Because working with the Toreeees is always evil - except when the SNP do it.....
I'm not a Green/SNP ultra but this is a complete disaster for those of us who engage in the extreme sport "cycling about in Edinburgh".
The Tories are rabidly pro-driver here. It's honestly impossible to find a reason to vote for the neanderthals either on a national or local basis - everything is a culture war. I think they associate bikes with wokeists.
I am no fan of the democratic abomination where a tiny group of 13 Labour councillors can control a council comprised of 63 elected members, but in what respect is the new Labour minority administration “a complete disaster” for cyclists? I got the impression that Scottish Labour is quite pro-cycling? Or are the Edinburgh Labourites uncharacteristically pro-car?
(Incidentally, the centre-right are very pro-cycling in many European countries, so the hostility of the ones on the big island is a bit of a mystery. Surely we ought to be encouraging healthy and cheap activities? Makes our cities cleaner and more pleasant to live in. Reduces heart-lung and obesity catastrophe. Is fun!! Or ought to be…)
If they could ban cyclists in Edinburgh it would considerably increase my safety and life expectancy and that of all other pedestrians.
Seems unlikely.
'Of around 400 pedestrians killed in collisions in the UK each year, about 2.5 involve a bicycle. Put it another way: more than 99% of pedestrian collision deaths in this country involve a motorised vehicle.'
As you push them back into their cars you many well be increasing your own risk.
It is astonishing to witness the media prominence given to (relatively rare) rail, maritime and aviation loss of life and life-changing disability injuries whereas the literally daily carnage caused by motor vehicles gets a brief mention on page 32, if you’re lucky.
Yes. IMO most anti cyclist sentiment is derived from selection bias. A cyclist ignore the highway code it is remembered and anecdotes are created as they are the other. A motorist breaks the code its not remarkable just something that happens as they are in group.
I've always felt that cycling on Britain's roads is the closest to active discrimination I can get in the UK. The power dynamic is huge and you're entirely at the whim of what feels to be a capricious often actively malicious percentage of road users.
The majority of drivers are lovely and courteous, 5% are ignorant and 1% are bastards.
I can't remember the last time I saw a car run a red light. Cyclists? All the bloody time.
I'm not saying that cyclists are brilliant. For sure the type of transport dictates which rule breaking is more common. Just that inconsiderate driving will not be remembered to the extant that cycling will.
Do you really remember the driver that cut you up on the roundabout? Or was doing 100+ on the motorway? Or ignored the zebra crossing you were waiting at?
Cyclists going through red lights is like motorists doing 80 on the motorway. It's illegal but whether it is really wrong or not depends on the context. Sometimes it is totally fine, other times it is bloody stupid and dangerous.
We haven’t discussed the very minor brouhaha about M&S pulling out of town centres in favour of out-of-town malls.
Blame anti-parking local governments.
Not seen it but am reminded of this:-
A much bigger blow for the women was the recent closure of Marks & Spencer. ‘There’s nothing nice here any more,’ ‘Nowhere to get something special – nowhere for presents,’ ‘Nowhere with good-quality things – nice knickers.’ I was struck by the powerful impact of the loss of M&S as the pollster Peter Kellner had sent me an interesting article a few months before, pointing out how M&S store closures in small towns could be mapped closely to the Brexit-voting seats that Labour lost. He suggested that we might think of M&S as the canary in the mine, an early prediction of future demise in towns that have lost their sense of purpose. Beyond the Red Wall. Deborah Mattinson.
M&S is one of the best things about the UK, and so I think Kellner’s analysis is very savvy.
I find the issue interesting as Britain really really should try to avoid the US model of dead town and nearby strip mall.
Is it though? You sound like some Brexit voters with their nostalgia glasses on all the time. M&S has been troubled for a long time now, failure to modernise and move with the times.
If you were to pick a store, John Lewis seems much more the "best of British" values. Great service, fair deal for the workers, high quality products while not ripping you off on price.
But that model is also been stretched now.
The model of Marks & Spencer closures as a sign of a town's decline can probably be extended to all major shops, including Debenhams, Waitrose and, as you say, John Lewis. It is part of the hollowing out of left-behind towns. As I suggested the other day, this might also be why HMG wants to end WFH in order to reinvigorate the high street as part of "levelling up".
Shopping in small towns is so poor though. The only decent small towns for this are the posh places with interesting independent stores, other than that it is either online or destination shopping. Even things like clothes have gone online, with lots of returns if you don't like it when tried on.
Cyclists seem uniquely aggressive in the UK. I suspect it’s because we’re not a very bicycle-friendly nation (as polls show) so cyclists feel they have to fight for the right to be on the road. This creates a vicious, er, cycle - where others perceive them as aggressive so the tension worsens
I’ve nearly been run over by several in Regent’s Park - whizzing through red lights at speed - not giving a fuck - even though multiple kids cross ti get into the park. Wankers
Other countries don’t seem to have this pestilence of super-charged twats going as fast as they can within city centres
As a recent convert to cycle commuting I think that one issue is that it still feels fairly unsafe cycling on the road, and this discourages more risk averse or less confident cyclists from using the roads. This means that a high proportion of cyclists are aggressive risk taking types, and their behaviour then sets the norm. So for instance, generally speaking I don't cycle through red lights, but I do sometimes eg when there are no other road users or pedestrians crossing, especially if it's just a left turn. If everyone else is doing it too you feel a bit stupid waiting there, it is much easier and often safer just to go with the flow and do what everyone else is doing. My general philosophy of road usage as a cyclist and a driver is to pay most attention to those more vulnerable than you. For a cyclist that means pedestrians, and for a motorist that means cyclists.
Would you go through that red light in your car, if there was no-one around? How’s about if your bike had a number plate?
They called me crazy when I predicted Labour being very firmly ahead.
That is my next crazy prediction
They only got 16.8% in 97, and Davey is no Ashdown.
True, but I don't remember Paddy having that high a profile, I thought it was wall-to-wall Tony Blair and Major's-foot-in-mouth gaffs. I remember on Election97 results programme on BBC fully expecting the Libdems to barely maintain their 20 achieved in 1992. The avalanche of libdem seats (an extra 26) were a total surprise to me.
Cyclists seem uniquely aggressive in the UK. I suspect it’s because we’re not a very bicycle-friendly nation (as polls show) so cyclists feel they have to fight for the right to be on the road. This creates a vicious, er, cycle - where others perceive them as aggressive so the tension worsens
I’ve nearly been run over by several in Regent’s Park - whizzing through red lights at speed - not giving a fuck - even though multiple kids cross ti get into the park. Wankers
Other countries don’t seem to have this pestilence of super-charged twats going as fast as they can within city centres
As a recent convert to cycle commuting I think that one issue is that it still feels fairly unsafe cycling on the road, and this discourages more risk averse or less confident cyclists from using the roads. This means that a high proportion of cyclists are aggressive risk taking types, and their behaviour then sets the norm. So for instance, generally speaking I don't cycle through red lights, but I do sometimes eg when there are no other road users or pedestrians crossing, especially if it's just a left turn. If everyone else is doing it too you feel a bit stupid waiting there, it is much easier and often safer just to go with the flow and do what everyone else is doing. My general philosophy of road usage as a cyclist and a driver is to pay most attention to those more vulnerable than you. For a cyclist that means pedestrians, and for a motorist that means cyclists.
Would you go through that red light in your car, if there was no-one around? How’s about if your bike had a number plate?
The turn right on red (in the US) if safe always seems like a sensible rule.
Treasury have confirmed that people with second homes will get the £400 energy bill discount for each one
Fucking hell
Including rather a lot of MPs, I presume? Though on reflection isn't their leccy bill at one house paid for by the state already? So it shouldn't make any difference?
Cyclists seem uniquely aggressive in the UK. I suspect it’s because we’re not a very bicycle-friendly nation (as polls show) so cyclists feel they have to fight for the right to be on the road. This creates a vicious, er, cycle - where others perceive them as aggressive so the tension worsens
I’ve nearly been run over by several in Regent’s Park - whizzing through red lights at speed - not giving a fuck - even though multiple kids cross ti get into the park. Wankers
Other countries don’t seem to have this pestilence of super-charged twats going as fast as they can within city centres
As a recent convert to cycle commuting I think that one issue is that it still feels fairly unsafe cycling on the road, and this discourages more risk averse or less confident cyclists from using the roads. This means that a high proportion of cyclists are aggressive risk taking types, and their behaviour then sets the norm. So for instance, generally speaking I don't cycle through red lights, but I do sometimes eg when there are no other road users or pedestrians crossing, especially if it's just a left turn. If everyone else is doing it too you feel a bit stupid waiting there, it is much easier and often safer just to go with the flow and do what everyone else is doing. My general philosophy of road usage as a cyclist and a driver is to pay most attention to those more vulnerable than you. For a cyclist that means pedestrians, and for a motorist that means cyclists.
Would you go through that red light in your car, if there was no-one around? How’s about if your bike had a number plate?
Because working with the Toreeees is always evil - except when the SNP do it.....
I'm not a Green/SNP ultra but this is a complete disaster for those of us who engage in the extreme sport "cycling about in Edinburgh".
The Tories are rabidly pro-driver here. It's honestly impossible to find a reason to vote for the neanderthals either on a national or local basis - everything is a culture war. I think they associate bikes with wokeists.
I am no fan of the democratic abomination where a tiny group of 13 Labour councillors can control a council comprised of 63 elected members, but in what respect is the new Labour minority administration “a complete disaster” for cyclists? I got the impression that Scottish Labour is quite pro-cycling? Or are the Edinburgh Labourites uncharacteristically pro-car?
(Incidentally, the centre-right are very pro-cycling in many European countries, so the hostility of the ones on the big island is a bit of a mystery. Surely we ought to be encouraging healthy and cheap activities? Makes our cities cleaner and more pleasant to live in. Reduces heart-lung and obesity catastrophe. Is fun!! Or ought to be…)
If they could ban cyclists in Edinburgh it would considerably increase my safety and life expectancy and that of all other pedestrians.
Seems unlikely.
'Of around 400 pedestrians killed in collisions in the UK each year, about 2.5 involve a bicycle. Put it another way: more than 99% of pedestrian collision deaths in this country involve a motorised vehicle.'
As you push them back into their cars you many well be increasing your own risk.
It is astonishing to witness the media prominence given to (relatively rare) rail, maritime and aviation loss of life and life-changing disability injuries whereas the literally daily carnage caused by motor vehicles gets a brief mention on page 32, if you’re lucky.
Yes. IMO most anti cyclist sentiment is derived from selection bias. A cyclist ignore the highway code it is remembered and anecdotes are created as they are the other. A motorist breaks the code its not remarkable just something that happens as they are in group.
I've always felt that cycling on Britain's roads is the closest to active discrimination I can get in the UK. The power dynamic is huge and you're entirely at the whim of what feels to be a capricious often actively malicious percentage of road users.
The majority of drivers are lovely and courteous, 5% are ignorant and 1% are bastards.
I can't remember the last time I saw a car run a red light. Cyclists? All the bloody time.
Cars jumping red lights might be a regional thing. I've not seen it round here but if you look at Ashley Neal's channel on Youtube, it might as well be part of the Highway Code in Liverpool.
The website - titled "Very English Coop d'Etat" - says it has published private emails from former British spymaster Richard Dearlove, leading Brexit campaigner Gisela Stuart, pro-Brexit historian Robert Tombs, and other supporters of Britain's divorce from the EU, which was finalized in January 2020.
‘Calling the shots’ is the kind of nonsense the late lamented Gary would have come out with. The hack does seem genuine, though… FWIW, which isn’t much.
It’s not a secret that Dearlove is a hardline Brexiteer, is it ? Whatever you think of him (not much in my case), the old git’s entitled to lobby now he’s retired. … The "English Coop" site makes a variety of allegations, including one that Dearlove was at the center of a conspiracy by Brexit hardliners to oust former British Prime Minister Theresa May, who had negotiated a withdrawal agreement with the European Union in early 2019, and replace her with Johnson, who took a more uncompromising position.
