Ministers want 60% of children walking or cycling to school by 2035

[Badger_Boom]

I see this in different situations: you end up with a sort of natural selection where the entitled drivers who ignore the rules are by definition are aggressive and dangerous.

As an aside, I bet the teachers could tell you which parents act this way without ever meeting them...

I discovered the correlation between rule ignoring and punchiness when I dared to criticise a parent's pavement parking last year.

 

[Electric_Andy]

cycle lanes would - I think - probably speed up cars a bit

Oh I agree - it's not the cyclists fault that cars have to wait for a safe opportunity to over-take. If they had their own bit of road 1.5M+ away from cars, it would be fine. I could also say the same about buses, but the difference is that buses can't be killed if a driver runs into them

 

[Electric_Andy]

Actually we do not want them speeding up. We want them slowing down, paying attention, and driving in a safe competent manner.

Just speaking for myself. I don't think speeding up is what is required; I'd be happy doing 20mph all the way without stopping. it's the stop/start that really grates on me whilst in a car, all the time thinking "I'm cooking my clutch, I'm wrecking my starter motor, I'm idling and wasting fuel" etc. A free-flowing 20mph with only the occasional pause for a roundabout would be ideal

 

[Drago]

I discovered the correlation between rule ignoring and punchiness when I dared to criticise a parent's pavement parking last year.

Id have ripped their arm off, stuck it up their arris, and paraded them up the road like a giant lollipop while I made them repeat "I am not as high up the foot chain as I thought I was."

Sometimes I really would like someone to have a go, but being a bit of a unit cowards tend to pucker up rather than take a swing.

 

[PaulSB]

Just speaking for myself. I don't think speeding up is what is required; I'd be happy doing 20mph all the way without stopping. it's the stop/start that really grates on me whilst in a car, all the time thinking "I'm cooking my clutch, I'm wrecking my starter motor, I'm idling and wasting fuel" etc. A free-flowing 20mph with only the occasional pause for a roundabout would be ideal

I agree and believe the efficiency of this would immensely improve traffic flow. One only has to observe how well the majority of drivers behave in average speed check zones or speed controlled zones on motorways and major roads.

Slowing everyone reduces the heavy braking that speed creates and with a steady traffic flow the butterfly effect is smoothed out. Slower is often quicker, not faster but quicker.

 

[nogoodnamesleft]

I agree and believe the efficiency of this would immensely improve traffic flow. One only has to observe how well the majority of drivers behave in average speed check zones or speed controlled zones on motorways and major roads.

Slowing everyone reduces the heavy braking that speed creates and with a steady traffic flow the butterfly effect is smoothed out. Slower is often quicker, not faster but quicker.

And whilst safety is of prime concern, I also think it's useful to try and break or reduce the (not uncommon) driver attitude once behind the wheel that "must get there fast, time is important ...". Improved flow, less pollution, less wear on roads, less stress on drivers, etc.

Without wanting to stray into aspects best discussed "in the other place", I think society would benefit from fewer people using cars less often.

 

[Drago]

Does the transport minister walk their kids to school, or do they trot out the excuses?

 

[kynikos]

...Maybe 0% VAT rate on all cycle products/work. And of course some will make unneeded use buying vastly expensive carbon bikes, but at least they'll be out riding them. Main thing is a small increase in profit for the suppliers 20% price reduction will make buying a bike for themselves or children easier, putting that unused bike back into service more likely, etc.

FTFY!

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Does the transport minister walk their kids to school, or do they trot out the excuses?

Most will trot out an excuse. Starting with “Well, we did not send our kids to a local school…”

 

[nogoodnamesleft]

Maybe 0% VAT rate on all cycle products/work. And of course some will make unneeded use buying vastly expensive carbon bikes, but at least they'll be out riding them. Main thing is a small increase in profit for the suppliers 20% price reduction will make buying a bike for themselves or children easier, putting that unused bike back into service more likely, etc.

FTFY!

I think it's complex. Podcast few months back said how research shows the specific narrow VAT reductions are not passed on to the consumer as well as broader scoped reductions.

Research in Germany and University of Oxford suggests that temporary VAT reductions are initially passed on to customers (in Germany research showed 70% of reduction passed on) but that then gradually prices creep back up.Northern Ireland found same. In 202 Germany

The reduction of VAT rates led to a price decrease of roughly 1.3%, implying that about 70% of the tax cut were passed on to consumers.

etc.

 

[Andy in Germany]

The attitude is all wrong

"They" try to promote cycling
but the people implementing it try to save money

so we end up with just a line on a road
or a magnificent wide shared path
which means you have to stop every 100m for a road joining
and no clear signs showing where the things ends and how you get to it

I think part of the problem is that in the UK local governments are terrified of upsetting motorists. (Un)fortunately the evidence is that it is a zero-sum game: you can't make life better for cyclists and pedestrians (ie: everyone not in a car) without taking some space or convenience away from motorists, and if you make roads faster or wider, it makes life intolerable for everyone else.

The UK is so car-centric that it's going to be very hard for timid politicians to actually stand up and do anything effective, because that will be met with howls from motorists who claim that having a 20 mph speed limit in an urban area is an attack on the liberties of the natural born Englishman, and probably the the Magna Carta.

 

[raleighnut]

When I was at school in the 60's-70's we all walked (or cycled) there up until age 11 when we went to Brockington High School as did the kids from surrounding villages (Croft, Huncote. Thurlaston, Narborough. Littlethorpe and Cosby) these came by chartered Coaches. Then at 14 we all went to Lutterworth Grammar School which had a massive catchment area again transported by chartered Coaches. Main difference being whilst Brockington had about 8 coaches Lutterworth had 60 or more.

 

[Oldhippy]

I remember driving on the north and south circular in London years ago and it was very much death race 2000. You saw a space and it was everyone for themselves. I drove a hiee van recently onths same roads at 20 and it all moved, plenty of reaction time, no punching up and always moving. So much better. Still too many cars doing short and pointless journeys I'm sure when London has a great public transport system mostly.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Still too many cars doing short and pointless journeys I'm sure when London has a great public transport system mostly.

You would be surprised at number of people trying to drive in central London. You pass loads of them as you cycle along the super highways.

 

[Badger_Boom]

Id have ripped their arm off, stuck it up their arris, and paraded them up the road like a giant lollipop while I made them repeat "I am not as high up the foot chain as I thought I was."

Sometimes I really would like someone to have a go, but being a bit of a unit cowards tend to pucker up rather than take a swing.

I posted an account of my exchange here. She looked and sounded like I would have been beaten to a pulp.