I must take issue with my colleague Andrew Grimes who, somewhat mischievously, last week suggested that cyclists should be banned from major arterial roads, especially at peak periods, on the basis that the attrition rate among road users on two wheels is worse than that among soldiers at war in Afghanistan.
Andrew Grimes: Why the bicycle has no place on our city roads
The technology must surely be available to stop lorry drivers continually squashing cyclists who stray into their blind spot. Let’s install it on every juggernaut by law without delay.
As for the rest of the four-wheel population, what is their problem with cyclists? If more of us cycled, the roads would be less congested, the air cleaner, finite fossil fuels less depleted and the population fitter and certainly happier.
Yet some drivers seem irked beyond reason to see a bike darting through the traffic. Is it mere jealousy – the dog-in-the-manger attitude that the cyclist often makes better progress through city streets, and at a fraction of the cost of the car. That would certainly account for some motorists’ irrational anger at seeing a cyclist going through a red light.
As a cyclist, I go through red lights all the time. Waiting at a traffic light with a shuddering pantechnicon at your shoulder, you jump the lights as a simple matter of self-preservation.
In Paris, the law is about to be changed to allow cyclists to ignore red lights in certain circumstances. Those cyclists will no doubt make sensible use of this right, knowing that, as they are soft and squishy and cars are hard and heavy, they will inevitably come off worst if they don’t.
Do we still have time to give a Dickens about Charles?
Sorry I’m a day late, but happy birthday, Charles. I refer of course to Charles John Huffam Dickens, probably the best story-teller the English language has known, born 200 years ago yesterday.
We all know the stories, and yet – be honest – we so often know them second-hand, through movies and TV adaptations.
Confession time: the only Dickens I have ever read cover to cover was A Tale of Two Cities. It was a riveting good read.
If I didn’t suffer from TATT (Tired All The Time syndrome), which causes me to snooze the moment I open a book, I would have made a bigger dent in Chas’s mighty oeuvre.
Somehow I dodged Dickens as a child. And children today are dodging him even more effectively, it seems.
The schools minister Nick Gibb said this week that every child should read a Dickens novel by the age of 11.
But even Claire Tomalin, whose biography of Dickens was shortlisted for a prize in the Costa Book Awards last year, wonders whether kids today are capable of ploughing through the likes of Bleak House.
"Today’s children have very short attention spans because they are being reared on dreadful TV programmes," she says.
That’s not entirely true. For years, the bloom of British youth have been queuing round the block for JK Rowling’s doorstops. And there is no shortage of attention span when it comes to the virtual slaughter of video games like Call Of Duty.
Yes, if the young ‘uns devoted as much time to Dickens as they did to X Factor and Big Brother we would not only be a better-read but also a less hysterical nation.
But rubbish TV is not the prime offender when it comes to attention span.
Four years ago, American writer Nicholas Carr posed the question: "Is Google making us stupid?". A debate ensued as to whether having the sum of all human knowledge at our fingertips via the internet may sap our concentration, meaning we no longer delve deeply into anything.
"Once I was a scuba diver in the sea of words. Now I zip along the surface like a guy on a jet ski," wrote Carr.
Knowing that the next thing is only a click away turns us into intellectual gadflies. We know, for instance, that people do not read a newspaper online in the same way they would a printed copy; instead of going page by page, they bounce in and out like hyperactive children. Likewise, I listen to music very differently on my iPod from how I would on my hi-fi. With 12,000 songs just a click away, why would I bear so much as a moment’s boredom?
So our children are growing up with information overload, grazing from many sources rather than feasting on one. How often do we find our youngsters watching TV while also using a laptop, or doing homework while listening to music?
Some psychiatrists believe the internet is actually altering the way we use our brains. We no longer need to remember anything, because it’s all out there at our beck and call.
If we fidget our way through a world of endlessly-available information, do we any longer have the patience to sit through 900 pages of Dickens? It is perhaps too early to say. Let’s see whether, on his 300th birthday, our great great grandchildren know anything at all about old whatsisname.
My respect for diamond monarch
When it comes to monarchy, I favour the French option – keep the fancy buildings, retire the royals and bring on the liberté, égalité and fraternité.
But I must confess a grudging respect for Queen Elizabeth II as she completes 60 years of service with, it seems, an appetite for many more years of the same.