Dearlove said that the emails captured a "legitimate lobbying exercise which, seen through this antagonistic optic, is now subject to distortion."
I’ll get a photo of it on Monday, but my local M&S (in Dubai!) has a shop full of Jubilee merchandise and decoration.
Anecdote from being a uni RAG week collector two decades ago - standing outside M&S was *always* the best place for donations in any given town, and the collectors would (figuratively) fight each other to be there.
Treasury have confirmed that people with second homes will get the £400 energy bill discount for each one
Fucking hell
Including rather a lot of MPs, I presume? Though on reflection isn't their leccy bill at one house paid for by the state already? So it shouldn't make any difference?
Annoying that 2nd home owners get this, but I suspect the cost of trying to NOT send them the money would be too great. I doubt utilities have a record of which home is actually a 2nd one.
Cyclists seem uniquely aggressive in the UK. I suspect it’s because we’re not a very bicycle-friendly nation (as polls show) so cyclists feel they have to fight for the right to be on the road. This creates a vicious, er, cycle - where others perceive them as aggressive so the tension worsens
I’ve nearly been run over by several in Regent’s Park - whizzing through red lights at speed - not giving a fuck - even though multiple kids cross ti get into the park. Wankers
Other countries don’t seem to have this pestilence of super-charged twats going as fast as they can within city centres
As a recent convert to cycle commuting I think that one issue is that it still feels fairly unsafe cycling on the road, and this discourages more risk averse or less confident cyclists from using the roads. This means that a high proportion of cyclists are aggressive risk taking types, and their behaviour then sets the norm. So for instance, generally speaking I don't cycle through red lights, but I do sometimes eg when there are no other road users or pedestrians crossing, especially if it's just a left turn. If everyone else is doing it too you feel a bit stupid waiting there, it is much easier and often safer just to go with the flow and do what everyone else is doing. My general philosophy of road usage as a cyclist and a driver is to pay most attention to those more vulnerable than you. For a cyclist that means pedestrians, and for a motorist that means cyclists.
Would you go through that red light in your car, if there was no-one around? How’s about if your bike had a number plate?
And we'vge had cyclists complaining todfay about people they didn't see appearing suddenly in front of them. Ergo, "nobody visible" doesn't mean it's safe to jump a red.
Treasury have confirmed that people with second homes will get the £400 energy bill discount for each one
Fucking hell
Including rather a lot of MPs, I presume? Though on reflection isn't their leccy bill at one house paid for by the state already? So it shouldn't make any difference?
Annoying that 2nd home owners get this, but I suspect the cost of trying to NOT send them the money would be too great. I doubt utilities have a record of which home is actually a 2nd one.
In Wales, second homes are already known about as they pay a Council Tax premium for them.
Cyclists seem uniquely aggressive in the UK. I suspect it’s because we’re not a very bicycle-friendly nation (as polls show) so cyclists feel they have to fight for the right to be on the road. This creates a vicious, er, cycle - where others perceive them as aggressive so the tension worsens
I’ve nearly been run over by several in Regent’s Park - whizzing through red lights at speed - not giving a fuck - even though multiple kids cross ti get into the park. Wankers
Other countries don’t seem to have this pestilence of super-charged twats going as fast as they can within city centres
As a recent convert to cycle commuting I think that one issue is that it still feels fairly unsafe cycling on the road, and this discourages more risk averse or less confident cyclists from using the roads. This means that a high proportion of cyclists are aggressive risk taking types, and their behaviour then sets the norm. So for instance, generally speaking I don't cycle through red lights, but I do sometimes eg when there are no other road users or pedestrians crossing, especially if it's just a left turn. If everyone else is doing it too you feel a bit stupid waiting there, it is much easier and often safer just to go with the flow and do what everyone else is doing. My general philosophy of road usage as a cyclist and a driver is to pay most attention to those more vulnerable than you. For a cyclist that means pedestrians, and for a motorist that means cyclists.
Would you go through that red light in your car, if there was no-one around? How’s about if your bike had a number plate?
The turn right on red (in the US) if safe always seems like a sensible rule.
We had something similar at a junction close to me for a time but it was ended and the junction reshaped so even cars turning left had to stop for traffic lights. Not sure why — possibly a few near misses with children crossing the road on their way to primary school.
Treasury have confirmed that people with second homes will get the £400 energy bill discount for each one
Fucking hell
Including rather a lot of MPs, I presume? Though on reflection isn't their leccy bill at one house paid for by the state already? So it shouldn't make any difference?
Annoying that 2nd home owners get this, but I suspect the cost of trying to NOT send them the money would be too great. I doubt utilities have a record of which home is actually a 2nd one.
Oh, quite. Practicalities and all that, and veyr nice for elderly Tory voting pensioners of course. In reality as one of us said today they save on means testing (except in the crude and simple kind that can easilybe applied as done today) and on admin costs especially as you are dealing with many different companies. Imagine the pain of trying to send paper "tokens" or secure digital tokens that you then send to the leccy firms ...
Cyclists seem uniquely aggressive in the UK. I suspect it’s because we’re not a very bicycle-friendly nation (as polls show) so cyclists feel they have to fight for the right to be on the road. This creates a vicious, er, cycle - where others perceive them as aggressive so the tension worsens
I’ve nearly been run over by several in Regent’s Park - whizzing through red lights at speed - not giving a fuck - even though multiple kids cross ti get into the park. Wankers
Other countries don’t seem to have this pestilence of super-charged twats going as fast as they can within city centres
As a recent convert to cycle commuting I think that one issue is that it still feels fairly unsafe cycling on the road, and this discourages more risk averse or less confident cyclists from using the roads. This means that a high proportion of cyclists are aggressive risk taking types, and their behaviour then sets the norm. So for instance, generally speaking I don't cycle through red lights, but I do sometimes eg when there are no other road users or pedestrians crossing, especially if it's just a left turn. If everyone else is doing it too you feel a bit stupid waiting there, it is much easier and often safer just to go with the flow and do what everyone else is doing. My general philosophy of road usage as a cyclist and a driver is to pay most attention to those more vulnerable than you. For a cyclist that means pedestrians, and for a motorist that means cyclists.
Would you go through that red light in your car, if there was no-one around? How’s about if your bike had a number plate?
The turn right on red (in the US) if safe always seems like a sensible rule.
We had something similar at a junction close to me for a time but it was ended and the junction reshaped so even cars turning left had to stop for traffic lights. Not sure why — possibly a few near misses with children crossing the road on their way to primary school.
Yes, I can't imagine turn left on red working here due to pedestrians. Usually they've already been told to cross by the green man.
The website - titled "Very English Coop d'Etat" - says it has published private emails from former British spymaster Richard Dearlove, leading Brexit campaigner Gisela Stuart, pro-Brexit historian Robert Tombs, and other supporters of Britain's divorce from the EU, which was finalized in January 2020.
‘Calling the shots’ is the kind of nonsense the late lamented Gary would have come out with. The hack does seem genuine, though… FWIW, which isn’t much.
It’s not a secret that Dearlove is a hardline Brexiteer, is it ? Whatever you think of him (not much in my case), the old git’s entitled to lobby now he’s retired. … The "English Coop" site makes a variety of allegations, including one that Dearlove was at the center of a conspiracy by Brexit hardliners to oust former British Prime Minister Theresa May, who had negotiated a withdrawal agreement with the European Union in early 2019, and replace her with Johnson, who took a more uncompromising position.
Dearlove said that the emails captured a "legitimate lobbying exercise which, seen through this antagonistic optic, is now subject to distortion."
He declined further comment.…
Shades of Spycatcher
Shades of Russian leaks of Hillary Clinton's emails from the Democrats' mail server (or whatever it was).
Treasury have confirmed that people with second homes will get the £400 energy bill discount for each one
Fucking hell
Including rather a lot of MPs, I presume? Though on reflection isn't their leccy bill at one house paid for by the state already? So it shouldn't make any difference?
Annoying that 2nd home owners get this, but I suspect the cost of trying to NOT send them the money would be too great. I doubt utilities have a record of which home is actually a 2nd one.
In Wales, second homes are already known about as they pay a Council Tax premium for them.
But the credit is being dealt with through the energy companies, who work from their own database that doesn’t interface with the local authority.
Because working with the Toreeees is always evil - except when the SNP do it.....
I'm not a Green/SNP ultra but this is a complete disaster for those of us who engage in the extreme sport "cycling about in Edinburgh".
The Tories are rabidly pro-driver here. It's honestly impossible to find a reason to vote for the neanderthals either on a national or local basis - everything is a culture war. I think they associate bikes with wokeists.
I am no fan of the democratic abomination where a tiny group of 13 Labour councillors can control a council comprised of 63 elected members, but in what respect is the new Labour minority administration “a complete disaster” for cyclists? I got the impression that Scottish Labour is quite pro-cycling? Or are the Edinburgh Labourites uncharacteristically pro-car?
(Incidentally, the centre-right are very pro-cycling in many European countries, so the hostility of the ones on the big island is a bit of a mystery. Surely we ought to be encouraging healthy and cheap activities? Makes our cities cleaner and more pleasant to live in. Reduces heart-lung and obesity catastrophe. Is fun!! Or ought to be…)
If they could ban cyclists in Edinburgh it would considerably increase my safety and life expectancy and that of all other pedestrians.
Seems unlikely.
'Of around 400 pedestrians killed in collisions in the UK each year, about 2.5 involve a bicycle. Put it another way: more than 99% of pedestrian collision deaths in this country involve a motorised vehicle.'
As you push them back into their cars you many well be increasing your own risk.
It is astonishing to witness the media prominence given to (relatively rare) rail, maritime and aviation loss of life and life-changing disability injuries whereas the literally daily carnage caused by motor vehicles gets a brief mention on page 32, if you’re lucky.
Yes. IMO most anti cyclist sentiment is derived from selection bias. A cyclist ignore the highway code it is remembered and anecdotes are created as they are the other. A motorist breaks the code its not remarkable just something that happens as they are in group.
I've always felt that cycling on Britain's roads is the closest to active discrimination I can get in the UK. The power dynamic is huge and you're entirely at the whim of what feels to be a capricious often actively malicious percentage of road users.
The majority of drivers are lovely and courteous, 5% are ignorant and 1% are bastards.
I can't remember the last time I saw a car run a red light. Cyclists? All the bloody time.
Cars jumping red lights might be a regional thing. I've not seen it round here but if you look at Ashley Neal's channel on Youtube, it might as well be part of the Highway Code in Liverpool.
Quite common in Leicester, and bikes running lights too.
I used to cycle commute, until my job changed to working on several sites so no longer viable. Most of Britain is not set up for safe cycling, compared to countries where it is the norm, like Netherlands or Denmark. The Dutch and Danes have some of the lowest obesity rates in Northern Europe as a result despite diets that aren't much healthier than ours.
Because working with the Toreeees is always evil - except when the SNP do it.....
I'm not a Green/SNP ultra but this is a complete disaster for those of us who engage in the extreme sport "cycling about in Edinburgh".
The Tories are rabidly pro-driver here. It's honestly impossible to find a reason to vote for the neanderthals either on a national or local basis - everything is a culture war. I think they associate bikes with wokeists.
I am no fan of the democratic abomination where a tiny group of 13 Labour councillors can control a council comprised of 63 elected members, but in what respect is the new Labour minority administration “a complete disaster” for cyclists? I got the impression that Scottish Labour is quite pro-cycling? Or are the Edinburgh Labourites uncharacteristically pro-car?
(Incidentally, the centre-right are very pro-cycling in many European countries, so the hostility of the ones on the big island is a bit of a mystery. Surely we ought to be encouraging healthy and cheap activities? Makes our cities cleaner and more pleasant to live in. Reduces heart-lung and obesity catastrophe. Is fun!! Or ought to be…)
If they could ban cyclists in Edinburgh it would considerably increase my safety and life expectancy and that of all other pedestrians.
Seems unlikely.
