Safe Speed Forums

I've just spotted this item in the local rag.


http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/ ... ory=669684

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Anyone who tells you that nothing is impossible has never bathed in a saucer of water.

That dreaded "research" word again. ...what a wanker!

I also think that mopeds and scooters restricted to 30mph should be alowed to use cycle lanes on roads.....and they can't speed!

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Speed camera policy Kills

seems to work fine around here - no high speed bikers on my ride into London. I can't really see a problem with it.

What a lot of crap. I sometimes use the bus lane for about half a mile on my way into Belfast in the morning (only if I need to get cash or go to the shop on the way since my normal route is faster) and trust me, speeding is not an option. Anyway, most of the cyclists I see on the way into Belfast should examine their own red-light, filtering and pavement hopping activities before they cast any stones in the direction of anyone else.

Also, I've no idea what this article is about. Any bus lane I know of here has been open to motorcyclists for nearly 2 years - here's a government press release from 2004 http://www.nics.gov.uk/press/rd/040210gg-rd.htm
Edit: I guess it's the end of the 18 month experimental phase. I should learn to read.

P.S. The cyclists in Belfast should shut up - all four of them, or learn to get on better with everyone else. I used to be a member of a cycling group in Belfast, but I left it soon after Sustrans got involved.

Taking a broader view, I think it's a very big mistake to give special priviledge to any road user group. Including buses, so bus lanes are out. In fact I don't know why we stand for it. They don't even speed bus journeys (apparently).

We're seeing the problems here in this article and this thread. There's animosity and resentment. They 'unbalance' natural traffic flow creating danger to pedestrians because (bus lane) traffic is faster and unexpected.

All road users are equal. No alternative is safe.

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Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety

they might not speed bus journeys but they're absolutely fantastic for cycling and the ones on my trip into London are full of cyclists. The best thing is that you've got none of the idiots deliberately trying to block you by driving in the gutter - quite noticeable when the bus lanes end.

If we managed things properly and everyone knew all road users were equal and approached the roads in a spirit of co-operation, that would stop the gutter blockers too.

Priviledge promotes selfishness.

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Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety

I tell you what, you do something to get rid of all the c*nts who think it's their mission (I'm talking about those who do so deliberately) to kill cyclists (the police are too busy eating donuts to be worried about such trivial matters) and I'll happily support your plans to remove bus lanes.
In the meantime, please leave them there.
I spent 3 years riding to Croydon and barely a day went past where someone didn't try to kill me. I've now been riding into central London for 4 months and have had the grand total of 2 close calls.

Steady on old chap. I'm not trying to get bus lanes removed.

But I am looking at 'how road safety works' and one of the problems I see time and again is that inequality breeds resentment.

I'll bet that there are drivers who get miffed because you have been able to go past them in a bus lane. That's their character flaw, but we have to make road safety systems that accomodate common character flaws, rather than aggrevate them. We're (national we) part of the problem because we're getting it wrong.

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Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety

John, totally agreed that London is not a very cycle-friendly place.

Bus Lanes and all the other confusing road markings just make it more dangerous for everyone, including cyclists.

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“For every complex problem, there is a solution that is simple, neat, and wrong.” - H. L. Mencken

see above... bus lanes have made it very much safer for me (no bus lanes into croydon).


sorry if that was a bit strong. I'm not so worried about the bus lanes but I really would like to see someone do something about the nutters - and like I've said, for whatever reason, there are a lot more nutters where there are no bus lanes. For any BiB reading, why don't you put some 'unmarked' police bikers out there with motorised backup to catch some of the worst offenders? You could have an absolute field day between Beckenham and Croydon.

I think you hit the nail on the head there Paul, inequality leads to animosity, animosity leads to hate, and hate leads to the dark side...

...sorry.

Segregation is often the bane of society as a whole, and transport (as a large facet of society) is no exception.