Are my old republican sympathies crumbling? No. I think it’s just that with so many other targets for my indignation – from bonus-snaffling bankers and expenses-fiddling MPs to overpaid public servants and millionaire footballers – the royal family seems more and more like the benign face of our nation’s inequality.
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I agree with most of your points Paul, but on more than one occasion (this morning included) I have almost been knocked down by a cyclist as i was crossing the road, when the green man was showing near the old BBC, they often ride through a red light I work on Oxford Road and this happens to me 2-3 times a week. I once saw a cyclist hit by a car on Oxford Road as she rode through a red light. It is not only car/lorry/bus drivers who are thoughtless a lot of cyclists are. I think they should have some kind of insurance for when they cause accidents. I don't drive, I have never wanted to.
Part of the problem is, that often when cyclists "dart through traffic" they don't even look nearly or actually causing accidents.
Issues that motorists have with cyclists come down to:
1) Hardly ever obey the traffic laws and rules of the road; some don't even care about the traffic around them or how to cycle in or around it.
2) Many don't have lights at night
3) There is no registration for cyclists who use the roads, so if they cause an accident, they can just get away with it very easily.
4) Then there are those who insisit on cycling along packed and busy paths.
Futhermore if someone is slowed down significantly then they will get adgited and not like it, it's the same between slow walkers and fast walkers - the fast walker always tries to get past and is annoyed if they have to slow right down.
Indeed some of the issues are not even the fault of cyclists, but cyclists get the blame. Take for example the cycle lanes on Bury New Road between Manchester and Bury. Every so often the cycle lane stops so that a traffic calming measure in the middle of the road. Why on earth did anyone ever think it was a good idea to calm traffic by trying to cause accidents between cyclists and motorists?
Many of the aggitation motorists have with cyclists could be solved by having well thought out cycle lanes which are enforced to stop people parking on them and which don't stop every few yards for a cyclist squash trap (traffic calming measure). Or build some dedicated cycle routes away from roads, in some parts of the county the routes exist, but they just need to be made useable (i.e. proper surface & lighting for nights)
"As a cyclist, I go through red lights all the time."
What other road rules do you ignore & why do you think they don't apply to you? It's that arrogance that upsets drivers, not the weaving through stationary traffic. If you reach a red light before anyone else, position yourself so that a lorry can't pull alongside you & you'll be safely away ahead of them. If the lorry's there before you, don't go up the inside where the driver can't see you. It's frightening how many cyclist do that. I have a relative who is a lorry driver and he told me how he pulls up as near to the kerb as possible to prevent cyclists doing just that (for their safety), yet many cyclists get upset at it.
Just as Grimes' article was unfairly biased against cyclists, yours is unfairly biased in their favour.
As for Dickens, I've always found his books hard going and not a very pleasurable read because of that. Maybe I should have another attempt, especially as his novels are now available as free e-books.
i too am a cyclist. as much as i can weather pemitting i ride to work. i jump red lights if safe to do so (in most cases the council has poorly sequenced the lights anyway to hold up traffic).
but also as a user of a gas guzzing car too i can see why motorists dont like cyclists. it may have something to do with the over engineers and poorly thought out cycle lanes and routes that the councils create to spend their eco budgets on.
you see councils have a budget which they have to spend on ecolodgcally friendly transport methods. usually these are bus lanes and cycle lanes. which yes can help buses and bikes get through the traffic better in busy periods.
but usually when these are created they only take up what road space originally was for normal motorists and in most cases are badly laid out.
every single one on my route into work actually puts riders in more danger than if they had never bothered wasting the money.
its about time someone who knows what they are doing consulted these councils and created sensible routes and maybe the motorist may come to like the cyclist and bus in years to come.
I'm a cyclist and a driver - it's possible to be both. As a cyclist, I obey the rules of the road. I stop at red lights, and don't swerve in and out of traffic. I cycle calmly and assertively, and in a way that doesn't put myself or other road users at risk.
Cyclists who don't do that, such as Paul here, give us all a bad name. It's infuriating as a driver when a two-wheeled idiot swerves in and out between parked cars, repeatedly pulling in front of you without looking requiring you to brake sharply. It's also dangerous when they ignore a red light and cycle across the front of your oncoming vehicle.
I would like to see more spot fines handed out to cyclists who break the rules of the road, because I can understand why so many drivers hate cyclists, and I'd rather not be hated for the inconsiderate, illegal and dangerous actions of my supposedly-fellow cyclists. Perhaps if the vast majority of cyclists didn't give cycling a bad name, it would be both more popular and less dangerous.