'Of around 400 pedestrians killed in collisions in the UK each year, about 2.5 involve a bicycle. Put it another way: more than 99% of pedestrian collision deaths in this country involve a motorised vehicle.'
As you push them back into their cars you many well be increasing your own risk.
It is astonishing to witness the media prominence given to (relatively rare) rail, maritime and aviation loss of life and life-changing disability injuries whereas the literally daily carnage caused by motor vehicles gets a brief mention on page 32, if you’re lucky.
Yes. IMO most anti cyclist sentiment is derived from selection bias. A cyclist ignore the highway code it is remembered and anecdotes are created as they are the other. A motorist breaks the code its not remarkable just something that happens as they are in group.
I've always felt that cycling on Britain's roads is the closest to active discrimination I can get in the UK. The power dynamic is huge and you're entirely at the whim of what feels to be a capricious often actively malicious percentage of road users.
The majority of drivers are lovely and courteous, 5% are ignorant and 1% are bastards.
I can't remember the last time I saw a car run a red light. Cyclists? All the bloody time.
Cars jumping red lights might be a regional thing. I've not seen it round here but if you look at Ashley Neal's channel on Youtube, it might as well be part of the Highway Code in Liverpool.
Quite common in Leicester, and bikes running lights too.
I used to cycle commute, until my job changed to working on several sites so no longer viable. Most of Britain is not set up for safe cycling, compared to countries where it is the norm, like Netherlands or Denmark. The Dutch and Danes have some of the lowest obesity rates in Northern Europe as a result despite diets that aren't much healthier than ours.
A fine flourishing non-sequitur for a final sentence.
Because working with the Toreeees is always evil - except when the SNP do it.....
I'm not a Green/SNP ultra but this is a complete disaster for those of us who engage in the extreme sport "cycling about in Edinburgh".
The Tories are rabidly pro-driver here. It's honestly impossible to find a reason to vote for the neanderthals either on a national or local basis - everything is a culture war. I think they associate bikes with wokeists.
I am no fan of the democratic abomination where a tiny group of 13 Labour councillors can control a council comprised of 63 elected members, but in what respect is the new Labour minority administration “a complete disaster” for cyclists? I got the impression that Scottish Labour is quite pro-cycling? Or are the Edinburgh Labourites uncharacteristically pro-car?
(Incidentally, the centre-right are very pro-cycling in many European countries, so the hostility of the ones on the big island is a bit of a mystery. Surely we ought to be encouraging healthy and cheap activities? Makes our cities cleaner and more pleasant to live in. Reduces heart-lung and obesity catastrophe. Is fun!! Or ought to be…)
If they could ban cyclists in Edinburgh it would considerably increase my safety and life expectancy and that of all other pedestrians.
Seems unlikely.
'Of around 400 pedestrians killed in collisions in the UK each year, about 2.5 involve a bicycle. Put it another way: more than 99% of pedestrian collision deaths in this country involve a motorised vehicle.'
As you push them back into their cars you many well be increasing your own risk.
It is astonishing to witness the media prominence given to (relatively rare) rail, maritime and aviation loss of life and life-changing disability injuries whereas the literally daily carnage caused by motor vehicles gets a brief mention on page 32, if you’re lucky.
Harvard Psycology Professor Steven Pinker’s book ‘Rationality’, came up with the statistic that more Americans die every year in plane crashes, than in car crashes - if all you do is watch is the national news networks and count the deaths. A significant number surveyed by pollsters agree.
The reality is a difference of two orders of magnitude, and three orders of magnitude if you ignore recreational aviation. More than 100 people die in car crashes, every day in the US.
Almost as many Americans died in car crashes in each year during the Vietnam War than died in the entire Vietnam War.
There are an extraordinary number of road deaths in the US every year - more than 40,000 last year. That's the equivalent of a small parliamentary constituency dying on the roads every year.
Because working with the Toreeees is always evil - except when the SNP do it.....
I'm not a Green/SNP ultra but this is a complete disaster for those of us who engage in the extreme sport "cycling about in Edinburgh".
The Tories are rabidly pro-driver here. It's honestly impossible to find a reason to vote for the neanderthals either on a national or local basis - everything is a culture war. I think they associate bikes with wokeists.
I am no fan of the democratic abomination where a tiny group of 13 Labour councillors can control a council comprised of 63 elected members, but in what respect is the new Labour minority administration “a complete disaster” for cyclists? I got the impression that Scottish Labour is quite pro-cycling? Or are the Edinburgh Labourites uncharacteristically pro-car?
(Incidentally, the centre-right are very pro-cycling in many European countries, so the hostility of the ones on the big island is a bit of a mystery. Surely we ought to be encouraging healthy and cheap activities? Makes our cities cleaner and more pleasant to live in. Reduces heart-lung and obesity catastrophe. Is fun!! Or ought to be…)
If they could ban cyclists in Edinburgh it would considerably increase my safety and life expectancy and that of all other pedestrians.
Seems unlikely.
'Of around 400 pedestrians killed in collisions in the UK each year, about 2.5 involve a bicycle. Put it another way: more than 99% of pedestrian collision deaths in this country involve a motorised vehicle.'
As you push them back into their cars you many well be increasing your own risk.
It is astonishing to witness the media prominence given to (relatively rare) rail, maritime and aviation loss of life and life-changing disability injuries whereas the literally daily carnage caused by motor vehicles gets a brief mention on page 32, if you’re lucky.
Harvard Psycology Professor Steven Pinker’s book ‘Rationality’, came up with the statistic that more Americans die every year in plane crashes, than in car crashes - if all you do is watch is the national news networks and count the deaths. A significant number surveyed by pollsters agree.
The reality is a difference of two orders of magnitude, and three orders of magnitude if you ignore recreational aviation. More than 100 people die in car crashes, every day in the US.
Almost as many Americans died in car crashes in each year during the Vietnam War than died in the entire Vietnam War.
There are an extraordinary number of road deaths in the US every year - more than 40,000 last year. That's the equivalent of a small parliamentary constituency dying on the roads every year.
Treasury have confirmed that people with second homes will get the £400 energy bill discount for each one
Fucking hell
Including rather a lot of MPs, I presume? Though on reflection isn't their leccy bill at one house paid for by the state already? So it shouldn't make any difference?
Annoying that 2nd home owners get this, but I suspect the cost of trying to NOT send them the money would be too great. I doubt utilities have a record of which home is actually a 2nd one.
In Wales, second homes are already known about as they pay a Council Tax premium for them.
But the credit is being dealt with through the energy companies, who work from their own database that doesn’t interface with the local authority.
So the actual poorest people will miss out then, those on pay as you go meters and who therefore have no relationship with the energy supplier though the landlord will have.
Because working with the Toreeees is always evil - except when the SNP do it.....
I'm not a Green/SNP ultra but this is a complete disaster for those of us who engage in the extreme sport "cycling about in Edinburgh".
The Tories are rabidly pro-driver here. It's honestly impossible to find a reason to vote for the neanderthals either on a national or local basis - everything is a culture war. I think they associate bikes with wokeists.
I am no fan of the democratic abomination where a tiny group of 13 Labour councillors can control a council comprised of 63 elected members, but in what respect is the new Labour minority administration “a complete disaster” for cyclists? I got the impression that Scottish Labour is quite pro-cycling? Or are the Edinburgh Labourites uncharacteristically pro-car?
(Incidentally, the centre-right are very pro-cycling in many European countries, so the hostility of the ones on the big island is a bit of a mystery. Surely we ought to be encouraging healthy and cheap activities? Makes our cities cleaner and more pleasant to live in. Reduces heart-lung and obesity catastrophe. Is fun!! Or ought to be…)
If they could ban cyclists in Edinburgh it would considerably increase my safety and life expectancy and that of all other pedestrians.
Seems unlikely.
'Of around 400 pedestrians killed in collisions in the UK each year, about 2.5 involve a bicycle. Put it another way: more than 99% of pedestrian collision deaths in this country involve a motorised vehicle.'
As you push them back into their cars you many well be increasing your own risk.
It is astonishing to witness the media prominence given to (relatively rare) rail, maritime and aviation loss of life and life-changing disability injuries whereas the literally daily carnage caused by motor vehicles gets a brief mention on page 32, if you’re lucky.
Harvard Psycology Professor Steven Pinker’s book ‘Rationality’, came up with the statistic that more Americans die every year in plane crashes, than in car crashes - if all you do is watch is the national news networks and count the deaths. A significant number surveyed by pollsters agree.
The reality is a difference of two orders of magnitude, and three orders of magnitude if you ignore recreational aviation. More than 100 people die in car crashes, every day in the US.
Almost as many Americans died in car crashes in each year during the Vietnam War than died in the entire Vietnam War.
There are an extraordinary number of road deaths in the US every year - more than 40,000 last year. That's the equivalent of a small parliamentary constituency dying on the roads every year.
And a similar number of gun deaths. Indeed more people have died of gunshots in the USA in the last 4 decades than in all the US wars since independence.
I believe drug overdoses, mostly opiates beat road traffic and gun deaths combined.
America is a very strange society to tolerate this.
Because working with the Toreeees is always evil - except when the SNP do it.....
I'm not a Green/SNP ultra but this is a complete disaster for those of us who engage in the extreme sport "cycling about in Edinburgh".
The Tories are rabidly pro-driver here. It's honestly impossible to find a reason to vote for the neanderthals either on a national or local basis - everything is a culture war. I think they associate bikes with wokeists.
I am no fan of the democratic abomination where a tiny group of 13 Labour councillors can control a council comprised of 63 elected members, but in what respect is the new Labour minority administration “a complete disaster” for cyclists? I got the impression that Scottish Labour is quite pro-cycling? Or are the Edinburgh Labourites uncharacteristically pro-car?
(Incidentally, the centre-right are very pro-cycling in many European countries, so the hostility of the ones on the big island is a bit of a mystery. Surely we ought to be encouraging healthy and cheap activities? Makes our cities cleaner and more pleasant to live in. Reduces heart-lung and obesity catastrophe. Is fun!! Or ought to be…)
If they could ban cyclists in Edinburgh it would considerably increase my safety and life expectancy and that of all other pedestrians.
Seems unlikely.
'Of around 400 pedestrians killed in collisions in the UK each year, about 2.5 involve a bicycle. Put it another way: more than 99% of pedestrian collision deaths in this country involve a motorised vehicle.'
As you push them back into their cars you many well be increasing your own risk.
It is astonishing to witness the media prominence given to (relatively rare) rail, maritime and aviation loss of life and life-changing disability injuries whereas the literally daily carnage caused by motor vehicles gets a brief mention on page 32, if you’re lucky.
Harvard Psycology Professor Steven Pinker’s book ‘Rationality’, came up with the statistic that more Americans die every year in plane crashes, than in car crashes - if all you do is watch is the national news networks and count the deaths. A significant number surveyed by pollsters agree.
The reality is a difference of two orders of magnitude, and three orders of magnitude if you ignore recreational aviation. More than 100 people die in car crashes, every day in the US.
Almost as many Americans died in car crashes in each year during the Vietnam War than died in the entire Vietnam War.
There are an extraordinary number of road deaths in the US every year - more than 40,000 last year. That's the equivalent of a small parliamentary constituency dying on the roads every year.
More carnage than from guns? Pun intended.
Road accidents have always been a high risk factor for the US *Army* itself - an appreciable proportion of casualties even in active war.
Treasury have confirmed that people with second homes will get the £400 energy bill discount for each one
Fucking hell
I've made my opinion on second homes etc abundantly clear, but I think in this instance it is perfectly reasonable.
In order to get this to go through smoothly and easily, and with the minimum of administration, simply applying a £400 discount to everyone makes sense.
If you try to separate who gets this without getting fraud, and without anyone falling through the cracks, that's going to be a lot of extra admin costs for very minimal gain.
Far better to handle second home owners via regular taxation routes for them, like a surcharge on Council Tax that is payable every single year, rather than through one of individual items like this.
Same reason universal benefits make better sense than means tested ones, design your system properly and you should just tax once rather than a million different ways.
