no
longer go out on my bike with a ball of fear in my stomach.

I would like to add my vote to Hull being particularly cycling
unfriendly. There are regular assaults on cyclists in Hull, many of the
motorists there drive like lunatics, according to the police 1 in 5
Hull drivers have no insurance and currently over half of all crashes
there leading to death or injury result in the driver doing a 'hit and
run'.

Perhaps you are just very tolerant. I notice that on another thread you
complain that you've had "people actually taking the trouble to slow
down and lower the window just to shout obscenities at me - on several
occasions."

wrote:
Timo,

The casualty figures show that, on a per km ridden or per trip basis,
the UK is one of the most dangerous place in Europe to cycle. There is
plenty of research showing that on the whole UK driver attitudes to
cyclists are pretty appalling and what's more many motorists let these
attitudes influence the way they drive. (See the Scottish Office report
'Drivers and cyclists as equal road users, for example). It seems
demonising and marginalising 'dangerous' cyclists, or come to that any
cyclists, is a favourite pass-time of the UK media. (Lycra louts,
two-wheeled terrorists', 'tree hugging muesli munchers' etc etc ad
nauseam). Cycle sport has always being marginalised in the UK as
opposed to Continental Europe. UK cyclists (and pedestrians) injured by
drivers are the least well served in Europe by the justice system. (An
EU/ European Federation of Road Traffic Victims report called 'Impact
of road death and injury' found that UK victims of road crashes and
driving crime were the least satisfied in Europe with both the
financial compensation provided and the sentence the driver received).
The police and 'Community warden's in the UK seem to make a sport out
of fining 'pavement cyclists' in contravention of Home Office
guidelines on the use of fixed-penalty notices, and do so in areas
where in countries such as Holland or Denmark or France no one would
even think of fining a cyclist.

However, moving to France this year has been a revelation and I no
longer go out on my bike with a ball of fear in my stomach.

I would like to add my vote to Hull being particularly cycling
unfriendly. There are regular assaults on cyclists in Hull, many of the
motorists there drive like lunatics, according to the police 1 in 5
Hull drivers have no insurance and currently over half of all crashes
there leading to death or injury result in the driver doing a 'hit and
run'.

Perhaps you are just very tolerant. I notice that on another thread you
complain that you've had "people actually taking the trouble to slow
down and lower the window just to shout obscenities at me - on several
occasions."

Jesus a bit heavy on Hull, the city council are very cycle friendly
doing lots to encourage cycling, yes the motorists are fast, ignorant
of cyclists. Have to say in 20 yrs of cycling in UK had a lot of near
hits but never ben knocked off my bike, however 3 yrs in Ireland
knocked off once and browned my pants a few times.

"I notice that on another thread you
complain that you've had "people actually taking the trouble to slow
down and lower the window just to shout obscenities at me - on several
occasions."

Well, aggression doesn't bother me that much as long as it remains
verbal.