Speaking as a pedestrian it’d be really useful if it told cyclists that pavements aren’t for them unless they’ve specifically been given permission to be on them (same is true for pedestrian crossings). Cyclists are a particular danger for young kids, the elderly and visually impaired.
kettle_of_f1sh on
Having spent some time in the Netherlands, France, Germany, Switzerland etc., the UK is decades behind.
Dapper_Source1121 on
As a driver we are told that I must be patient when there is a cyclist in front of me and wait until there is plenty of space to pass without pressuring them or revving the engine.
So why when I am walking on my lunch on a canal towpath is it acceptable for cyclist to tear along them ringing their bell to force people to get out of the way.
sober_disposition on
I absolutely agree. Cyclists are an absolute menace to pedestrians and need to be educated properly.
NuffffRespect on
In dire need of better infrastructure and actual health and safety considerations not safety relying entirely on people getting it right.
Snaidheadair on
Do they still do cycling proficiency at schools? Be good to bring it back if they don’t so road awareness is better at a younger age, put that with good information campaigns and hopefully things will improve. Maybe some training during driving lessons on how to deal with cyclists etc too.
Douglesfield_ on
1. Take an old Think! ad
2. Slap a VHS filter on it
3. Refilm the final frames in the present with a graphic that says something like “Think! – the danger is still out there”
Et voilà! New campaign, at a fraction of the cost with added nostalgia points.
Anyone got the number for DfT?
ethanjim on
Just a reminder for people commenting about cyclists and using your one anecdotal experience seeing one cyclist doing something wrong – a vast majority of adult cyclists own cars, and statistically are more likely to own multiple cars. Travelling which ever mode you choose that day is not “us vs them”.
EntertainmentSad3174 on
Awareness campaign? Why waste money on that.
Rules are not being followed, for a reason.
Typically because of one of the reasons below:
1. The rules don’t make sense. People choose not to follow.
2. The rules cannot be followed. People just can’t follow them.
3. The rules are not enforced. There is no real consequence if people ignore them so people ignore them.
Increasing awareness is not going to add any value.
I probably don’t know 90% of the detailed clauses in all sorts of laws, regulations, legislation and parliament acts, but, I stay legal and compliant in my life.
There are a big chunk of rules which are just common sense, such as don’t steal something which doesn’t belong to me or don’t kill someone’s life, I follow whatever makes sense I’m fine.
Then there are quite some rules which are like why not, so I naturally follow them, for example I don’t attack / threat others because if I do I get myself into a fight and I will end up getting loss what’s the point.
Then enforcement is also important. For example, if I do 35 miles in 30 mile/h zone I get a ticket I know ah ok, 30 means 30, even just 5 miles over that’s not ok. I probably know the rules but it is the enforcement which deter me from making an offence.
Awareness campaign? Pfff…Who thinks just by talking and by showing people some stuffs will improve safety?
llamaz314 on
What’s the point? The UK has the 10th safest roads in the world. Ignoring city-states like Singapore or Monaco, the only nations with safer roads are Japan, Norway, Sweden, Iceland and Denmark in that order. There really aren’t any issues and we are actually a lot safer than pretty much everywhere else. If you think driving in the UK is bad just go to another country. For example the US is about 6x more dangerous looking at fatalities.
ashyjay on
If they took the number of reports for a specific area or road, maybe look to investing in proper cycling infrastructure in those locations, even if it’s the middle of nowhere, as there’s a route nearby which has a lot of cyclists and they cause several mile tailbacks as there’s no straights long enough for large volumes of cars, vans and lorries to overtake, and in turn people overtake at any given opportunity even if they remain close to the cyclists.
jonathing on
I really is. I’m still recovering after a tested and licenced driver hit me head on while driving on the wrong side of the road. He was entirety unphased by nearly killing me and was more concerned that I’d smashed the bonnet and windscreen of his car with my pelvis. I’m too scared to be on the road anymore as I’m having flashbacks and my leg still isn’t healed fully. This has all taught my daughter that exercise is dangerous
Bobo3076 on
The people who nearly run me over on a daily basis want new road safety campaigns?
Rule for thee and not for me.
Audiclint on
I’d say we need some new road surfaces before we have any new road safety campaigns!
liamjphillips on
As a pedestrian, I’d also welcome a new road safety campaign which targets cyclists and their behaviour.
wildeaboutoscar on
It is strange how they seemed to just disappear. I remember several of the road safety campaigns over the years (the king of the road hedgehogs, the creepy girl being hit at 30, the group with the pizza in the car) but haven’t seen one in a long time now. Probably due to not watching linear TV, but I don’t see why they shouldn’t do them on YouTube, etc.
