Lives saved by allowing motorbikes to use bus lanes

[nino_savatte]

which borough?

Hammersmith & Fulham. Believe me, the cycling facilities here are shite. The council's own website talks of how it "created the first contraflow cycle lane in 1983". The council is resting on its laurels somewhat.

 

[Boycey]

Ladies and gentlmen - this is my first post so please don't be too harsh with your retorts...

First off, I am a motorbike rider of 5 years standing and a car driver of over 10 years. I have used the A23 Streaham/Brixton bus lanes for many years and apart from the ridiculously adverse camber I have found them to be much safer as they keep me away from the d*ckhead drivers that seem to frequent that part of town and indeed the whole of London (read 'cabbies')

I really wish the 'cycling community' would stop their bleating about the danger posed by allowing motorbikes to use bus lanes in the capital.
I pay a road tax fee each year - cyclists pay nothing. So to brand motorbike riders - who are also vulnerable two-wheelers lest we forget - as wreckless speed freaks is unfair. How can I be more of a danger to them than a 11 ton double decker bus?

In my experience cyclists are the danger in the bus lanes as they rarely, if ever, check over their shoulders before swerving in front of the rest of us. And don't get me started on the way they run red lights......

I am all up for sharing the bs lanes with our peddal powered friends but they also need to be aware of the danger they cause to us on motorbikes with their careless abandon of traffic regulations and etiquette.

Thank you for listening, viewers.

so motorbikers and regular drivers are fine (you are in both of these groups after all) but cyclists (or the "cyclist community" ), cabbies and buses are the real problem.

you muppet.

this has been gone through countless times on countless forums and quite frankly i can't be arsed anymore. i get on with car drivers, cyclists, bus drivers, cabbies and HGV drivers- obviously plenty are twats and some just want an enemy to hate and blame all the problems on groups they don't belong to. unfortunately an all too human trait.

 

[citydreams]

What do you mean by 'saturation' - are London's roads not already saturated by oil powered vehicles? Can you post the link for that study?

Have 'KSI' accidents increased faster than uptake of cycling in London?

Sorry, there is no link for the study afaik. Could get you a copy if pester me for it. Saturation means that, for example, a junction is so full that 'blocking back' occurs. i.e gridlock

TfL don't really know what is going on with cycling rates in London. They know it is increasing, but different measure show it increasing at different rates. What I meant was that the number of being killed or seriosly injured has doubled in ten years. TfL also know that the probability of being KSI conditional on being in an accident is increasing - so not only are you more likely to be in an accident, but you're more likely to be seriously injured.

Cycling is a bit of a difficult policy within TfL at the moment as there are so many divisions with a stake in any findings. So much so, that one part of TfL has successfully managed to refuse releasing survey data to another part of TfL.

 

[Biddlybee]

Have you got a receipt for this road tax of yours?

*snigger*

 

[fredfelt]

Sorry, there is no link for the study afaik. Could get you a copy if pester me for it. Saturation means that, for example, a junction is so full that 'blocking back' occurs. i.e gridlock

TfL don't really know what is going on with cycling rates in London. They know it is increasing, but different measure show it increasing at different rates. What I meant was that the number of being killed or seriosly injured has doubled in ten years. TfL also know that the probability of being KSI conditional on being in an accident is increasing - so not only are you more likely to be in an accident, but you're more likely to be seriously injured.

Cycling is a bit of a difficult policy within TfL at the moment as there are so many divisions with a stake in any findings. So much so, that one part of TfL has successfully managed to refuse releasing survey data to another part of TfL.

That's what I thought you/the report meant by saturation. Seems a bit short sighted to me though. Getting people out of cars and onto bikes can only reduce congestion. The only traffic jams I've been in have been due to cars - not bikes!

Also the last thing I read about cycling safety in London that number of journeys had almost doubled recently, with only a small rise in accidents so per head it's actually much safer. This seems very different to what you report.

Anyway I'm even boring myself here, and going off topic

 

[Wolveryeti]

I pay a road tax fee each year - cyclists pay nothing.

You are quite wrong. They actually probably subsidise your road use. The road tax paid by road users is about a fifth of what the road system costs to maintain.

