London - Would you commute by bike?

[TheGreenRabbit]

Yes

 

[mattr]

I suppose as an outsider looking in, the recent fatalities make cycling in London look like for too much of a risk, but posts like this put it back in perspective a little.

TBH, with the sheer volume of cycling traffic in London, its STILL not a very high risk activity in terms of the statistics. Unfortunately, people are still being killed.

 

[David B]

Trafalgar Square was still terrible though, just not built for cyclists at all.

Technically, much of central London simply isn't built for cars (or lorries/buses).
It's evolved around feet, then horse and cart, by the time the car came on the scene, most of the roads and buildings were there. So everything they've done since is to try and modify and make do so you can fit however many tens of thousands of cars, lorries and buses into a system designed for pedestrians and 5 foot wide 2 horse carts, that would top out at 8-10mph.

The same is true of many urban areas in the UK, except for those New Towns where things went to the other extreme and anything without an engine came off a very poor second*. Where I live (Winchester) is not only very hilly, but also a very old city pre-dating the car by many, many years. The result is that rush-hour is inevitably a pain, even by bike much of the time - the one-way system in the centre would put a Scalextric set to shame, whilst there's a hodge-podge of a bypass/outer ring road system which only serves to funnel traffic from Romsey, the M3, and the A34 on to congested suburban roads. At least much of the through traffic proper is taken well clear of the city centre by the motorway itself.

David

*For a good example, read Tim Moore (of French Revolutions fame) describing his attempts to negotiate the centre of Cumbernauld on foot in his recent book You Are Awful (But I Like You).

 

[lumos2000]

I would, id like to think I have plenty of experience cycling to keep out of trouble, would I let my daughter or less experienced wife. no bloody way!

 

[argonsixar]

Is there a link to the recent change of clocks and onset of darker nights ? I do see cyclists in dark clothing around town who don't seem to realise that you need to brighten up at this time of year.

 

[M-Power]

Is there a link to the recent change of clocks and onset of darker nights ? I do see cyclists in dark clothing around town who don't seem to realise that you need to brighten up at this time of year.

That's why I'm surprised, these days it seems every cyclist is in fluoro yellow gear, so the can be seen. Bitd not many riders wore such bright clothes apart from when in full Lycra pose mode.

I'm a big believer in riding with some 'attitude' make other drivers drive around or overtake you properly, like they would a car. If you ride timid weaving around in the gutter, they will get too close or worse.

 

[stevec1975]

Yep, I ride a 32 mile round trip daily from Essex into EC2, going through the notorious Bow Flyover/Roundabout area and along the CS2.

Been doing this for c. 7 years, had one accident (Into the Back of a Taxi, breaking the rear window, probably my fault)

Still amazes me some of the cyclists wearing headphones/no helmets and/or inexperienced cyclists wobbling all over the shop in front of HGV's/Buses. Scary.

The new CS2 route with segmented lanes is not the answer either (but don't know what is!)

 

[tintin40]

i gave up cycling in London 2 years. Just to unsafe.

 

[secret_squirrel]

I do it 4 times a week. One accident with a pedestrian on a segregated cycle path in Bloomsbury a few scares with cars but no injuries thank god.

Im going to be a little controversial here and suggest that at least some of those accidents were down to inexperience or naivity or plain stupidity on the part of the cyclists. Even on junctions with full lefthand cycle lanes and the dedicated stop space at the front its still very easy to hit the lights at the just the wrong time and find yourself caught with nowhere to go on a large vehicle turning left. You do need to realise that just sometimes discretion is the better part of valour and to hang back or break right around them. Even with hi-vis clothes and lights you present a tiny cross section to be seen in a mirror - especially approaching a junction at 10-15 mph. You can literally be on a lorry in seconds and the driver blink, not see you and kill you.

There are riders I see every day taking their lives in their hands in London - red light jumpers across A roads, black clothing & no lights past 4pm, fashionistas on singles with 1 brake, the aforementioned left hand lane sneak attack, mobile phone & headphone users - all increase your chances of a very nasty accident - and bike + lorry = dead.

 

[Johnsqual]

Maybe lorries should all be made to carry a sign saying 'Cyclists do not overtake on left' or 'Cyclists keep your distance' or some such (not to say that doing so should make them immune from liability of course...).