How effective they were I’m unsure though to be fair.
MrPuddington2 on
And as every time, the cyclist haters are out.
This is the British version of “owning the libs” – running over a cyclist.
tallbutshy on
I cycled on normal public roads for over 30 years, had three minor accidents with cars during that time, one of those was my fault.
Did any of that put me off cycling? No, the weather did a lot towards that but the final straw was having a bike stolen for the fourth time, despite using good locks.
Mclarenrob2 on
It won’t be in our lifetimes, but at least when every vehicle is autonomous , they’ll have to slow down and avoid cyclists.
Hopeful-Climate-3848 on
There was a campaign, it was organised by the cycle lobby at the DfT (under Rupert Furness) and it was a colossal failure because it was intended to muddy the waters rather than give what is a very simple and clear message.
Kvothe2906 on
Include the cyclists in this, there are so many genuine idiots on two wheels as there are on four.
TheWorldIsGoingMad on
Bearing in mind how often cyclists go through red lights, veer across the road to turn right without indicating , ride on the pavement etc etc, it should be aimed at the cyclists as much as the car drivers…..
Extra-Fig-7425 on
How about make cyclist get a license to use the roads. That would be a great start.
Tricky_Peace on
I doubt road safety campaigns will make a difference. Every time I went out with the Traffic section, I could go from job to job to job, excessive speed, no seat belt, driving on a mobile, driving whilst distracted, driving whilst impaired.
The majority of the country thinks they’re an above average driver, and they’ll pay little heed to safety campaigns.
A big problem is that cyclist in my opinion can’t safely co-exist with cars. They need separate infrastructure. They don’t mix particularly well with pedestrians either, and whilst it’s unlikely that a cycle vs pedestrian is going to end in death, it still hurts a lot.
But I think the biggest problem is lack of investment. We need cycling spaces. We need public transportation, and we need people to look at cycling and public transportation as the normal way to get to work.
At the same time, we have a minority part of the population whom cars are real enablers. They allow people to get out and about and do things, for people who cycling and public transportation aren’t an option for whatever reason. We can’t let them be abandoned
Disillusioned_Pleb01 on
Yep, cyclists learn to share the road, problem solved.
Deervember on
The UK needs to retake it’s driving test every 5 years. There’s people still driving with their knees, eating, putting on makeup, looking at their phones every day. EVERY DAY!
The amount of accidents on the A55 is hourly in the terms of people getting into major accidents. It’s crazy! Every day someone is dying on that road.
And when you have an accident you should be banned for driving for life, not just a few months.
It’s actually scary how bad people are at driving. If you are worried you won’t pass a 30min test every 5 years you really shouldn’t be on the road.
Ok_Note7436 on
Include the cyclists. Make it mandatory to use cycle lanes that are available.
Moikee on
The problem is unfortunately a severe lack of respect for people around us. Whether it’s a motorist to a cyclist, a cyclist to a pedestrian or whatever.
People have become far too selfish, rushed and stressed to share any actual compassion for anyone but themselves (not everyone but more than it used to be).
M90Motorway on
The issue with the UK is we tend to do everything as Mediocre as possible. We look at Amsterdam and how there are very few cars on its streets and try and implicate it in the UK.
We ignore that Amsterdam has a major motorway ring road around the city, part of which is around 17 lanes wide with through and local distributor lanes meaning cars literally do not have to go into the city of Amsterdam. Meanwhile, Bath, with absolutely no bypass (due to the greenies being against an A36-A46 link) decides to implement a Clean Air Zone severing the A36/A46 Southampton-M4 trunk road. As a result the only way around Bath’s CAZ is a couple of narrow B/Unclassified roads or a long detour around via the M27/A34/M4.
This inevitably annoys people who use the A36/A46 who would rather avoid Bath but literally can’t. Needless to say, people get annoyed at “anti-car” schemes because they have no choice to interact with them lest some newts be disturbed building a bypass around the city!
limaconnect77 on
Cyclists (any age) need to be wearing helmets at all times and (adult ones) stick to the fkn road instead of hogging pavements to bypass traffic.
Existingsquid on
Flip footpaths to allow cycling unless signed no cycles. Instant safety and no more dealing with potholes and gully’s
chisel-hill1 on
The world had more problems than a cyclists wish list
FormerIntroduction23 on
1. Drive on the left of your not overtaking.
2. Don’t be nob
3. Cyclists think they need keep momentum and are shoutyr cunts.
Fify
K-Motorbike-12 on
I’ve cycled all sorts of roads in the UK and have had maybe a few times where a car has maybe been a bit too close to me. On my motorbike many
, many more times that on my pushbike. I honestly feel safer on a pushbike compared to a motorbike.