 

[christonabike]

Cyclists do not need permission/tax to go on the roads

Pedestrians also use roads sometimes, and they pay no "pedestrian road tax" either

 

[citydreams]

That's what I thought you/the report meant by saturation. Seems a bit short sighted to me though. Getting people out of cars and onto bikes can only reduce congestion. The only traffic jams I've been in have been due to cars - not bikes!

The problem is that there is a larger likelihood of getting people out of public transport than cars into cycling, so the effect on traffic could be detrimental.

Also the last thing I read about cycling safety in London that number of journeys had almost doubled recently, with only a small rise in accidents so per head it's actually much safer. This seems very different to what you report.

Where did you read that?

These new findings are a bit controversial.. Especially as the Mayor wants to "do so much more to encourage cycling" (Way To Go document)

Anyway I'm even boring myself here, and going off topic

Not sure that it's off topic. Motorbikes in bus lanes fundamentally alters the way that Tfl must analyse safety numbers.

 

[Biddlybee]

Cyclists do not need permission/tax to go on the roads

Pedestrians also use roads sometimes, and they pay no "pedestrian road tax" either

no-one pays road tax in UK

 

[liberty]

I don't see why cyclists would have a problem with sharing the bus lane with motorbikes

If anything, it's buses themselves and taxis they should be extra careful of.

I 100% agree

 

[chegrimandi]

I'm always checking behind me for mad taxi drivers & buses anyway so the motorbike checking is no different. The only potential problem is swerving to avoid a pothole at the same time as a motorbike overtaking you might be nasty. But the key to avoiding that is swerve to the other side of the pothole or check first or if neither of those are possible just hit the pothole - annoying but better than being dead I guess.

 

[Hocus Eye.]

I'm always checking behind me for mad taxi drivers & buses anyway so the motorbike checking is no different. The only potential problem is swerving to avoid a pothole at the same time as a motorbike overtaking you might be nasty. But the key to avoiding that is swerve to the other side of the pothole or check first or if neither of those are possible just hit the pothole - annoying but better than being dead I guess.

That is no different than having a pothole in any road with a passing motorbike. You are high up enough on a bicycle to see a pothole ahead of you and to signal before moving out or to slow down for the motorcycle to pass you earlier. (Unless the pothole is disguised as a shallow puddle - voice of experience)

 

[newbie]

Originally Posted by MQT Question No: 2703 / 2008
TfL spending on cycling in London is increasing. For example, in 2005/6, TfL spent £21.7M on cycling. This rose to £28.9M in 2006/07 and £35.1M in 2007/08. TfL expects to spend £44.8M in 2008/9 and £111.3M in 2009/10.

that's a lot of money, what's it to be spent on?

 

[Termite Man]

I've not had a problem with motorbikes in a bus lane yet ( although my journey has about 400m from a journey of 5 miles of bus lane in total ) . I'd be interested to know how the accidents to motorcyclists occur and how this will prevent those accidents/deaths because the only thing I can think that would cause this problem is motorbikes overtaking traffic an colliding with a car coming the other way , which IMO is the fault of the motorcylist for riding in an unsafe manner !

 

[HackneyE9]

that's a lot of money, what's it to be spent on?

That's presumably when Boris brings in his half-arsed version of Paris' Velib scheme.

Just with nowhere near enough bikes or stations.

 

[smmudge]

I'd be interested to know how the accidents to motorcyclists occur and how this will prevent those accidents/deaths because the only thing I can think that would cause this problem is motorbikes overtaking traffic an colliding with a car coming the other way , which IMO is the fault of the motorcylist for riding in an unsafe manner !

I think the main problem is car drivers deciding to turn right without looking behind and without signalling.

Hammersmith & Fulham. Believe me, the cycling facilities here are shite. The council's own website talks of how it "created the first contraflow cycle lane in 1983". The council is resting on its laurels somewhat.

The one on King Street? It would be great if only all cyclists could understand the concept of CONTRAFLOW

 

[Termite Man]

I think the main problem is car drivers deciding to turn right without looking behind and without signalling.

That would make sense . Bloody car drivers

 

[CorkieMagic]

Would seem I dropped a bit of a clanger and caused a bit of a stir during my first foray into the world of discussion boards.

I accept that I generalised somewhat but I do have a bad habit of doing this sometimes - so sorry for any offence caused! Will try and be more specific in future!

Friends?