I don't think jumping the lights is the best answer unfortunately. Perhaps if red lights are given legal 'yield' rather than 'stop' status for cyclists, as happens in other countries, but if you're going to jump the lights you surely need to be insured in case you are liable for an accident.
Andrew's comments were ridiculous, and I was heartened to see how he was told so in the comments - hardly any motorists chimed in to support his rant.
Somehow though, I feel you've missed an opportunity to really write the other side of the story - at least Andrew wrote a fair amount of words on the subject.
I can`t believe what I`ve just read, ......"I go through red lights all the time......."
Is Paul Taylor married? Does he have children? Does he encourage them, whilst out on their bicycles, to....."go through red lights all the time...."??
Yup, just the sort of role model we need. What an idiot!!!!!
If you put yourself in the Lions mouth by placing YOURSELF in danger by running a red light or entering a blind spot of a lorry what do you expect to happen? YOU are responsible for YOUR actions, not the person coming the other way at the intersection or the lorry driver. You don't play football on the M62 at 8,30am on a Monday so why should you run a red light?
Yes I cycle and drive and both parties have some bad habits but two wrongs to not make a right.
While the lorry driver is responsible for not killing cyclists, I think cyclists should be aware that the left hand side of a lorry is a real danger zone.
Better to hang back and survive.
I would have no sympathy with you or any other cyclist who goes through red lights and gets knocked over I'm afraid. I drove to Deansgate yesterday morning and witnessed at least 5 cyclists who went through red lights. None of them went through to avoid being shunted from behind, I can assure you of that. It is just as infuriating as watching any other road user, be it car, lorry or motorcycle, potentially being a danger through ignorance or in most cases, arrogance.
As someone else has said, give them on the spot fines and if they can't or won't pay, send their bike to the crusher.
Firstly, I'm still not sure if Grimes' article was supposed to be a (very poor) joke - it also implied that pedestrians shouldn't be allowed -, but the only thing I might have learned from it was that Grimes is a wally, and I knew that anyway. I still don't understand why the MEN pays him.
Secondly, I've noticed that as much as drivers hate to see cyclists jump lights, when cyclists do stop, drivers also hate to have to wait even a second for the cyclist to pull away when the lights go green. So cyclists can't win. I wouldn't advocate breaking the law as Paul Taylor seems to, but maybe Paris is onto something.
"As a cyclist, I go through red lights all the time."
This behavour gives us cyclists a bad name Paul.
I cycle to work everyday and stick to the rules - if you get wiped out whilst jumping a red light who's fault is that then? (rhetorical)
Don't do it.
If advanced cycle stop lines were actually understood by drivers and kept clear so that cyclists have a chance to set off and get going once the lights have changed then perhaps cyclists would not feet the need to go through on red.
So the cyclists want to use the roads like motorbikes and cars but they don't want to follow the rules that they do? If you are a cyclist you think it's ok to break the law by running through a red light or using pavements but you cannot understand why car users are not happy with it! Motorized vehicles pay many premiums to use the roads whereas cyclists do not and not only that but there is no proper legal framework to stop someone being a hindrance and sometimes a danger, to others on the roads. In my experience, non-scientific of course, I have seen that 80% of cyclists do not stop at a red light either just using it as a stop sign (look then go) or sometimes even getting on the pavement to cross with pedestrians ignoring how busy or annoying it is. Of course cyclists want everyone to believe that they have been victimized just because they dart through traffic but they are victimized because they do not give us any reason to respect them.
PS: I p[refer being in my warm dry car stuck in traffic and my trip lasting 25 minutes rather than my trip lasting 10 minutes but be wet and cold so I have no problem with anyone overtaking me, there are positives and negatives in any mean of transport.
So your real desire is to follow China example before modernity woke the flaming dragon economy. Seem to forget the rest of the infrastructure land have caught up with the motor vehicle. In the 1990s until 2003 I quite happily rode a bike and followed the rules of the road. Because industries and modern transport service do not cater for a 24hr society. Eventually I chose to return back to driving and have not looked back since. Likewise there is no demand to this day to allow a cyclist to travel even on a train without causing chagrin from one station to further a field. I am not here to defend either way. Problem lay with the original plans for transportation and cost. I do make every effort to give allowance to the cyclist behind or in front and I drive a Land Rover Defender 110. I would prefer the law or local body make great effort in getting cyclist of all age to ride with full working lights and very very bright clothing. Because today a lot look like little ninjas on bikes.