From my experience, people simply need to calm the feck down on the roads. A couple of seconds is not worth killing someone.
Equally, I’ve seen some horrific cyclists. People riding back from the pub drunk, not observing road traffic ahead of them (cars turning and they are on the inside and behind.) or just being aggressive with a multi tonne metal cage.
34 Comments
Speaking as a pedestrian it’d be really useful if it told cyclists that pavements aren’t for them unless they’ve specifically been given permission to be on them (same is true for pedestrian crossings). Cyclists are a particular danger for young kids, the elderly and visually impaired.
Having spent some time in the Netherlands, France, Germany, Switzerland etc., the UK is decades behind.
As a driver we are told that I must be patient when there is a cyclist in front of me and wait until there is plenty of space to pass without pressuring them or revving the engine.
So why when I am walking on my lunch on a canal towpath is it acceptable for cyclist to tear along them ringing their bell to force people to get out of the way.
I absolutely agree. Cyclists are an absolute menace to pedestrians and need to be educated properly.
In dire need of better infrastructure and actual health and safety considerations not safety relying entirely on people getting it right.
Do they still do cycling proficiency at schools? Be good to bring it back if they don’t so road awareness is better at a younger age, put that with good information campaigns and hopefully things will improve. Maybe some training during driving lessons on how to deal with cyclists etc too.
1. Take an old Think! ad
2. Slap a VHS filter on it
3. Refilm the final frames in the present with a graphic that says something like “Think! – the danger is still out there”
Et voilà! New campaign, at a fraction of the cost with added nostalgia points.
Anyone got the number for DfT?
Just a reminder for people commenting about cyclists and using your one anecdotal experience seeing one cyclist doing something wrong – a vast majority of adult cyclists own cars, and statistically are more likely to own multiple cars. Travelling which ever mode you choose that day is not “us vs them”.
Awareness campaign? Why waste money on that.
Rules are not being followed, for a reason.
Typically because of one of the reasons below:
1. The rules don’t make sense. People choose not to follow.
2. The rules cannot be followed. People just can’t follow them.
3. The rules are not enforced. There is no real consequence if people ignore them so people ignore them.
Increasing awareness is not going to add any value.
I probably don’t know 90% of the detailed clauses in all sorts of laws, regulations, legislation and parliament acts, but, I stay legal and compliant in my life.
There are a big chunk of rules which are just common sense, such as don’t steal something which doesn’t belong to me or don’t kill someone’s life, I follow whatever makes sense I’m fine.
Then there are quite some rules which are like why not, so I naturally follow them, for example I don’t attack / threat others because if I do I get myself into a fight and I will end up getting loss what’s the point.
Then enforcement is also important. For example, if I do 35 miles in 30 mile/h zone I get a ticket I know ah ok, 30 means 30, even just 5 miles over that’s not ok. I probably know the rules but it is the enforcement which deter me from making an offence.
Awareness campaign? Pfff…Who thinks just by talking and by showing people some stuffs will improve safety?
What’s the point? The UK has the 10th safest roads in the world. Ignoring city-states like Singapore or Monaco, the only nations with safer roads are Japan, Norway, Sweden, Iceland and Denmark in that order. There really aren’t any issues and we are actually a lot safer than pretty much everywhere else. If you think driving in the UK is bad just go to another country. For example the US is about 6x more dangerous looking at fatalities.
If they took the number of reports for a specific area or road, maybe look to investing in proper cycling infrastructure in those locations, even if it’s the middle of nowhere, as there’s a route nearby which has a lot of cyclists and they cause several mile tailbacks as there’s no straights long enough for large volumes of cars, vans and lorries to overtake, and in turn people overtake at any given opportunity even if they remain close to the cyclists.
I really is. I’m still recovering after a tested and licenced driver hit me head on while driving on the wrong side of the road. He was entirety unphased by nearly killing me and was more concerned that I’d smashed the bonnet and windscreen of his car with my pelvis. I’m too scared to be on the road anymore as I’m having flashbacks and my leg still isn’t healed fully. This has all taught my daughter that exercise is dangerous
The people who nearly run me over on a daily basis want new road safety campaigns?
Rule for thee and not for me.
I’d say we need some new road surfaces before we have any new road safety campaigns!
As a pedestrian, I’d also welcome a new road safety campaign which targets cyclists and their behaviour.
It is strange how they seemed to just disappear. I remember several of the road safety campaigns over the years (the king of the road hedgehogs, the creepy girl being hit at 30, the group with the pizza in the car) but haven’t seen one in a long time now. Probably due to not watching linear TV, but I don’t see why they shouldn’t do them on YouTube, etc.
