| Cycle routes
- Cycle lanes to be implemented at places along the road that are most
dangerous for cyclists, not where it is easy for the highway authorities
to put them at least cost or effect on motorists.
- Cycle routes to be created that are not ridiculously circuitous as
they are now.
- Would they cycle more if there were more cycle routes? - yes if they
were good quality, in the right places, and enabled them to avoid things
like big busy roundabouts
- People's idea of "cycle routes" varies considerably. Some
people are thinking of 100% car free tracks . Others don't mind some
traffic. Many people's idea of a "cycle route" is totally
impractical in an already built-up area.
- I think that a proper cycle/taxi/bus lane, which wasn't blocked by
parked cars, would be a good solution on major roads (bristol and pershore
for example).
Safety
- do you feel safe cycling?
Not on the roads cars, debris) or on certain canal paths (crime), or
in city centre precincts (police)
- Do cars turn across immediately your path ignoring you?
sometimes
- Much less of an issue in parks and on canal paths
- One of the most irritating things I find ..is motor vehicles passing
too closely.
- I don't like road narrowing at central pedestrian refuges - no room
for vehicles to overtake (they often misjudge gap or relative time of
arrival).
Incentives
- Financial incentives would help encourage cycling.
- More changing facilities / lockers at work
Speed
- does traffic speed cause major problems for you?
More traffic behaviour than speed eg unpredictable lane changes, roundabouts
- ...most definitely
- but I tend to avoid busy roads if poss
- I am concerned about the speed of cars on residential rat runs
- ? Widespread casual breach of speed limits in residential areas and
rural roads angers me, but seldom scares me as it did when I started
cycling. It worries and angers me a lot when I cycle with my son or
daughter or other less experienced road cyclists, frequently removing
all enjoyment from cycling.
- People say they're frightened by overtaking vehicles, I'm not, I trust
them to see and miss me - you have to otherwise you'd be a nervous wreck.
This sort of accident is rare.
Aggression
- Do motorists shout at you just for fun as they pass? .....
Only occasionally : less than pedestrians
- If so does this bother you? .....
Better than blowing their horn at you etc
- Fear of being mugged/attacked........yes in the case of cycling down
canal tow paths (which of course are ideal ways of avoiding the fast
traffic!)
- Have been shouted at for being on the road instead of the pavement
- and I don't mean where there was a cycle track on the pavement.
- Got headbutted by a canal fisherman three weeks ago.
- I think the problem [is] being muscled out by cars..
- Do motorists shout at you just for fun as they pass? Very occasionally
and was spat at once and still get the occasional hoot
Roundabouts
- occasionally I have to tackle the Hockley Circus which is a nightmare
for a cyclist
- Does your route or potential route take you by large roundabouts with
fast traffic?....
fairly often but I plan to avoid them on my most regular routes
- Do these scare you in anyway? ...It can be unnerving on occasion,
especially as some motorists don’t seem to appreciate that cyclists
can stay in he one lane.
- Do these scare you in anyway? Yes (they scare the shit out of me,
but I still sometimes use them)
- Do these scare you in anyway? No longer. I take the primary position,
having had a few scares and one knock off after trying to creep round
the edges of these roundabouts where the cycle lane markings are sometimes
placed, and which I know as a driver to be a potential blind spot.
Training
- mainly applies to beginners, most cyclists of moderate experience
are not aware of the large amount they could learn from training
Dangerous driving/assertiveness
- Do cars turn across immediately your path ignoring you?........ yes,
specially if I've not been sufficiently pushy with my road position
Mobile phones
- Do you encounter car drivers on the phone driving erratically, with
this potentially involving you in a serious accident? ......yes. I usually
stop in front of them until they get off their phone.
- used to notice erratic driving caused by phone, not directly caused
danger, not so common now illegal
Cyclists & police
- Have you been stopped cycling through a red light in an area of town
where speeding is ignored by police?...... no, but I was stopped after
trundling (feet on floor, bum on saddle) across a road with no lights.
The policeman who stopped me was very aggressive.
- Police, so far, have been friendly. In my area we helped with the
bid to get cops on bicycles and have monitored progress on this excellent
idea.
Ideas/problems
- We had an idea for a campaign ages ago which I still think is an excellent
one: start a positive campaign to get driving schools to include "a
day on a bike" as part of the training, plus handing out "how
to behave around bikes" for new drivers etc. Not only does this
raise new drivers' awareness of bikes but it also might make them think
of the bike as another alternative mode of transport.