The only problem I have with cyclists is that on the A56 dual lane carriageway in the rush hour the whole lane is blocked by a cyclist - overtaking him is impossible and one gets exceedingly frustrated. Cyclists have no place in the modern world in the rush hour.
"The technology must surely be available to stop lorry drivers continually squashing cyclists who stray into their blind spot"
Its called not cycling into someones blind spot, often refered to as common sense.
Hmm ok so maybe jumping a red light maybe less dangerous than I previously posted..
https://www.facebook.com/GtrManchesterPolice/posts/270734679663225
:-)
Judging by the reaction, my comments plainly need a little clarification. First of all, I write not just as a cyclist of about 45 years experience, but a motorcyclist with a full licence for over 30 years and a car driver these past 37 years.
I've not had an accident or conviction on any of those modes of transport in the last 30 years. In fact one speeding fine in 1982 is my entire criminal record.
As a motorcyclist and cyclist I have learned always to ride defensively and to be hyper-aware. When I say I ride through red lights all the time, I mean that if I am on my bike at the head of a line of traffic, sitting at a red light, I can see when the lights have changed to red for the traffic coming across that junction, and if it is safe to do so, I will anticipate my light changing from red to amber and pedal off across the empty junction. I make a judgement that this is safer than trying to set off at the same time as a line of cars.
I may also make a left turn against a red light on my bike if I can be absolutely sure the road is clear.
Both of these manoeuvres are, as I said in my piece, in the process of being legalised for cyclists in Paris.
Of course, I would not do either of these things on my motorbike or in my car. Nor would I ever go through a red light at a pelican crossing on my bike.
I am not, by nature, a risk-taker. Nor do I cycle with scant regard for pedestrians. If, as a cyclist, I occasionally do something contrary to the rules of the road, I make the calculation that the only person who will suffer if I get it wrong is me, and I make damn sure that doesn't happen because I cycle with all my wits about me.
Thousands of other cyclists do exactly as I do every single day. Occasionally I may cycle over a piece of pavement which I am not supposed to do, because I know this is safer than cycling on a given stretch of road or more particularly a roundabout.
Until the roads are configured to accommodate cyclists, it's a matter of sheer self-preservation. Sometimes, as a cyclist, breaking the rules seems safer to me than abiding by them. I don't necessarily encourage anyone else to do the same, but it's my life and so far I've managed to hang on to it.
'population fitter and certainly happier'
Not the case at all, some people i admit are programmed to be active and would enjoy the occasional cycle to work, but im willing to bet my entire student loan that the balance of people willing to brave the UK's weather 365 days a year on a bike, to people getting the bus or driving is not in the cyclists favour.
If i lived in Miami not Manchester, i'd cycle alot more and im sure the rest of the UK would but people dont like the cold otherwise we would all live at the poles and cycle around on snow-cycles.
Most motorists have no problem with cyclists.
A bitter few do, and these pitiful people want cyclists to have just as miserable a time on the roads as they voluntarily do because of their choice to drive a car in a crowded island of traffic jams made almost entirely of other cars.
Power corrupts.
200 horsepower corrupts more than 1 Person-Power.
Plain and simple, What road tax do you pay? yet you think its ok to cut in front of cars and get in the way...
I think anyone in charge of any kind of vehicle that is using the road should have insurance!!! Including mobility scooters
http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/news/s/1484357_cyclists-horror-as-road-rage-thug-mows-him-down-at-lights-in-fallowfield
Road rage, someones precious wing mirror was clipped (his own fault) and he decides to try and kill someone. This man should never be allowed to drive again.
This is the kind of thing many cyclists face (to a lesser degree obviously) on a daily basis, drivers who don't cycle can never understand the level of intimidation possible when you're on a bike vs. someone in a car, even when you do something you don't feel is intimidating (driving too close, overtaking immediately after a red light) you feel extremely exposed on a bike.
Car drivers beware however, mini video cameras are now available and are being used increasingly, I'll be getting one (£35 on Amazon, can't be bad) and bad and dangerous driving will start to be punished. Just have a look on youtube for some examples or the excellent ipayroadtax site.