Plenty of "why does x get this when hard working I don't" Online. And the ubiquitous benefit claimants with BMW's and non-stop foreign holidays seems to be proliferating too. Moscow was on high alert for Sunak's speech I reckon.
Treasury have confirmed that people with second homes will get the £400 energy bill discount for each one
Fucking hell
Including rather a lot of MPs, I presume? Though on reflection isn't their leccy bill at one house paid for by the state already? So it shouldn't make any difference?
Annoying that 2nd home owners get this, but I suspect the cost of trying to NOT send them the money would be too great. I doubt utilities have a record of which home is actually a 2nd one.
In Wales, second homes are already known about as they pay a Council Tax premium for them.
But the credit is being dealt with through the energy companies, who work from their own database that doesn’t interface with the local authority.
So the actual poorest people will miss out then, those on pay as you go meters and who therefore have no relationship with the energy supplier though the landlord will have.
Surely PAYG is the easiest to deal with, they just put the credit directly on the meter.
They called me crazy when I predicted Labour being very firmly ahead.
That is my next crazy prediction
They only got 16.8% in 97, and Davey is no Ashdown.
True, but I don't remember Paddy having that high a profile, I thought it was wall-to-wall Tony Blair and Major's-foot-in-mouth gaffs.
He did.
He was a regular on Spitting Image, for example.
Hard to even imagine what an Ed Davey puppet would do.
They are very good at the ground war in by-election campaigns, but very poor at the air war.
Ah yes, I remember now. I didn't watch much Spitting Image though, I found it very hit and miss, though it certainly got under the skin of David Steel/Owen.
Because working with the Toreeees is always evil - except when the SNP do it.....
I'm not a Green/SNP ultra but this is a complete disaster for those of us who engage in the extreme sport "cycling about in Edinburgh".
The Tories are rabidly pro-driver here. It's honestly impossible to find a reason to vote for the neanderthals either on a national or local basis - everything is a culture war. I think they associate bikes with wokeists.
I am no fan of the democratic abomination where a tiny group of 13 Labour councillors can control a council comprised of 63 elected members, but in what respect is the new Labour minority administration “a complete disaster” for cyclists? I got the impression that Scottish Labour is quite pro-cycling? Or are the Edinburgh Labourites uncharacteristically pro-car?
(Incidentally, the centre-right are very pro-cycling in many European countries, so the hostility of the ones on the big island is a bit of a mystery. Surely we ought to be encouraging healthy and cheap activities? Makes our cities cleaner and more pleasant to live in. Reduces heart-lung and obesity catastrophe. Is fun!! Or ought to be…)
If they could ban cyclists in Edinburgh it would considerably increase my safety and life expectancy and that of all other pedestrians.
Seems unlikely.
'Of around 400 pedestrians killed in collisions in the UK each year, about 2.5 involve a bicycle. Put it another way: more than 99% of pedestrian collision deaths in this country involve a motorised vehicle.'
As you push them back into their cars you many well be increasing your own risk.
It is astonishing to witness the media prominence given to (relatively rare) rail, maritime and aviation loss of life and life-changing disability injuries whereas the literally daily carnage caused by motor vehicles gets a brief mention on page 32, if you’re lucky.
Yes. IMO most anti cyclist sentiment is derived from selection bias. A cyclist ignore the highway code it is remembered and anecdotes are created as they are the other. A motorist breaks the code its not remarkable just something that happens as they are in group.
I've always felt that cycling on Britain's roads is the closest to active discrimination I can get in the UK. The power dynamic is huge and you're entirely at the whim of what feels to be a capricious often actively malicious percentage of road users.
The majority of drivers are lovely and courteous, 5% are ignorant and 1% are bastards.
I can't remember the last time I saw a car run a red light. Cyclists? All the bloody time.
Cars jumping red lights might be a regional thing. I've not seen it round here but if you look at Ashley Neal's channel on Youtube, it might as well be part of the Highway Code in Liverpool.
Quite common in Leicester, and bikes running lights too.
I used to cycle commute, until my job changed to working on several sites so no longer viable. Most of Britain is not set up for safe cycling, compared to countries where it is the norm, like Netherlands or Denmark. The Dutch and Danes have some of the lowest obesity rates in Northern Europe as a result despite diets that aren't much healthier than ours.
A fine flourishing non-sequitur for a final sentence.
A carb and saturated fat diet being burned off by cycling is my point. It isn't just diet making us unhealthy, it is lack of physical activity. Indeed, time I took the pup out.
Cyclists seem uniquely aggressive in the UK. I suspect it’s because we’re not a very bicycle-friendly nation (as polls show) so cyclists feel they have to fight for the right to be on the road. This creates a vicious, er, cycle - where others perceive them as aggressive so the tension worsens
I’ve nearly been run over by several in Regent’s Park - whizzing through red lights at speed - not giving a fuck - even though multiple kids cross ti get into the park. Wankers
Other countries don’t seem to have this pestilence of super-charged twats going as fast as they can within city centres
As a recent convert to cycle commuting I think that one issue is that it still feels fairly unsafe cycling on the road, and this discourages more risk averse or less confident cyclists from using the roads. This means that a high proportion of cyclists are aggressive risk taking types, and their behaviour then sets the norm. So for instance, generally speaking I don't cycle through red lights, but I do sometimes eg when there are no other road users or pedestrians crossing, especially if it's just a left turn. If everyone else is doing it too you feel a bit stupid waiting there, it is much easier and often safer just to go with the flow and do what everyone else is doing. My general philosophy of road usage as a cyclist and a driver is to pay most attention to those more vulnerable than you. For a cyclist that means pedestrians, and for a motorist that means cyclists.
Would you go through that red light in your car, if there was no-one around? How’s about if your bike had a number plate?
And we'vge had cyclists complaining todfay about people they didn't see appearing suddenly in front of them. Ergo, "nobody visible" doesn't mean it's safe to jump a red.
I saw the last pedestrian to nearly kill me by stepping out in front of me from some distance away. I saw them standing on the pavement. And then I saw them step out right in front of me.
Several hundred people on George IV bridge will have heard me cry out in terror when I narrowly achieved the double of avoiding the pedestrian on one side and the car on the other side of me. For some reason I always reach for religious curses at times like those, despite my lack of belief. Must be the monthly visits to church with the scouts coming out. So if you once heard, "Jesus fucking Christ!" being bellowed in the vicinity - that was me.
Because working with the Toreeees is always evil - except when the SNP do it.....
I'm not a Green/SNP ultra but this is a complete disaster for those of us who engage in the extreme sport "cycling about in Edinburgh".
The Tories are rabidly pro-driver here. It's honestly impossible to find a reason to vote for the neanderthals either on a national or local basis - everything is a culture war. I think they associate bikes with wokeists.
I am no fan of the democratic abomination where a tiny group of 13 Labour councillors can control a council comprised of 63 elected members, but in what respect is the new Labour minority administration “a complete disaster” for cyclists? I got the impression that Scottish Labour is quite pro-cycling? Or are the Edinburgh Labourites uncharacteristically pro-car?
(Incidentally, the centre-right are very pro-cycling in many European countries, so the hostility of the ones on the big island is a bit of a mystery. Surely we ought to be encouraging healthy and cheap activities? Makes our cities cleaner and more pleasant to live in. Reduces heart-lung and obesity catastrophe. Is fun!! Or ought to be…)
If they could ban cyclists in Edinburgh it would considerably increase my safety and life expectancy and that of all other pedestrians.
Seems unlikely.
'Of around 400 pedestrians killed in collisions in the UK each year, about 2.5 involve a bicycle. Put it another way: more than 99% of pedestrian collision deaths in this country involve a motorised vehicle.'
As you push them back into their cars you many well be increasing your own risk.
It is astonishing to witness the media prominence given to (relatively rare) rail, maritime and aviation loss of life and life-changing disability injuries whereas the literally daily carnage caused by motor vehicles gets a brief mention on page 32, if you’re lucky.
Yes. IMO most anti cyclist sentiment is derived from selection bias. A cyclist ignore the highway code it is remembered and anecdotes are created as they are the other. A motorist breaks the code its not remarkable just something that happens as they are in group.
I've always felt that cycling on Britain's roads is the closest to active discrimination I can get in the UK. The power dynamic is huge and you're entirely at the whim of what feels to be a capricious often actively malicious percentage of road users.
The majority of drivers are lovely and courteous, 5% are ignorant and 1% are bastards.
I can't remember the last time I saw a car run a red light. Cyclists? All the bloody time.
I'm in New York, and the new motorized cyclists are an insane menace - they pay no attention to one way systems or to the lights.
Treasury have confirmed that people with second homes will get the £400 energy bill discount for each one
Fucking hell
Including rather a lot of MPs, I presume? Though on reflection isn't their leccy bill at one house paid for by the state already? So it shouldn't make any difference?
Annoying that 2nd home owners get this, but I suspect the cost of trying to NOT send them the money would be too great. I doubt utilities have a record of which home is actually a 2nd one.
In Wales, second homes are already known about as they pay a Council Tax premium for them.
But the credit is being dealt with through the energy companies, who work from their own database that doesn’t interface with the local authority.
So the actual poorest people will miss out then, those on pay as you go meters and who therefore have no relationship with the energy supplier though the landlord will have.
Yes. I wondered about that. My gas is on pay as you go. As is my entire block. Though my electricity isn't.
Treasury have confirmed that people with second homes will get the £400 energy bill discount for each one
Fucking hell
Including rather a lot of MPs, I presume? Though on reflection isn't their leccy bill at one house paid for by the state already? So it shouldn't make any difference?
Annoying that 2nd home owners get this, but I suspect the cost of trying to NOT send them the money would be too great. I doubt utilities have a record of which home is actually a 2nd one.
In Wales, second homes are already known about as they pay a Council Tax premium for them.
But the credit is being dealt with through the energy companies, who work from their own database that doesn’t interface with the local authority.
So the actual poorest people will miss out then, those on pay as you go meters and who therefore have no relationship with the energy supplier though the landlord will have.
This was addressed in todays statement, no details yet but its on the radar. And the other grants of course are direct
Treasury have confirmed that people with second homes will get the £400 energy bill discount for each one
Fucking hell
Including rather a lot of MPs, I presume? Though on reflection isn't their leccy bill at one house paid for by the state already? So it shouldn't make any difference?
Annoying that 2nd home owners get this, but I suspect the cost of trying to NOT send them the money would be too great. I doubt utilities have a record of which home is actually a 2nd one.
In Wales, second homes are already known about as they pay a Council Tax premium for them.
But the credit is being dealt with through the energy companies, who work from their own database that doesn’t interface with the local authority.
So the actual poorest people will miss out then, those on pay as you go meters and who therefore have no relationship with the energy supplier though the landlord will have.
Interesting question, to which I honestly have no idea. Someone should Tweet at Martin Lewis, who’s currently doing an online Q&A with Sunak.
Cyclists seem uniquely aggressive in the UK. I suspect it’s because we’re not a very bicycle-friendly nation (as polls show) so cyclists feel they have to fight for the right to be on the road. This creates a vicious, er, cycle - where others perceive them as aggressive so the tension worsens
I’ve nearly been run over by several in Regent’s Park - whizzing through red lights at speed - not giving a fuck - even though multiple kids cross ti get into the park. Wankers
Other countries don’t seem to have this pestilence of super-charged twats going as fast as they can within city centres
As a recent convert to cycle commuting I think that one issue is that it still feels fairly unsafe cycling on the road, and this discourages more risk averse or less confident cyclists from using the roads. This means that a high proportion of cyclists are aggressive risk taking types, and their behaviour then sets the norm. So for instance, generally speaking I don't cycle through red lights, but I do sometimes eg when there are no other road users or pedestrians crossing, especially if it's just a left turn. If everyone else is doing it too you feel a bit stupid waiting there, it is much easier and often safer just to go with the flow and do what everyone else is doing. My general philosophy of road usage as a cyclist and a driver is to pay most attention to those more vulnerable than you. For a cyclist that means pedestrians, and for a motorist that means cyclists.
