“Poll after poll has shown that the biggest reason for people not wanting to cycle is perceived danger. And anyone who has dared to ride a bike on unprotected roads will soon discover that a large part of this danger comes from pure illegality, not least the vast proportion of drivers who speed, especially on residential roads.
This neatly leads us to the other factor highlighted by the report, and its reaction to it: the howls of outrage if people politely suggest that people could perhaps be less of a danger to others when they drive.
Before the report’s launch, the only one of 10 recommendations highlighted in the media was the idea of removing the so-called tolerances in speeding offences, whereby you can currently go about 10% plus 2mph above a limit and not be penalised.”
The link to the parliamentary group report (.pdf file) is here.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Talking in public for the first time about the death of his mother, Carol, who was run over in 2016 while cycling in north Wales by a pickup truck driver who had just been on the phone, Boardman recounted his dash to the hospital in Chester from France on learning the news.
Compiled by the all-party parliamentary group on walking and cycling, the report contains 10 recommendations, which while considered and relatively modest, could have a transformative effect if implemented.
In which other area of life, I asked, would an activity that on an average day kills five people and seriously injures more than 80 be treated as normal, with attempts to curb this toll seen as nanny state interventionism?
Just before Boardman spoke, Yair Shahar, a London-based father of three, quietly set out how a driver pulling out from a side road rode directly over him and his bike.
One of the recommendations included in the report is to greatly curb the ability of repeat speeders who keep their licence even after amassing 12 points by claiming “exceptional hardship”.
This is a long-term structural issue, and even though the current justice secretary, Alex Chalk, is a former co-chair of the all-party cycling group, no one is holding their breath for immediate action.
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