‘Lycra louts’ to be fined by Westminster Council in new London cycling crackdown

Rogue cyclists who flout the law while riding throughout London are to be fined by Westminster Council under plans to crackdown on so-called “Lycra louts”.

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This is what I wear when I cycle. Unfortunately it isn’t too practical  so i’ve had to resort to wearing a helmet and a high visibility jacket. One to keep me safe and one to make me visible.

Beware the rogue bicycles… Petronella Wyatt attacks the cult of cycling after her frail mother was knocked down

Last week I met a friend for coffee. ‘How is your mother?’ she asked. I stared into my latte. ‘Um, she had a serious accident. Her arm is broken.’ ‘Oh, no. What on earth happened?’ ‘She was run down by a bicycle.’

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1250746/Beware-rogue-bicycles—Petronella-Wyatt-attacks-cult-cycling-frail-mother-knocked-down.html#ixzz0gqsmMFIv

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Boris Johnson is setting up a new scheme in London to encourage cycling. It is going to be launched alongside his cycle hire scheme in the summer of 2010.

This is all TFL could come up with to encourage people to cycle in London.

not going to lie but it didn’t really have that effect on me.

It reminded me of all the www.ghostbikes.org that are more and more often seen chained up all over London which is very upsetting. The video is an ugly reminder of fellow cyclists that have lost their lives to idiotic drivers.

I took this photo last week as I was cycling on to London Bridge. As I approached i noticed that the whole area was closed off and police were everywhere.

I asked around to find out what happened and what I found out put a little smile on my face.

An inpatient bus driver tried to undertake a cyclist while going round the corner on to London Bridge, obviously this is a stupid thing to do and the bus driver lost control of the bus and mounted the pavement. 11 people were admitted to hospital with minor injuries.

The bus driver blamed the whole incident on the cyclist for being on the road.

The bus driver was prosecuted for dangerous driving.

Thats one less bicycle-hating bus driver on the road!

Here is how the BBC reported on the crash.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/8534812.stm

These points demonstrate how not to get hit by cars. It would help if the cyclist wasn’t cycling on the right hand side of the road for a start but thats something we can overlook. www.bicyclesafe.com

The only way to ensure your safety while cycling is to be;

Cautious, Aware, Vigilant & Equipment

This is our favorite new website www.stop-smidsy.org.uk.

Any cyclist will have heard the words “Sorry mate, I didn’t see you” at least five times this week already. Bad driving intimidates and harms innocent people. Cyclists and pedestrians are particulary endangered by neglegent or agressive driving because were not encased in a few tonnes of metal every time we set out on the roads.

Because sometimes sorry just isn’t enough.

You’re cycling along, trying to get to work on time, feeling good with your new iPhone app tracking your progress and at some point the inevitable happens. Some clever person has found an incredible parking spot that just so happens to be a bike lane. This usually occurs roughly in the first 10 metres of leaving home.

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The first few pictures have been emerging of London’s much hyped cycle superhighways. But which of these two visions do you think is more likely to be realised?

What we want

• Wide paths with room to overtake cyclists and travel at a decent speed
• No vehicles in the cycle lanes
• Cycle paths not too near to parked cars to avoid dooring incidents
• Uninterrupted and as direct as possible routes into the capital
• Pothole free cycling on great road surface with no snow, ice or leaves
• Traffic lights specifically for cyclists
• Service stations to allow you to fix punctures and pump up tyres
• “Green wave idea” – where if you travel at a certain speed you will hit green lights the full way
• Plenty of bike parking along the route

What’s probably going to happen

• Narrow paths with a blue lick of paint
• Vehicles regularly enjoying the new parking the mayor has created for them in these weird new blue lanes
• Close proximity to parked cars meaning vision 15 seconds into the future is required to predict motorist behaviour and prevent injury.
• Constantly stopping and starting ensuring an average speed of less than 10mph.
• Potholes fitted as standard.
• Strong chance of getting caught by every traffic light on the way into the capital thus doubling the amount of time it takes
• No additional bike parking added after all that is what lampposts are there for

courtesy of Andreas at www.londoncyclist.co.uk