Would you go through that red light in your car, if there was no-one around? How’s about if your bike had a number plate?
While I get your point and agree, if it were up to me it would be legal to turn left at a red light, if there is no-one around. Many nations with RHT allow turn right at a red light in similar circumstances.
Plenty of "why does x get this when hard working I don't" Online. And the ubiquitous benefit claimants with BMW's and non-stop foreign holidays seems to be proliferating too. Moscow was on high alert for Sunak's speech I reckon.
'I work hard for what ive got' wankers are one of my pet hates (especially non bot ones!) Like its a unique trait
Treasury have confirmed that people with second homes will get the £400 energy bill discount for each one
Fucking hell
Including rather a lot of MPs, I presume? Though on reflection isn't their leccy bill at one house paid for by the state already? So it shouldn't make any difference?
Annoying that 2nd home owners get this, but I suspect the cost of trying to NOT send them the money would be too great. I doubt utilities have a record of which home is actually a 2nd one.
In Wales, second homes are already known about as they pay a Council Tax premium for them.
But the credit is being dealt with through the energy companies, who work from their own database that doesn’t interface with the local authority.
So the actual poorest people will miss out then, those on pay as you go meters and who therefore have no relationship with the energy supplier though the landlord will have.
BBC personal finance correspondent has just said that those on prepayment or pay as you go meters will receive either a credit for £400 or a voucher
Because working with the Toreeees is always evil - except when the SNP do it.....
I'm not a Green/SNP ultra but this is a complete disaster for those of us who engage in the extreme sport "cycling about in Edinburgh".
The Tories are rabidly pro-driver here. It's honestly impossible to find a reason to vote for the neanderthals either on a national or local basis - everything is a culture war. I think they associate bikes with wokeists.
I am no fan of the democratic abomination where a tiny group of 13 Labour councillors can control a council comprised of 63 elected members, but in what respect is the new Labour minority administration “a complete disaster” for cyclists? I got the impression that Scottish Labour is quite pro-cycling? Or are the Edinburgh Labourites uncharacteristically pro-car?
(Incidentally, the centre-right are very pro-cycling in many European countries, so the hostility of the ones on the big island is a bit of a mystery. Surely we ought to be encouraging healthy and cheap activities? Makes our cities cleaner and more pleasant to live in. Reduces heart-lung and obesity catastrophe. Is fun!! Or ought to be…)
If they could ban cyclists in Edinburgh it would considerably increase my safety and life expectancy and that of all other pedestrians.
Seems unlikely.
'Of around 400 pedestrians killed in collisions in the UK each year, about 2.5 involve a bicycle. Put it another way: more than 99% of pedestrian collision deaths in this country involve a motorised vehicle.'
As you push them back into their cars you many well be increasing your own risk.
It is astonishing to witness the media prominence given to (relatively rare) rail, maritime and aviation loss of life and life-changing disability injuries whereas the literally daily carnage caused by motor vehicles gets a brief mention on page 32, if you’re lucky.
Yes. IMO most anti cyclist sentiment is derived from selection bias. A cyclist ignore the highway code it is remembered and anecdotes are created as they are the other. A motorist breaks the code its not remarkable just something that happens as they are in group.
I've always felt that cycling on Britain's roads is the closest to active discrimination I can get in the UK. The power dynamic is huge and you're entirely at the whim of what feels to be a capricious often actively malicious percentage of road users.
The majority of drivers are lovely and courteous, 5% are ignorant and 1% are bastards.
I can't remember the last time I saw a car run a red light. Cyclists? All the bloody time.
I'm not saying that cyclists are brilliant. For sure the type of transport dictates which rule breaking is more common. Just that inconsiderate driving will not be remembered to the extant that cycling will.
Do you really remember the driver that cut you up on the roundabout? Or was doing 100+ on the motorway? Or ignored the zebra crossing you were waiting at?
One thing to be in another car, another not to be. And cars don't normally drive on pavements. Unlike cyclists, who are sometimes actually encouraged to do so.
You're much more likely to be killed by a car on the pavement then a cyclist, pavement or otherwise.
Of course there is a power dynamic between cyclist and pedestrians. But the dynamic between drivers and everyone else is much greater and far far deadlier.
Treasury have confirmed that people with second homes will get the £400 energy bill discount for each one
Fucking hell
Including rather a lot of MPs, I presume? Though on reflection isn't their leccy bill at one house paid for by the state already? So it shouldn't make any difference?
Annoying that 2nd home owners get this, but I suspect the cost of trying to NOT send them the money would be too great. I doubt utilities have a record of which home is actually a 2nd one.
In Wales, second homes are already known about as they pay a Council Tax premium for them.
But the credit is being dealt with through the energy companies, who work from their own database that doesn’t interface with the local authority.
So the actual poorest people will miss out then, those on pay as you go meters and who therefore have no relationship with the energy supplier though the landlord will have.
Interesting question, to which I honestly have no idea. Someone should Tweet at Martin Lewis, who’s currently doing an online Q&A with Sunak.
It came up in the statement, sunak confirmed moves afoot to ensure pre pay metered customers arent disadvantaged No detail though
Treasury have confirmed that people with second homes will get the £400 energy bill discount for each one
Fucking hell
Including rather a lot of MPs, I presume? Though on reflection isn't their leccy bill at one house paid for by the state already? So it shouldn't make any difference?
Annoying that 2nd home owners get this, but I suspect the cost of trying to NOT send them the money would be too great. I doubt utilities have a record of which home is actually a 2nd one.
In Wales, second homes are already known about as they pay a Council Tax premium for them.
But the credit is being dealt with through the energy companies, who work from their own database that doesn’t interface with the local authority.
So the actual poorest people will miss out then, those on pay as you go meters and who therefore have no relationship with the energy supplier though the landlord will have.
BBC personal finance correspondent has just said that those on prepayment or pay as you go meters will receive either a credit for £400 or a voucher
Makes sense. A direct credit to the meter for smart PAYG and a voucher to take to the usual top up point for conventional.
Cyclists seem uniquely aggressive in the UK. I suspect it’s because we’re not a very bicycle-friendly nation (as polls show) so cyclists feel they have to fight for the right to be on the road. This creates a vicious, er, cycle - where others perceive them as aggressive so the tension worsens
I’ve nearly been run over by several in Regent’s Park - whizzing through red lights at speed - not giving a fuck - even though multiple kids cross ti get into the park. Wankers
Other countries don’t seem to have this pestilence of super-charged twats going as fast as they can within city centres
As a recent convert to cycle commuting I think that one issue is that it still feels fairly unsafe cycling on the road, and this discourages more risk averse or less confident cyclists from using the roads. This means that a high proportion of cyclists are aggressive risk taking types, and their behaviour then sets the norm. So for instance, generally speaking I don't cycle through red lights, but I do sometimes eg when there are no other road users or pedestrians crossing, especially if it's just a left turn. If everyone else is doing it too you feel a bit stupid waiting there, it is much easier and often safer just to go with the flow and do what everyone else is doing. My general philosophy of road usage as a cyclist and a driver is to pay most attention to those more vulnerable than you. For a cyclist that means pedestrians, and for a motorist that means cyclists.
Would you go through that red light in your car, if there was no-one around? How’s about if your bike had a number plate?
And we'vge had cyclists complaining todfay about people they didn't see appearing suddenly in front of them. Ergo, "nobody visible" doesn't mean it's safe to jump a red.
I saw the last pedestrian to nearly kill me by stepping out in front of me from some distance away. I saw them standing on the pavement. And then I saw them step out right in front of me.
Several hundred people on George IV bridge will have heard me cry out in terror when I narrowly achieved the double of avoiding the pedestrian on one side and the car on the other side of me. For some reason I always reach for religious curses at times like those, despite my lack of belief. Must be the monthly visits to church with the scouts coming out. So if you once heard, "Jesus fucking Christ!" being bellowed in the vicinity - that was me.
That's a really grim experience. But I was thinking of going through a red light, though, which presuimably this wasn't.
Cyclists seem uniquely aggressive in the UK. I suspect it’s because we’re not a very bicycle-friendly nation (as polls show) so cyclists feel they have to fight for the right to be on the road. This creates a vicious, er, cycle - where others perceive them as aggressive so the tension worsens
I’ve nearly been run over by several in Regent’s Park - whizzing through red lights at speed - not giving a fuck - even though multiple kids cross ti get into the park. Wankers
Other countries don’t seem to have this pestilence of super-charged twats going as fast as they can within city centres
As a recent convert to cycle commuting I think that one issue is that it still feels fairly unsafe cycling on the road, and this discourages more risk averse or less confident cyclists from using the roads. This means that a high proportion of cyclists are aggressive risk taking types, and their behaviour then sets the norm. So for instance, generally speaking I don't cycle through red lights, but I do sometimes eg when there are no other road users or pedestrians crossing, especially if it's just a left turn. If everyone else is doing it too you feel a bit stupid waiting there, it is much easier and often safer just to go with the flow and do what everyone else is doing. My general philosophy of road usage as a cyclist and a driver is to pay most attention to those more vulnerable than you. For a cyclist that means pedestrians, and for a motorist that means cyclists.
Would you go through that red light in your car, if there was no-one around? How’s about if your bike had a number plate?
Have you seen Manhunt: Unabomber? Very interesting psychological element about someone on their own, on a deserted road, in the middle of the night, stopped at a red traffic light. What in the psyche makes someone stay there or ignore it.
In the show the Unabomber poses just such a question to the FBI guy who we see, stopped at a red light on a deserted road...but he does eye up the light and then the scene finishes.
Bernie Ecclestone. I’m sure he’ll find a way to pay them off.
I'm sure he can find a character witness to vouch for him being a pretty straight kind of guy.
I know two F1 engineers (now ex engineers; they've left the industry). When he finally shuffles off this mortal coil, I expect a few juicy stories about Bernie to come out.
Cyclists seem uniquely aggressive in the UK. I suspect it’s because we’re not a very bicycle-friendly nation (as polls show) so cyclists feel they have to fight for the right to be on the road. This creates a vicious, er, cycle - where others perceive them as aggressive so the tension worsens
I’ve nearly been run over by several in Regent’s Park - whizzing through red lights at speed - not giving a fuck - even though multiple kids cross ti get into the park. Wankers
Other countries don’t seem to have this pestilence of super-charged twats going as fast as they can within city centres
As a recent convert to cycle commuting I think that one issue is that it still feels fairly unsafe cycling on the road, and this discourages more risk averse or less confident cyclists from using the roads. This means that a high proportion of cyclists are aggressive risk taking types, and their behaviour then sets the norm. So for instance, generally speaking I don't cycle through red lights, but I do sometimes eg when there are no other road users or pedestrians crossing, especially if it's just a left turn. If everyone else is doing it too you feel a bit stupid waiting there, it is much easier and often safer just to go with the flow and do what everyone else is doing. My general philosophy of road usage as a cyclist and a driver is to pay most attention to those more vulnerable than you. For a cyclist that means pedestrians, and for a motorist that means cyclists.
Would you go through that red light in your car, if there was no-one around? How’s about if your bike had a number plate?
While I get your point and agree, if it were up to me it would be legal to turn left at a red light, if there is no-one around. Many nations with RHT allow turn right at a red light in similar circumstances.
Of course. Right-on-red (or left-on-red as it would be in the UK) is an interesting one. My initial guess would be that the junctions are designed around the rules of the road, so there might be unintended consequences. Where I am now, there’s often a filter lane right with a give way rather than a light, which works well most of the time.
My original point was, that is there a difference between illegally running a red light in a car, and running a red light on a bike - to which the correct answer is no, there isn’t.
Because working with the Toreeees is always evil - except when the SNP do it.....
I'm not a Green/SNP ultra but this is a complete disaster for those of us who engage in the extreme sport "cycling about in Edinburgh".
The Tories are rabidly pro-driver here. It's honestly impossible to find a reason to vote for the neanderthals either on a national or local basis - everything is a culture war. I think they associate bikes with wokeists.
