Painted cycle lanes

On the 18th January 2010, I blogged here that cycling on Pavements was the only safe way forward at the time.  Just stand by a painted cycle-lane on a busy road (so, all of the UK then) – look at the speed, the vehicle sizes, the behaviour of the motorised traffic – what’s your first thought as a potential cyclist?  It’s “Noooooooooo . . . . . ”

“Dealing with a busy road” advice includes:  Assertiveness – ride with the traffic, not in the gutter, it includes wearing hi-vis, helmets, light yourself-up like a Christmas tree.

It makes me wonder if some drivers need to consider their eyewear options – isn’t a person on a bike big enough to see?

I remember typing – I wanted Mrs Jenkins to be quite able to pop onto her bike and cycle down to the corner shop – in normal clothes.  I wanted Toby to get to school safely, not secured down in an enormous fashion-wagon, spewing exhausts out as it sits in the jams of other Tobys and Melissas – all heading for the some Ofsted graded emporium five miles away.

You see, what happens is the Cyclists that do brave the streets adopt guerrilla tactics, they see the motorised road users as ‘the enemy’ and behave accordingly.  Consequently the motorised road users find these ‘Assertive’ cyclists much more of a nuisance – because they are!