Sunday 23 October 2011

Sharing the road

We don't talk about it much at the DfT but...
Three days ago Df(mm)T have published advice on how to share the road (LTN1/11). Concentrating on high street environment, spots over-run by pedestrians could now be transformed.


There are many of those in Newcastle.


Shame the LTN does not mention much about cycling and how it may fit into the sharing streetscape equation. For the love of Places For People I cannot see how that omission could be a good thing. The bicycle is a prime part to civilising public space.


Retrograde brains of council engineers will now have to think for themselves. A thing not likely to happen. I can almost hear the scratching of heads.


Road user re-prioritisationI just wonder which locations Newcastle City Council will consider (suggestions on the right). We have learnt that our streets are haunted by ghosts so dangerous that our children cannot use the street environment (council's road safety initiative 'Ghost Street'). How does a sharing attitude sit comfortably with the council?


In Germany mutual traffic lights help to instill the road-sharing concept at controlled crossings: green lights indicate 'go' for ALL road users travelling in the same direction (walk, cycle, drive). As a driver you simply give way to the walking and cycling public when turning. A radical idea for car-centric UK: giving way, sharing... the road. And on uncontrolled crossings, Highway Code 170 gets frequently ignored by our car-driven friends. Sharing? Doesn't seem to 'come easy'.


What WAS the Df(mm)T's motivation of publishing this shared space document? Are they finally catching up with a 'Streets are for People' idea? Are they making a step towards getting their priorities right? 


Can we bid good-bye to our Land of Bollards and Failing Railings?


And, what will my council make of the LTN? Will they take up Df(mm)T's bitter-sweet offering? Have they got the will, skill and oomph to try something new, something different?


There are more questions than answers, as usual.

Thursday 20 October 2011

Who to blame


you own a car, not the road
You own a car, not the road.
Picture this.


Two-way residential street. 


You are cycling along. 


Car parked smack bang in your lane. 


Creating a pinch point. 


And pinch points are bad as you are in conflict with the driver behind and/or oncoming traffic.







Question: what happens next?


UK

Motorists will blame you as a cyclist for holding them up, and they may even reward you with bad and dangerous driving, speeding past at close distance, or speeding towards you to squeeze through.


Same scenario. But in a different country.

Germany

Motorists will blame the driver of the parking car for putting it in a silly place and reward the cyclist with patience.


Why? What makes people react so differently?


- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 


Without words
Great North Road, cycle lane, parked-in
For Newcastle folks. 


Writing this I am thinking of Ilford Road which is on my daily commute to work and shopping trips to the city centre. I cycle on Ilford Road a lot to avoid the dangerous Great North Road with its parked-up cycle lanes (left), land of bollards and 40mph 'sharing'.

Wednesday 19 October 2011

Hug a cabbie

Yesterday, Newcastle city centre, a taxi driver shimmied past me (dangerously), and I met him again at the next traffic light. (The usual.)

I pulled up next to the driver's window. As he wasn't indicating but I wanted to turn right, it was a call I made. His window was half-down.

Initiative: You drive me crazy
And I explained "If you could give me a wider berth, I'd feel safer, and I'd appreciate that. Besides you may have noticed it is particularly blustery today, and an even wider berth would be even more appreciated."


So far so good.


Cabbie's reply "Get a plate."


I "And just to let you know, you are parked in the bike box, which is reserved for bicycles only."


Cabbie's reply "Get a plate."


When he was pulling away, he turned left. No indicator. And I shouted after him "Your indicating would be appreciated also."


You gotta love them for their courtesy, professional driver's expertise and intimate knowledge of the Highway Code.


Hug a cabbie. 
I love cycling me

Friday 14 October 2011

The image of cycling

The UK is bizarre. A kettle of fish that refuses to swim. 

Please let me explain.

For a German observer, there are some strange myths living in the Brits’ heads concerning cycling! I have been in public debates and on radio programmes to talk about cycling, and what it usually boils down to is this:
1. you cyclists always jump red lights (answer: it makes sense in certain situations, it’s even legal in other countries, countries that work WITH cycling not against)

2. cycling on the pavement is dangerous to pedestrians (answer: nope, what is actually dangerous to pedestrians is cars, just look at the numbers, actually over a hundred people are killed by cars every year in safe spaces like pavements)

3. where’s your helmet? (answer: there’s no legal requirement to wear one, and why should there be? It’s treating a symptom not the cause.)

4. annoyance about cycling two abreast (answer: it’s ok, check out the Highway Code. Hint no. 66)

5. you don’t pay road tax (and what a lot of tosh that is, we all know www.ipayroadtax.com/)
Well, that us "telt" then.
My general answer: can we please talk about cycling!
Cycling as I know it.
The UK public is utterly misinformed. Boy, have we got a long way to go. Why aren’t we equally outraged by pedestrians crossing red lights? Or drivers breaking the speed limit or parking their car inconsiderately? These things are going on, are widespread, and can pose real problems to real people.
Clearly it is because cycling isn’t normalised. Cycling is the odd one out amongst the travel modes, and not many people do it. Pedestrians and drivers are somewhat ‘panicked’ by cyclists. They feel threatened and do not understand cyclists.
Photo Cycling in the UK. Always the odd one out. A stripy tiger.

Cycling is a minority – seen as weird, laughed at, scalded, discriminated against – and hence pushed around, not accepted on the pavement, not wanted on the roads – resulting in no space to go and no-where to be wanted or welcomed. A recent report “Understanding walking and cycling” shows exactly that. It’s why people don’t cycle: it’s odd, it’s what kids do. But more people cycling, makes cycling safer…
The debate must move on from these small distracting discussions about what cyclists should or shouldn't do to why cyclists do these things in the first instance, and what society can gain from cycling. 
So…
What can cycle campaigns do? In Newcastle we have asked the council to organise a city-wide Road Users Debate to discuss the future of our public space (it’s actually listed in our campaign priorities newcycling.org/how.html. We hope this would bring about a better understanding, respect and tolerance between all public space users (i.e. everyone). We hope that what emerges from that big debate is the realisation that cycling has so much to give to society, is an intricate part of society (if we let it), we should have more of it, and yes, we must give space to it too.
Photo Newcastle Quayside. Temporary works compounds takes away walking and cycling space and compromising visibility and safety on the junction. Should have been sited on car parking spaces.


Our politicians must understand that providing and designing for cycling is investing in societal fairness.
Public space must be delineated to include cycling. Better clarity on space should help all of us whether walking, cycling and driving. And conflict and danger must be removed.
And yes, a few in society are misbehaving. But frankly, I’d rather have a collision with a badly steered bike than a dangerously driven car. Why? Because the possible outcomes are very very different indeed.
Really, from a legal point of view: cycling is a minority that gets bullied about and should fall under the Equality Act 2010.
Here’s a few cycle-friendly solutions from my hometown. It is all part of the design mix, it all works, it's all in the toolbox of cycling provision www.flickr.com/photos/katsdekker/5259834335/in/set-721576.
I am eager to see the big debate to start: how to mainstream cycling into UK society so that it's a positive part of the national psyche.
Photo. Hiviz tabard, spotted in German bike shop: “Cycleway missing!”




We have a long way ahead of us and a lot of bridges, eh cycleways, to build!
Kat,
Cycling in and around Newcastle