I am no fan of the democratic abomination where a tiny group of 13 Labour councillors can control a council comprised of 63 elected members, but in what respect is the new Labour minority administration “a complete disaster” for cyclists? I got the impression that Scottish Labour is quite pro-cycling? Or are the Edinburgh Labourites uncharacteristically pro-car?
(Incidentally, the centre-right are very pro-cycling in many European countries, so the hostility of the ones on the big island is a bit of a mystery. Surely we ought to be encouraging healthy and cheap activities? Makes our cities cleaner and more pleasant to live in. Reduces heart-lung and obesity catastrophe. Is fun!! Or ought to be…)
If they could ban cyclists in Edinburgh it would considerably increase my safety and life expectancy and that of all other pedestrians.
Seems unlikely.
'Of around 400 pedestrians killed in collisions in the UK each year, about 2.5 involve a bicycle. Put it another way: more than 99% of pedestrian collision deaths in this country involve a motorised vehicle.'
As you push them back into their cars you many well be increasing your own risk.
It is astonishing to witness the media prominence given to (relatively rare) rail, maritime and aviation loss of life and life-changing disability injuries whereas the literally daily carnage caused by motor vehicles gets a brief mention on page 32, if you’re lucky.
Yes. IMO most anti cyclist sentiment is derived from selection bias. A cyclist ignore the highway code it is remembered and anecdotes are created as they are the other. A motorist breaks the code its not remarkable just something that happens as they are in group.
I've always felt that cycling on Britain's roads is the closest to active discrimination I can get in the UK. The power dynamic is huge and you're entirely at the whim of what feels to be a capricious often actively malicious percentage of road users.
The majority of drivers are lovely and courteous, 5% are ignorant and 1% are bastards.
I can't remember the last time I saw a car run a red light. Cyclists? All the bloody time.
I'm not saying that cyclists are brilliant. For sure the type of transport dictates which rule breaking is more common. Just that inconsiderate driving will not be remembered to the extant that cycling will.
Do you really remember the driver that cut you up on the roundabout? Or was doing 100+ on the motorway? Or ignored the zebra crossing you were waiting at?
One thing to be in another car, another not to be. And cars don't normally drive on pavements. Unlike cyclists, who are sometimes actually encouraged to do so.
You're much more likely to be killed by a car on the pavement then a cyclist, pavement or otherwise.
Of course there is a power dynamic between cyclist and pedestrians. But the dynamic between drivers and everyone else is much greater and far far deadlier.
I've never had a run in with a car on the pacement in Edinburgh that I can recall. But several very close shaves with cyclists, some at top speed. Precisely the sort of incident which leads to heads impacting the pavement.
The sooner we see licence plates and licences and cycling tests and compulsory training the happier I will be.
On cyclists' aggression - I have done "everything" in London: driving cars, riding scooters, riding motorbikes, and cycling (and horses but that's a separate issue).
I now cycle and am frequently the only idiot waiting at the red traffic light as everyone flies through. It irritates me greatly. I don't think that other cyclists are particularly aggressive although they are super vulnerable so perhaps it's a get your retaliation in first. Yesterday on the Embankment opposite the Savoy there was an ambulance with its crew tending a splattered cyclist who was sitting up in a space blanket but his face and legs were pretty messed up, although he was conscious and talking.
Can happen any time to a cyclist. Slightly less so to a motorcyclist but there are always black cabs to mow you down.
Bernie Ecclestone. I’m sure he’ll find a way to pay them off.
I'm sure he can find a character witness to vouch for him being a pretty straight kind of guy.
I know two F1 engineers (now ex engineers; they've left the industry). When he finally shuffles off this mortal coil, I expect a few juicy stories about Bernie to come out.
There’s a **lot** of stuff to come out once he passes.
Cyclists seem uniquely aggressive in the UK. I suspect it’s because we’re not a very bicycle-friendly nation (as polls show) so cyclists feel they have to fight for the right to be on the road. This creates a vicious, er, cycle - where others perceive them as aggressive so the tension worsens
I’ve nearly been run over by several in Regent’s Park - whizzing through red lights at speed - not giving a fuck - even though multiple kids cross ti get into the park. Wankers
Other countries don’t seem to have this pestilence of super-charged twats going as fast as they can within city centres
As a recent convert to cycle commuting I think that one issue is that it still feels fairly unsafe cycling on the road, and this discourages more risk averse or less confident cyclists from using the roads. This means that a high proportion of cyclists are aggressive risk taking types, and their behaviour then sets the norm. So for instance, generally speaking I don't cycle through red lights, but I do sometimes eg when there are no other road users or pedestrians crossing, especially if it's just a left turn. If everyone else is doing it too you feel a bit stupid waiting there, it is much easier and often safer just to go with the flow and do what everyone else is doing. My general philosophy of road usage as a cyclist and a driver is to pay most attention to those more vulnerable than you. For a cyclist that means pedestrians, and for a motorist that means cyclists.
Would you go through that red light in your car, if there was no-one around? How’s about if your bike had a number plate?
And we'vge had cyclists complaining todfay about people they didn't see appearing suddenly in front of them. Ergo, "nobody visible" doesn't mean it's safe to jump a red.
I saw the last pedestrian to nearly kill me by stepping out in front of me from some distance away. I saw them standing on the pavement. And then I saw them step out right in front of me.
Several hundred people on George IV bridge will have heard me cry out in terror when I narrowly achieved the double of avoiding the pedestrian on one side and the car on the other side of me. For some reason I always reach for religious curses at times like those, despite my lack of belief. Must be the monthly visits to church with the scouts coming out. So if you once heard, "Jesus fucking Christ!" being bellowed in the vicinity - that was me.
That's a really grim experience. But I was thinking of going through a red light, though, which presuimably this wasn't.
I guess my point is that most of us will have had more or less traumatic experiences on the road one way or another, where the common factor between the people causing danger is not whether they're a driver or a cyclist, male, female, young or old, but whether they were briefly not paying attention or are simply an entitled arsehole.
It seems Rishi's proposals are much broader than anything Labour were suggesting and so far they have received a positive reception from the media and others
I would just say to conservative mps get in your letters and remove Boris and win GE 24
Cyclists seem uniquely aggressive in the UK. I suspect it’s because we’re not a very bicycle-friendly nation (as polls show) so cyclists feel they have to fight for the right to be on the road. This creates a vicious, er, cycle - where others perceive them as aggressive so the tension worsens
I’ve nearly been run over by several in Regent’s Park - whizzing through red lights at speed - not giving a fuck - even though multiple kids cross ti get into the park. Wankers
Other countries don’t seem to have this pestilence of super-charged twats going as fast as they can within city centres
As a recent convert to cycle commuting I think that one issue is that it still feels fairly unsafe cycling on the road, and this discourages more risk averse or less confident cyclists from using the roads. This means that a high proportion of cyclists are aggressive risk taking types, and their behaviour then sets the norm. So for instance, generally speaking I don't cycle through red lights, but I do sometimes eg when there are no other road users or pedestrians crossing, especially if it's just a left turn. If everyone else is doing it too you feel a bit stupid waiting there, it is much easier and often safer just to go with the flow and do what everyone else is doing. My general philosophy of road usage as a cyclist and a driver is to pay most attention to those more vulnerable than you. For a cyclist that means pedestrians, and for a motorist that means cyclists.
Would you go through that red light in your car, if there was no-one around? How’s about if your bike had a number plate?
About 20 years ago, the City of London police did a crackdown on people jumping red lights. They pulled people over, and then got points put on the cyclists' driving licenses for their transgressions.
Which, by the way, is a good idea for the most egregious rule breakers.
However it did cause problems. My then boss was pulled over for running a red light, and they demanded his driving license. "I don't have one", he said. And they refused to believe him. They - stupidly - decided to escalate this, taking him down the station on the assumption that he was lying (he wasn't.)
We haven’t discussed the very minor brouhaha about M&S pulling out of town centres in favour of out-of-town malls.
Blame anti-parking local governments.
Not seen it but am reminded of this:-
A much bigger blow for the women was the recent closure of Marks & Spencer. ‘There’s nothing nice here any more,’ ‘Nowhere to get something special – nowhere for presents,’ ‘Nowhere with good-quality things – nice knickers.’ I was struck by the powerful impact of the loss of M&S as the pollster Peter Kellner had sent me an interesting article a few months before, pointing out how M&S store closures in small towns could be mapped closely to the Brexit-voting seats that Labour lost. He suggested that we might think of M&S as the canary in the mine, an early prediction of future demise in towns that have lost their sense of purpose. Beyond the Red Wall. Deborah Mattinson.
M&S is one of the best things about the UK, and so I think Kellner’s analysis is very savvy.
I find the issue interesting as Britain really really should try to avoid the US model of dead town and nearby strip mall.
Is it though? You sound like some Brexit voters with their nostalgia glasses on all the time.
I’m thinking more of the food.
But I do know people who rely on M&S for clothings basics. They tend to be poorer and maybe older, but M&S delivers quality.
I'm still wondering why I can't get a food delivery from M&S. It's quite annoying.
Voting the smug b****** out of office is quite another.
Useful nonetheless whatever the outcome. It's already the case that they are all, unless stating otherwise, endorsing him, his behaviour, and his leadership, but a vote, even lost, would force them all to make an active choice. That's useful even if we would not know which way they voted.
Now, last time the public figure was nowhere near the trigger level when it was announced it was hit, so we cannot really know, but it is a pretty high number to reach, unfortunately.
Because working with the Toreeees is always evil - except when the SNP do it.....
I'm not a Green/SNP ultra but this is a complete disaster for those of us who engage in the extreme sport "cycling about in Edinburgh".
The Tories are rabidly pro-driver here. It's honestly impossible to find a reason to vote for the neanderthals either on a national or local basis - everything is a culture war. I think they associate bikes with wokeists.
I am no fan of the democratic abomination where a tiny group of 13 Labour councillors can control a council comprised of 63 elected members, but in what respect is the new Labour minority administration “a complete disaster” for cyclists? I got the impression that Scottish Labour is quite pro-cycling? Or are the Edinburgh Labourites uncharacteristically pro-car?
(Incidentally, the centre-right are very pro-cycling in many European countries, so the hostility of the ones on the big island is a bit of a mystery. Surely we ought to be encouraging healthy and cheap activities? Makes our cities cleaner and more pleasant to live in. Reduces heart-lung and obesity catastrophe. Is fun!! Or ought to be…)
If they could ban cyclists in Edinburgh it would considerably increase my safety and life expectancy and that of all other pedestrians.
Seems unlikely.
'Of around 400 pedestrians killed in collisions in the UK each year, about 2.5 involve a bicycle. Put it another way: more than 99% of pedestrian collision deaths in this country involve a motorised vehicle.'
As you push them back into their cars you many well be increasing your own risk.
It is astonishing to witness the media prominence given to (relatively rare) rail, maritime and aviation loss of life and life-changing disability injuries whereas the literally daily carnage caused by motor vehicles gets a brief mention on page 32, if you’re lucky.
Harvard Psycology Professor Steven Pinker’s book ‘Rationality’, came up with the statistic that more Americans die every year in plane crashes, than in car crashes - if all you do is watch is the national news networks and count the deaths. A significant number surveyed by pollsters agree.
The reality is a difference of two orders of magnitude, and three orders of magnitude if you ignore recreational aviation. More than 100 people die in car crashes, every day in the US.
Almost as many Americans died in car crashes in each year during the Vietnam War than died in the entire Vietnam War.
There are an extraordinary number of road deaths in the US every year - more than 40,000 last year. That's the equivalent of a small parliamentary constituency dying on the roads every year.
More carnage than from guns? Pun intended.
Road accidents have always been a high risk factor for the US *Army* itself - an appreciable proportion of casualties even in active war.
Same in HMF. It used to be (during Op Banner) that more soldiers died in road accidents than on active service. Including a good friend of mine.