- Zero tolerance of any road activity that puts lives at risks. So
(being a little more realistic) much tougher penalties, and better enforcement.
Like I sometimes fantasise about hanging out on a evening or two by
the Central Mosque with a couple of other cyclists, armed with digital
cameras and/or camcorders. We'd capture (easily) 100 or more
cars whizzing straight over, and many of them would be actually endangering
cyclists and school kids. Then, with some appropriate publicity, we
invite the police to prosecute them all. Repeat regularly at other cyclist
black spots. Get the message across that we are watching motorists
- Main reason given by the person I asked why they gave up cycling
was too many punctures, then their saddle was stolen. They are now trying
to buy another bicycle, for leisure use only.
- Bad weather will stop them cycling
- I wouldn't cycle more. I cycle a lot already. I haven't cycled in
Birmingham for years (cycles in Coventry, the only respondent not in
Birmingham)
- Also some roads are so bad that people forget to include them as roads
which cyclists are entitled to use. Coventry Ring Road, for example
is so bad that I always avoid it and it is a physical barrier to crossing
the city. Aren't Birmingham's ring roads (don't you have more than one?)
much the same?
- CC TV cameras on narrow roads where it is dangerous to overtake could
be used to stop/prosecute dangerous
drivers - but is this a viable option?
Critical Mass
- People would cycle if it was seen to be becoming the norm (like where
my sister lives in Holland).
Comments
I get so much pleasure from cycling as my main way of getting about
that I have become a bit less political than I ought to be in trying
to campaign for improved conditions for new cyclists. I think that cycling
will, with a bit of pushing, become more and more popular as the health
issue becomes more prominent, as cars increase in numbers and are more
regulated and energy costs increase and road rationing spreads and cycling
design improves, public transport becomes more friendly to cycles and
buildings are designed with fewer car parks. At a certain point a critical
mass of regular utility cyclists will occur, and then cycling will begin
to become not just a niche or hobby activity but will be viewed as a
sensible way to get from A to B. The vanguard will probably be professionals
in big cities as is already the case in London – where there are
a number of well known broadcasters, barristers, MPs and less well known
doctors who rely on the bicycle to get around town. The trend will spread
that car driving is a bit “sad”, and it will become mainly
a sort of slightly naff activity or at best something that you only
do because there is no alternative. Cars will also be valued for the
disabled elderly and others with mobility difficulties.
Include outlines of incidents, what would make cycling safer for you,
what would make those you know use their bike more? Courage, intelligence
and a feel for style. The incidents I have in mind is a celebratory
arriving for a premier on a very smart hi-tech bicycle, a successful
film of a crime where the criminals get away from the police in cars
on a bicycle, or one where military aggressors ride around in enormous
petrol driven vehicles and the rebels who defeat them walk and cycle.
I approve the Mayor of Walsall (Cllr Richard Worrall) some years ago
arriving at events by bicycle even though protocol insisted the mayoral
Daimler (or whatever) followed behind. Public figures need to be examples.
Every time even I turn up at a lecture or a the reception at a conference
centre with my Brompton I have a small but accumulating impact, especially
when people get into conversation about my folding bicycle. I do not
think big charity cycle rides, the Tour de France, separate cycle lanes,
drives for safer cycling etc have as much effect as the slower effect
of initiatives to change the urban fabric to bring about closer settlement
patterns, more attractive and safer streets, better balance of green
space and built environment, peak oil, school-home walking and cycling
schemes, obesity worries, more retailing of proper road bicycles with
bells and mudguards and street tyres, the view of speeding in a car
as being as wrong as drink driving, the spread of car telemetry to reduce
speeding and the spread of “naked streets” where ugly regulatory
signage is got rid of and humans whether walking, cycling or driving
a car or motorbike can negotiate through eye contact their shared use
of road space. Oh and as regards the bad behaviour of some cyclists.
Have more cops on bicycles and throw the book at cyclists who endanger
walkers and other cyclists in pedestrian areas or indeed at pedestrian
crossings on roads – but before you can control these miscreants
we have to have a more level playing field for all cyclists.
Survey details
The survey was
carried out by email in May 2005, targeting members of an email cycle
group of local cyclists. 20 Respondents (50% response), covering about
50,000 miles year cycling, well over 1,000,000 miles cycling. Mostly
experienced cyclists, average age 39y, mostly male (reflecting cycling
in Birmingham). No funding..costs prevented a more elaborate study.
Most respondents live in/around Birmingham.
|
