Totally agree (as a regular e-cyclist using Lime) that far more respect for pedestrians is needed.
E-bikes have revolutionised transport and it is genuinely brilliant for your mental health to be able to ride around London. But annoying to see some selfish people ignore pedestrian crossings.
But, the far - far - bigger issue for London in the last five years has been the rise of super-sized SUVs. They have proliferated and are a) lethal b) cause congestion, often blocking buses by their sheer bulk and c) often driven dangerously and selfishly (perhaps by the same guys who run red lights on their bikes). The SUV problem really needs addressing, or London is facing gridlock coupled with rising road deaths.
Having spent time in many northern European countries with a stronger cycling culture than ours, I noticed that they largely don’t have this problem.
Where a much larger proportion of the population feel able to use bikes, the boy racers do not dominate.
Unfortunately London is not a family friendly city.
So while I strongly support better policing of cyclists and better provision of facilities, I don’t have confidence these will be sufficient to solve the problem.
Incidentally, a nationwide 100% tax on aerosol paint should be used to create a fund for rapid graffiti removal teams. The UK could really lead on this, before it becomes as bad as elsewhere in Europe.
I really like On London - really good insightful journalism that genuinely seems to come from wanting to improve what is already a great place to live. But…Dave you really have a bee in your bonnet about so called boy racers on bikes. I’m 57 and a woman. I ride a bike and the improving infrastructure is one of the reasons that unlike lots of my friends I still ride. But it’s the cars that scare me almost daily and it’s the cars I really have to be aware could kill me. I agree that the Lycra louts are a problem, as are the Uber eats and deliveroo cyclists on illegal modified e-bikes and lime cyclists who don’t follow the rules and are often inexperienced cyclists who are most a danger to themselves. All of this needs addressing. We need to treat each other with courtesy whatever our mode of transport but to be honest when you write like this as you have a few times now it feels like more fuel for the culture wars
Totally agree (as a regular e-cyclist using Lime) that far more respect for pedestrians is needed.
E-bikes have revolutionised transport and it is genuinely brilliant for your mental health to be able to ride around London. But annoying to see some selfish people ignore pedestrian crossings.
But, the far - far - bigger issue for London in the last five years has been the rise of super-sized SUVs. They have proliferated and are a) lethal b) cause congestion, often blocking buses by their sheer bulk and c) often driven dangerously and selfishly (perhaps by the same guys who run red lights on their bikes). The SUV problem really needs addressing, or London is facing gridlock coupled with rising road deaths.
Having spent time in many northern European countries with a stronger cycling culture than ours, I noticed that they largely don’t have this problem.
Where a much larger proportion of the population feel able to use bikes, the boy racers do not dominate.
Unfortunately London is not a family friendly city.
So while I strongly support better policing of cyclists and better provision of facilities, I don’t have confidence these will be sufficient to solve the problem.
Incidentally, a nationwide 100% tax on aerosol paint should be used to create a fund for rapid graffiti removal teams. The UK could really lead on this, before it becomes as bad as elsewhere in Europe.
I really like On London - really good insightful journalism that genuinely seems to come from wanting to improve what is already a great place to live. But…Dave you really have a bee in your bonnet about so called boy racers on bikes. I’m 57 and a woman. I ride a bike and the improving infrastructure is one of the reasons that unlike lots of my friends I still ride. But it’s the cars that scare me almost daily and it’s the cars I really have to be aware could kill me. I agree that the Lycra louts are a problem, as are the Uber eats and deliveroo cyclists on illegal modified e-bikes and lime cyclists who don’t follow the rules and are often inexperienced cyclists who are most a danger to themselves. All of this needs addressing. We need to treat each other with courtesy whatever our mode of transport but to be honest when you write like this as you have a few times now it feels like more fuel for the culture wars