Thursday, 9 October 2008

Tuesday, 30 September 2008

Footage shows boy hit by bus

BBC NEWS | Scotland | Footage shows boy hit by bus

Stuart Field sent me this link. He wrote to the police thus:

Sent: 29 September 2008 22:04
To: FCC Duty Officer
Subject: Video on BBC of bus hitting boy

Hello,

I've just watched your video on the BBC of a bus hitting a boy who vaulted over a barrier.

Obviously the boy was wrong to do this, but there was no comment about the bus encroaching on the cycle lane.

Is this allowed in Scotland? If so, I'll take extra care next time I visit your country!

Regards,

Stuart Field

The reply was:

Dear Mr. Field,
Unfortunately at this location the lanes are narrow and as such larger vehicles have no option but to encroach into the cycle lane or they would have to wait until both lanes were clear before they could proceed. The congestion this would cause in the town centre would not be acceptable and the alternative would be to remove the cycle lane completely.

As road safety officer I accept that the above is not ideal but I believe affording cyclists some protection is better than none at all. When there is a cyclist in the cycle lane we find that large vehicles and car driver have to follow the cyclist in any case as there is insufficient room for them to pass when there is traffic in the right turn lane.

Yours sincerely

Scott McLachlan
Sgt 34
Operational Support Services
Police HQ
Cornwall Mount
Dumfries DG1 1PZ

Monday, 22 September 2008

Brighton and Hove get £1.6m for cycling

Brighton and Hove get £1.6m for cycling (From The Argus)

Brighton and Hove's petrol-free party

Brighton and Hove's petrol-free party (From The Argus)


Friday, 27 June 2008

Rumble Strip

Rumble Strip is a chilling tale about one of the major causes of preventable death - the motor car. Written and illustrated by Woodrow Phoenix, and published by Brighton-based Myriad Editions, it tells you how to kill someone without necessarily going to prison (you run them over!), why drivers get so angry and competitive behind the wheel, and why when it comes to choosing a car, fastest and biggest is best. It is not anti-car per se (Woodrow drives a red Audi A3) but should be compulsory reading for those idiot Argus correspondents (and people who write into newspapers all over the world, I shouldn't wonder) who carp on about rising fuel prices, lack of parking and how cyclists are the scum of the earth.

For a graphic novel about cars (Spam in a can) and pedestrians (just Spam), it shows no people - or cars. We are in a stark world of empty infrastructure: black roads busy with white arrows telling us where to go, vast creepy carless car parks that look like war cemeteries, but with the briefest tantalising glimpses of landscape now and again. The text is full in your face, not tucked away in a corner of the frame, often irritatingly obscuring a detail, like the vanishing point of a road, or the intricacies of an electricity pylon (of which Woodrow is now a fan). It's a take on car ads that are always located on those mythical open roads.

The look and feel builds on his previous work for Myriad, a contribution to The Brighton Book (2005), which made the reader experience the narrative first hand, Peep Show style.

A rumble strip by the way is that corrugated bit on motorways that jolt you awake should you nod off and venture too near the edges of the road.

The Copenhagen Bike Culture Blog

Copenhagenize.com - The Copenhagen Bike Culture Blog: somewhere's got it sorted! Take a look Brighton!

Two wheels

Two wheels | Health and wellbeing | Life and Health: do you shower after ever cycle journey? I don't!


Thursday, 12 June 2008

Saddled With Strange Cycle Paths

Saddled With Strange Cycle Paths (from The Argus): a spread about my website - I was under the impression the feature was going to be about the problem of parking on cycle lanes!

Monday, 9 June 2008

Difficult To Swerve Cycle Lane Arguments

Difficult To Swerve Cycle Lane Arguments (from The Argus): my letter!


Saturday, 7 June 2008

Friday, 6 June 2008