How effective they were I’m unsure though to be fair.
And as every time, the cyclist haters are out.
This is the British version of “owning the libs” – running over a cyclist.
I cycled on normal public roads for over 30 years, had three minor accidents with cars during that time, one of those was my fault.
Did any of that put me off cycling? No, the weather did a lot towards that but the final straw was having a bike stolen for the fourth time, despite using good locks.
It won’t be in our lifetimes, but at least when every vehicle is autonomous , they’ll have to slow down and avoid cyclists.
There was a campaign, it was organised by the cycle lobby at the DfT (under Rupert Furness) and it was a colossal failure because it was intended to muddy the waters rather than give what is a very simple and clear message.
Include the cyclists in this, there are so many genuine idiots on two wheels as there are on four.
Bearing in mind how often cyclists go through red lights, veer across the road to turn right without indicating , ride on the pavement etc etc, it should be aimed at the cyclists as much as the car drivers…..
How about make cyclist get a license to use the roads. That would be a great start.
I doubt road safety campaigns will make a difference. Every time I went out with the Traffic section, I could go from job to job to job, excessive speed, no seat belt, driving on a mobile, driving whilst distracted, driving whilst impaired.
The majority of the country thinks they’re an above average driver, and they’ll pay little heed to safety campaigns.
A big problem is that cyclist in my opinion can’t safely co-exist with cars. They need separate infrastructure. They don’t mix particularly well with pedestrians either, and whilst it’s unlikely that a cycle vs pedestrian is going to end in death, it still hurts a lot.
But I think the biggest problem is lack of investment. We need cycling spaces. We need public transportation, and we need people to look at cycling and public transportation as the normal way to get to work.
At the same time, we have a minority part of the population whom cars are real enablers. They allow people to get out and about and do things, for people who cycling and public transportation aren’t an option for whatever reason. We can’t let them be abandoned
Yep, cyclists learn to share the road, problem solved.
The UK needs to retake it’s driving test every 5 years. There’s people still driving with their knees, eating, putting on makeup, looking at their phones every day. EVERY DAY!
The amount of accidents on the A55 is hourly in the terms of people getting into major accidents. It’s crazy! Every day someone is dying on that road.
And when you have an accident you should be banned for driving for life, not just a few months.
It’s actually scary how bad people are at driving. If you are worried you won’t pass a 30min test every 5 years you really shouldn’t be on the road.
Include the cyclists. Make it mandatory to use cycle lanes that are available.
The problem is unfortunately a severe lack of respect for people around us. Whether it’s a motorist to a cyclist, a cyclist to a pedestrian or whatever.
People have become far too selfish, rushed and stressed to share any actual compassion for anyone but themselves (not everyone but more than it used to be).
The issue with the UK is we tend to do everything as Mediocre as possible. We look at Amsterdam and how there are very few cars on its streets and try and implicate it in the UK.
We ignore that Amsterdam has a major motorway ring road around the city, part of which is around 17 lanes wide with through and local distributor lanes meaning cars literally do not have to go into the city of Amsterdam. Meanwhile, Bath, with absolutely no bypass (due to the greenies being against an A36-A46 link) decides to implement a Clean Air Zone severing the A36/A46 Southampton-M4 trunk road. As a result the only way around Bath’s CAZ is a couple of narrow B/Unclassified roads or a long detour around via the M27/A34/M4.
This inevitably annoys people who use the A36/A46 who would rather avoid Bath but literally can’t. Needless to say, people get annoyed at “anti-car” schemes because they have no choice to interact with them lest some newts be disturbed building a bypass around the city!
Cyclists (any age) need to be wearing helmets at all times and (adult ones) stick to the fkn road instead of hogging pavements to bypass traffic.
Flip footpaths to allow cycling unless signed no cycles. Instant safety and no more dealing with potholes and gully’s
The world had more problems than a cyclists wish list
1. Drive on the left of your not overtaking.
2. Don’t be nob
3. Cyclists think they need keep momentum and are shoutyr cunts.
Fify
I’ve cycled all sorts of roads in the UK and have had maybe a few times where a car has maybe been a bit too close to me. On my motorbike many
, many more times that on my pushbike. I honestly feel safer on a pushbike compared to a motorbike.
From my experience, people simply need to calm the feck down on the roads. A couple of seconds is not worth killing someone.
Equally, I’ve seen some horrific cyclists. People riding back from the pub drunk, not observing road traffic ahead of them (cars turning and they are on the inside and behind.) or just being aggressive with a multi tonne metal cage.