Cyclists seem uniquely aggressive in the UK. I suspect it’s because we’re not a very bicycle-friendly nation (as polls show) so cyclists feel they have to fight for the right to be on the road. This creates a vicious, er, cycle - where others perceive them as aggressive so the tension worsens
I’ve nearly been run over by several in Regent’s Park - whizzing through red lights at speed - not giving a fuck - even though multiple kids cross ti get into the park. Wankers
Other countries don’t seem to have this pestilence of super-charged twats going as fast as they can within city centres
As a recent convert to cycle commuting I think that one issue is that it still feels fairly unsafe cycling on the road, and this discourages more risk averse or less confident cyclists from using the roads. This means that a high proportion of cyclists are aggressive risk taking types, and their behaviour then sets the norm. So for instance, generally speaking I don't cycle through red lights, but I do sometimes eg when there are no other road users or pedestrians crossing, especially if it's just a left turn. If everyone else is doing it too you feel a bit stupid waiting there, it is much easier and often safer just to go with the flow and do what everyone else is doing. My general philosophy of road usage as a cyclist and a driver is to pay most attention to those more vulnerable than you. For a cyclist that means pedestrians, and for a motorist that means cyclists.
Would you go through that red light in your car, if there was no-one around? How’s about if your bike had a number plate?
About 20 years ago, the City of London police did a crackdown on people jumping red lights. They pulled people over, and then got points put on the cyclists' driving licenses for their transgressions.
Which, by the way, is a good idea for the most egregious rule breakers.
However it did cause problems. My then boss was pulled over for running a red light, and they demanded his driving license. "I don't have one", he said. And they refused to believe him. They - stupidly - decided to escalate this, taking him down the station on the assumption that he was lying (he wasn't.)
Because working with the Toreeees is always evil - except when the SNP do it.....
I'm not a Green/SNP ultra but this is a complete disaster for those of us who engage in the extreme sport "cycling about in Edinburgh".
The Tories are rabidly pro-driver here. It's honestly impossible to find a reason to vote for the neanderthals either on a national or local basis - everything is a culture war. I think they associate bikes with wokeists.
I am no fan of the democratic abomination where a tiny group of 13 Labour councillors can control a council comprised of 63 elected members, but in what respect is the new Labour minority administration “a complete disaster” for cyclists? I got the impression that Scottish Labour is quite pro-cycling? Or are the Edinburgh Labourites uncharacteristically pro-car?
(Incidentally, the centre-right are very pro-cycling in many European countries, so the hostility of the ones on the big island is a bit of a mystery. Surely we ought to be encouraging healthy and cheap activities? Makes our cities cleaner and more pleasant to live in. Reduces heart-lung and obesity catastrophe. Is fun!! Or ought to be…)
If they could ban cyclists in Edinburgh it would considerably increase my safety and life expectancy and that of all other pedestrians.
Seems unlikely.
'Of around 400 pedestrians killed in collisions in the UK each year, about 2.5 involve a bicycle. Put it another way: more than 99% of pedestrian collision deaths in this country involve a motorised vehicle.'
As you push them back into their cars you many well be increasing your own risk.
It is astonishing to witness the media prominence given to (relatively rare) rail, maritime and aviation loss of life and life-changing disability injuries whereas the literally daily carnage caused by motor vehicles gets a brief mention on page 32, if you’re lucky.
Yes. IMO most anti cyclist sentiment is derived from selection bias. A cyclist ignore the highway code it is remembered and anecdotes are created as they are the other. A motorist breaks the code its not remarkable just something that happens as they are in group.
I've always felt that cycling on Britain's roads is the closest to active discrimination I can get in the UK. The power dynamic is huge and you're entirely at the whim of what feels to be a capricious often actively malicious percentage of road users.
The majority of drivers are lovely and courteous, 5% are ignorant and 1% are bastards.
I can't remember the last time I saw a car run a red light. Cyclists? All the bloody time.
I'm not saying that cyclists are brilliant. For sure the type of transport dictates which rule breaking is more common. Just that inconsiderate driving will not be remembered to the extant that cycling will.
Do you really remember the driver that cut you up on the roundabout? Or was doing 100+ on the motorway? Or ignored the zebra crossing you were waiting at?
One thing to be in another car, another not to be. And cars don't normally drive on pavements. Unlike cyclists, who are sometimes actually encouraged to do so.
You're much more likely to be killed by a car on the pavement then a cyclist, pavement or otherwise.
Of course there is a power dynamic between cyclist and pedestrians. But the dynamic between drivers and everyone else is much greater and far far deadlier.
I've never had a run in with a car on the pacement in Edinburgh that I can recall. But several very close shaves with cyclists, some at top speed. Precisely the sort of incident which leads to heads impacting the pavement.
The sooner we see licence plates and licences and cycling tests and compulsory training the happier I will be.
You're a thousand time more likely to be assaulted than to be hit by a bike.
The sooner we all have identifying tattoos and microchips the safer you'll be.
They called me crazy when I predicted Labour being very firmly ahead.
That is my next crazy prediction
They only got 16.8% in 97, and Davey is no Ashdown.
True, but I don't remember Paddy having that high a profile, I thought it was wall-to-wall Tony Blair and Major's-foot-in-mouth gaffs. I remember on Election97 results programme on BBC fully expecting the Libdems to barely maintain their 20 achieved in 1992. The avalanche of libdem seats (an extra 26) were a total surprise to me.
The most astonishing thing is that the LibDems actually dropped from 6 million to 5.2 million votes - and saw their seat tally more than double.
We haven’t discussed the very minor brouhaha about M&S pulling out of town centres in favour of out-of-town malls.
Blame anti-parking local governments.
Not seen it but am reminded of this:-
A much bigger blow for the women was the recent closure of Marks & Spencer. ‘There’s nothing nice here any more,’ ‘Nowhere to get something special – nowhere for presents,’ ‘Nowhere with good-quality things – nice knickers.’ I was struck by the powerful impact of the loss of M&S as the pollster Peter Kellner had sent me an interesting article a few months before, pointing out how M&S store closures in small towns could be mapped closely to the Brexit-voting seats that Labour lost. He suggested that we might think of M&S as the canary in the mine, an early prediction of future demise in towns that have lost their sense of purpose. Beyond the Red Wall. Deborah Mattinson.
M&S is one of the best things about the UK, and so I think Kellner’s analysis is very savvy.
I find the issue interesting as Britain really really should try to avoid the US model of dead town and nearby strip mall.
Is it though? You sound like some Brexit voters with their nostalgia glasses on all the time.
I’m thinking more of the food.
But I do know people who rely on M&S for clothings basics. They tend to be poorer and maybe older, but M&S delivers quality.
I'm still wondering why I can't get a food delivery from M&S. It's quite annoying.
Ocado....
Ocado don't deliver in Scotland sadly.
I wonder what happened to this?
MARKS & Spencer shoppers can now get groceries delivered to their doors in 30 minutes from 142 of the supermarket's branches - including ones in Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow. The expanded delivery service with Deliveroo, which launched yesterday, comes ahead of its £750million deal with Ocado set to start in September. - 5 May 2020
Bernie Ecclestone. I’m sure he’ll find a way to pay them off.
I'm sure he can find a character witness to vouch for him being a pretty straight kind of guy.
I'm not sure if that guy is around anymore, if you see him now he seems to have transitioned into Peter Stringfellow.
I sometimes am round the corner from him in London and I can tell you that he receives a string of high profile visitors to whom no doubt he imparts the benefit of his wisdom. And yes there is definitely a Peter Stringfellow vibe going on.
Cyclists seem uniquely aggressive in the UK. I suspect it’s because we’re not a very bicycle-friendly nation (as polls show) so cyclists feel they have to fight for the right to be on the road. This creates a vicious, er, cycle - where others perceive them as aggressive so the tension worsens
I’ve nearly been run over by several in Regent’s Park - whizzing through red lights at speed - not giving a fuck - even though multiple kids cross ti get into the park. Wankers
Other countries don’t seem to have this pestilence of super-charged twats going as fast as they can within city centres
As a recent convert to cycle commuting I think that one issue is that it still feels fairly unsafe cycling on the road, and this discourages more risk averse or less confident cyclists from using the roads. This means that a high proportion of cyclists are aggressive risk taking types, and their behaviour then sets the norm. So for instance, generally speaking I don't cycle through red lights, but I do sometimes eg when there are no other road users or pedestrians crossing, especially if it's just a left turn. If everyone else is doing it too you feel a bit stupid waiting there, it is much easier and often safer just to go with the flow and do what everyone else is doing. My general philosophy of road usage as a cyclist and a driver is to pay most attention to those more vulnerable than you. For a cyclist that means pedestrians, and for a motorist that means cyclists.
Would you go through that red light in your car, if there was no-one around? How’s about if your bike had a number plate?
About 20 years ago, the City of London police did a crackdown on people jumping red lights. They pulled people over, and then got points put on the cyclists' driving licenses for their transgressions.
Which, by the way, is a good idea for the most egregious rule breakers.
However it did cause problems. My then boss was pulled over for running a red light, and they demanded his driving license. "I don't have one", he said. And they refused to believe him. They - stupidly - decided to escalate this, taking him down the station on the assumption that he was lying (he wasn't.)
The police acting aggressively when they don't receive the response they want? I refuse to believe it...
Cyclists seem uniquely aggressive in the UK. I suspect it’s because we’re not a very bicycle-friendly nation (as polls show) so cyclists feel they have to fight for the right to be on the road. This creates a vicious, er, cycle - where others perceive them as aggressive so the tension worsens
I’ve nearly been run over by several in Regent’s Park - whizzing through red lights at speed - not giving a fuck - even though multiple kids cross ti get into the park. Wankers
Other countries don’t seem to have this pestilence of super-charged twats going as fast as they can within city centres
As a recent convert to cycle commuting I think that one issue is that it still feels fairly unsafe cycling on the road, and this discourages more risk averse or less confident cyclists from using the roads. This means that a high proportion of cyclists are aggressive risk taking types, and their behaviour then sets the norm. So for instance, generally speaking I don't cycle through red lights, but I do sometimes eg when there are no other road users or pedestrians crossing, especially if it's just a left turn. If everyone else is doing it too you feel a bit stupid waiting there, it is much easier and often safer just to go with the flow and do what everyone else is doing. My general philosophy of road usage as a cyclist and a driver is to pay most attention to those more vulnerable than you. For a cyclist that means pedestrians, and for a motorist that means cyclists.
Would you go through that red light in your car, if there was no-one around? How’s about if your bike had a number plate?
About 20 years ago, the City of London police did a crackdown on people jumping red lights. They pulled people over, and then got points put on the cyclists' driving licenses for their transgressions.
Which, by the way, is a good idea for the most egregious rule breakers.
However it did cause problems. My then boss was pulled over for running a red light, and they demanded his driving license. "I don't have one", he said. And they refused to believe him. They - stupidly - decided to escalate this, taking him down the station on the assumption that he was lying (he wasn't.)
Yes, people dont realise they can have their driving licence endorsed, if they have one, for offences committed on a vehicle for which a licence isn’t required.
There have been a few “drunk in charge of a horse” or “drunk in charge of an electric scooter” procecutions, where people who had sensibly left their car at the pub ended up banned from driving as a result. I’m not sure that’s particularly a good thing, where maybe a fine should be more appropriate.
They called me crazy when I predicted Labour being very firmly ahead.
That is my next crazy prediction
They only got 16.8% in 97, and Davey is no Ashdown.
True, but I don't remember Paddy having that high a profile, I thought it was wall-to-wall Tony Blair and Major's-foot-in-mouth gaffs. I remember on Election97 results programme on BBC fully expecting the Libdems to barely maintain their 20 achieved in 1992. The avalanche of libdem seats (an extra 26) were a total surprise to me.
The most astonishing thing is that the LibDems actually dropped from 6 million to 5.2 million votes - and saw their seat tally more than double.
When you lose 800,000 and the government loses 4 and a half million even retrograde support can win a hatful. It handed them a 5000 or more vote swing per seat
Bernie Ecclestone. I’m sure he’ll find a way to pay them off.
