recumbentpanda said:
I am increasingly thinking there needs to be a national campaign directed at motorists -who would finance it I don't know!
Wholeheartedly agree and I think it should begin with basic highway code stuff, the myth of 'road tax' and who pays for the roads. Anyone who's had an altercation with a driver, read an internet message board or had a conversation with a non-cyclist, knows how little is known about the rights and wrongs of things. Maybe a series of national adverts:-
Cyclists - where they are allowed to cycle
Cyclists - what laws apply to them
Cyclists - why they position themselves in certain ways
General - what constitutes a vehicle and what is a vehicle excise licence
General - where the money comes from to pay for the roads and how much is for motorways only
General - fuel duty - we all pay it, motorists on petrol and cyclists on the food they consume to enable cycling
I can't see how this wouldn't reduce the amount, or at least the nature, of conflict. It would be bliss not to have to have the arguments about where I can cycle and tax.
As for how it would be funded - I can see arguments for CTC money, lottery money, donations and use of the existing H&S budgets.