Cyclists again....

[markjay]

I believe it was Boris Johnson who suggested that cyclists should be allowed to cycle down one-way streets against traffic.

A near-miss today me made realise what a dangerous idea this is...

A cyclist came across my path today, and initially it seemed that he simply jumped a red light (as many cyclists often do - in London anyway). But only after negotiating my way (safely) around him, it dawned on me - he was coming out of a one-way street (going in the wrong direction, obviously...), and even though he was driving into a junction with traffic lights, for him there were no traffic lights... because when you come-out of the one-way street going in the wrong direction, there is no traffic light that you can actually see.

That was a near-miss, because the road I was on was a main road, and he came out of an small street right into the main junction without a clue what the traffic light was showing...

Oh well, another near miss. Hopefully this idea won't catch on.

 

[moonloops]

Darwin will sort them out eventually

 

[Honey Bear]

personally I think cyclists should be licenced. Or at least give them number plates.

I believe there was a trail in Eurpe (Switzerland and Portugal - that I know of) where cyclists with number plates had discounts for their motor insurance. My cousin quickly shopped for Bentley for the weekends and decided to get rid of his daily commuter because of this.

So far he has had one fine for not dismounting on a pavement. All because of the number plate.

 

[markjay]

Licensing bicycles won't work, because it will involve some sort of fee, and will open the door to further punitive costs such as road tax, compulsory insurance, etc etc..... not to mention potential law suits and insurance claims by pedestrians and motorist that suffered injury or damage by cyclists (which currently can simply pedal away from the scene under cover of the impunity granted to them by their anonymity).

Cycling will then become prohibitively expensive... once you take into account all those Penalty Charge Notices that cyclists currently evade...

The current climate is pro-cyclists in the extreme, due to it being green / healthy / reducing congestion etc. So anything that makes life more difficult or expensive for cyclists will simply not happen.

In fact, HMRC recently broke one of it most sacred rules - i.e. that you can't claim expenses for travel to or from a fixed place of work. Under a new scheme, employers can buy tax-free bicycles and related safety equipment for employees for the sole purpose of travelling to and from their place of work... and this is a first for HMRC.

 

[trapperjohn]

Good point markjay. No one at our place of work moved from driving a car to work to riding a bike to work.
Plenty got new push bikes and safety eqpt but no one changed their commuting habits.
Guess where all the bikes were made??

 

[markjay]

Well i did look into this scheme, and in my opinion the scheme has been abused by (some of) the retailers that participated in it.

One of the guys came back with a quote for £250 for 'Commuter Bike' (they start at £109 at Halfords...) and £49 for Hi-Viz Jacket (I buy them for under £5 ...). So it does seem that those participating in the scheme are having a field day... no wonder it hasn't been taken up.

 

[Palfrem]

I wonder if this scheme is due for the chop under our new rulers austerity measures

 

[6pot]

Im a cyclist and this guy sounds like a tool.