I'm sure he can find a character witness to vouch for him being a pretty straight kind of guy.
I know two F1 engineers (now ex engineers; they've left the industry). When he finally shuffles off this mortal coil, I expect a few juicy stories about Bernie to come out.
There’s a **lot** of stuff to come out once he passes.
Cyclists seem uniquely aggressive in the UK. I suspect it’s because we’re not a very bicycle-friendly nation (as polls show) so cyclists feel they have to fight for the right to be on the road. This creates a vicious, er, cycle - where others perceive them as aggressive so the tension worsens
I’ve nearly been run over by several in Regent’s Park - whizzing through red lights at speed - not giving a fuck - even though multiple kids cross ti get into the park. Wankers
Other countries don’t seem to have this pestilence of super-charged twats going as fast as they can within city centres
As a recent convert to cycle commuting I think that one issue is that it still feels fairly unsafe cycling on the road, and this discourages more risk averse or less confident cyclists from using the roads. This means that a high proportion of cyclists are aggressive risk taking types, and their behaviour then sets the norm. So for instance, generally speaking I don't cycle through red lights, but I do sometimes eg when there are no other road users or pedestrians crossing, especially if it's just a left turn. If everyone else is doing it too you feel a bit stupid waiting there, it is much easier and often safer just to go with the flow and do what everyone else is doing. My general philosophy of road usage as a cyclist and a driver is to pay most attention to those more vulnerable than you. For a cyclist that means pedestrians, and for a motorist that means cyclists.
Would you go through that red light in your car, if there was no-one around? How’s about if your bike had a number plate?
About 20 years ago, the City of London police did a crackdown on people jumping red lights. They pulled people over, and then got points put on the cyclists' driving licenses for their transgressions.
Which, by the way, is a good idea for the most egregious rule breakers.
However it did cause problems. My then boss was pulled over for running a red light, and they demanded his driving license. "I don't have one", he said. And they refused to believe him. They - stupidly - decided to escalate this, taking him down the station on the assumption that he was lying (he wasn't.)
Waiting for the punch line......
There wasn't really a punchline. The police grudgingly accepted that he didn't have a driving license, but only after he'd spent a couple of hours at the station. He was very indignant and wrote letters to the police, his MP, etc., and I don't think anything happened.
But I kind of get where the police were coming from: a well off 35 year old American bloke in London is 99% likely to have a driving license. And the police didn't want people pulling a Huhne and saying "sorry, I don't have a license". But they massively overreacted to his denials. Taking his name and number and verifying it later would have been much more sensible. (Although, I guess, still vulnerable to people lying to the police.)
On topic that's a great LibDem message. Did 300 Cons MPs really vote against a windfall tax last week?!
Its not really a particularly interesting point, voting against an opposition proposal. You just say we didn't agree with that plan, ours is better. Happens all the time, even if it is massively disingenuous.
And in general voters don't care about who came up with what idea, it is if the government do something (however unfair that is) and is it any good.
Cyclists seem uniquely aggressive in the UK. I suspect it’s because we’re not a very bicycle-friendly nation (as polls show) so cyclists feel they have to fight for the right to be on the road. This creates a vicious, er, cycle - where others perceive them as aggressive so the tension worsens
I’ve nearly been run over by several in Regent’s Park - whizzing through red lights at speed - not giving a fuck - even though multiple kids cross ti get into the park. Wankers
Other countries don’t seem to have this pestilence of super-charged twats going as fast as they can within city centres
As a recent convert to cycle commuting I think that one issue is that it still feels fairly unsafe cycling on the road, and this discourages more risk averse or less confident cyclists from using the roads. This means that a high proportion of cyclists are aggressive risk taking types, and their behaviour then sets the norm. So for instance, generally speaking I don't cycle through red lights, but I do sometimes eg when there are no other road users or pedestrians crossing, especially if it's just a left turn. If everyone else is doing it too you feel a bit stupid waiting there, it is much easier and often safer just to go with the flow and do what everyone else is doing. My general philosophy of road usage as a cyclist and a driver is to pay most attention to those more vulnerable than you. For a cyclist that means pedestrians, and for a motorist that means cyclists.
Would you go through that red light in your car, if there was no-one around? How’s about if your bike had a number plate?
About 20 years ago, the City of London police did a crackdown on people jumping red lights. They pulled people over, and then got points put on the cyclists' driving licenses for their transgressions.
Which, by the way, is a good idea for the most egregious rule breakers.
However it did cause problems. My then boss was pulled over for running a red light, and they demanded his driving license. "I don't have one", he said. And they refused to believe him. They - stupidly - decided to escalate this, taking him down the station on the assumption that he was lying (he wasn't.)
Yes, people dont realise they can have their driving licence endorsed, if they have one, for offences committed on a vehicle for which a licence isn’t required.
There have been a few “drunk in charge of a horse” or “drunk in charge of an electric scooter” procecutions, where people who had sensibly left their car at the pub ended up banned from driving as a result. I’m not sure that’s particularly a good thing, where maybe a fine should be more appropriate.
Bloody hell I've been on a (pedal) bike many times having had far too many sherberts. Had no idea there was a crossover with your actual driving licence. While on reflection it's perhaps not the best idea, I thought I was vaguely doing the "right" thing...
Cyclists seem uniquely aggressive in the UK. I suspect it’s because we’re not a very bicycle-friendly nation (as polls show) so cyclists feel they have to fight for the right to be on the road. This creates a vicious, er, cycle - where others perceive them as aggressive so the tension worsens
I’ve nearly been run over by several in Regent’s Park - whizzing through red lights at speed - not giving a fuck - even though multiple kids cross ti get into the park. Wankers
Other countries don’t seem to have this pestilence of super-charged twats going as fast as they can within city centres
As a recent convert to cycle commuting I think that one issue is that it still feels fairly unsafe cycling on the road, and this discourages more risk averse or less confident cyclists from using the roads. This means that a high proportion of cyclists are aggressive risk taking types, and their behaviour then sets the norm. So for instance, generally speaking I don't cycle through red lights, but I do sometimes eg when there are no other road users or pedestrians crossing, especially if it's just a left turn. If everyone else is doing it too you feel a bit stupid waiting there, it is much easier and often safer just to go with the flow and do what everyone else is doing. My general philosophy of road usage as a cyclist and a driver is to pay most attention to those more vulnerable than you. For a cyclist that means pedestrians, and for a motorist that means cyclists.
Would you go through that red light in your car, if there was no-one around? How’s about if your bike had a number plate?
About 20 years ago, the City of London police did a crackdown on people jumping red lights. They pulled people over, and then got points put on the cyclists' driving licenses for their transgressions.
Which, by the way, is a good idea for the most egregious rule breakers.
However it did cause problems. My then boss was pulled over for running a red light, and they demanded his driving license. "I don't have one", he said. And they refused to believe him. They - stupidly - decided to escalate this, taking him down the station on the assumption that he was lying (he wasn't.)
Yes, people dont realise they can have their driving licence endorsed, if they have one, for offences committed on a vehicle for which a licence isn’t required.
There have been a few “drunk in charge of a horse” or “drunk in charge of an electric scooter” procecutions, where people who had sensibly left their car at the pub ended up banned from driving as a result. I’m not sure that’s particularly a good thing, where maybe a fine should be more appropriate.
I knew a guy who fell off his bike pissed on a roundabout outside a cop shop late one night. The great tool.
Cyclists seem uniquely aggressive in the UK. I suspect it’s because we’re not a very bicycle-friendly nation (as polls show) so cyclists feel they have to fight for the right to be on the road. This creates a vicious, er, cycle - where others perceive them as aggressive so the tension worsens
I’ve nearly been run over by several in Regent’s Park - whizzing through red lights at speed - not giving a fuck - even though multiple kids cross ti get into the park. Wankers
Other countries don’t seem to have this pestilence of super-charged twats going as fast as they can within city centres
As a recent convert to cycle commuting I think that one issue is that it still feels fairly unsafe cycling on the road, and this discourages more risk averse or less confident cyclists from using the roads. This means that a high proportion of cyclists are aggressive risk taking types, and their behaviour then sets the norm. So for instance, generally speaking I don't cycle through red lights, but I do sometimes eg when there are no other road users or pedestrians crossing, especially if it's just a left turn. If everyone else is doing it too you feel a bit stupid waiting there, it is much easier and often safer just to go with the flow and do what everyone else is doing. My general philosophy of road usage as a cyclist and a driver is to pay most attention to those more vulnerable than you. For a cyclist that means pedestrians, and for a motorist that means cyclists.
Would you go through that red light in your car, if there was no-one around? How’s about if your bike had a number plate?
About 20 years ago, the City of London police did a crackdown on people jumping red lights. They pulled people over, and then got points put on the cyclists' driving licenses for their transgressions.
Which, by the way, is a good idea for the most egregious rule breakers.
However it did cause problems. My then boss was pulled over for running a red light, and they demanded his driving license. "I don't have one", he said. And they refused to believe him. They - stupidly - decided to escalate this, taking him down the station on the assumption that he was lying (he wasn't.)
Probably made him think twice about jumping the lights, though ?
Treasury have confirmed that people with second homes will get the £400 energy bill discount for each one
Fucking hell
Including rather a lot of MPs, I presume? Though on reflection isn't their leccy bill at one house paid for by the state already? So it shouldn't make any difference?
Annoying that 2nd home owners get this, but I suspect the cost of trying to NOT send them the money would be too great. I doubt utilities have a record of which home is actually a 2nd one.
In Wales, second homes are already known about as they pay a Council Tax premium for them.
But the credit is being dealt with through the energy companies, who work from their own database that doesn’t interface with the local authority.
So the actual poorest people will miss out then, those on pay as you go meters and who therefore have no relationship with the energy supplier though the landlord will have.
Interesting question, to which I honestly have no idea. Someone should Tweet at Martin Lewis, who’s currently doing an online Q&A with Sunak.
I'm watching the live feed. Sunak has an impressive grasp of detail.
Comments
edit - p.s. apols CHB, just couldn't resist.
https://www.skysports.com/share/12621852
He was a regular on Spitting Image, for example.
Hard to even imagine what an Ed Davey puppet would do.
They are very good at the ground war in by-election campaigns, but very poor at the air war.
Anecdote from being a uni RAG week collector two decades ago - standing outside M&S was *always* the best place for donations in any given town, and the collectors would (figuratively) fight each other to be there.
The greased piglet won’t stop wriggling…
https://order-order.com/2022/05/26/labour-to-appoint-fpn-loving-harman-to-lead-investigation-into-boris/
I used to cycle commute, until my job changed to working on several sites so no longer viable. Most of Britain is not set up for safe cycling, compared to countries where it is the norm, like Netherlands or Denmark. The Dutch and Danes have some of the lowest obesity rates in Northern Europe as a result despite diets that aren't much healthier than ours.
then surely....
This could be interesting - Mr Sunak interviewed by Martin Lewis.
Pun intended.
I believe drug overdoses, mostly opiates beat road traffic and gun deaths combined.
America is a very strange society to tolerate this.
In order to get this to go through smoothly and easily, and with the minimum of administration, simply applying a £400 discount to everyone makes sense.
If you try to separate who gets this without getting fraud, and without anyone falling through the cracks, that's going to be a lot of extra admin costs for very minimal gain.
Far better to handle second home owners via regular taxation routes for them, like a surcharge on Council Tax that is payable every single year, rather than through one of individual items like this.
Same reason universal benefits make better sense than means tested ones, design your system properly and you should just tax once rather than a million different ways.
And the ubiquitous benefit claimants with BMW's and non-stop foreign holidays seems to be proliferating too.
Moscow was on high alert for Sunak's speech I reckon.
Several hundred people on George IV bridge will have heard me cry out in terror when I narrowly achieved the double of avoiding the pedestrian on one side and the car on the other side of me. For some reason I always reach for religious curses at times like those, despite my lack of belief. Must be the monthly visits to church with the scouts coming out. So if you once heard, "Jesus fucking Christ!" being bellowed in the vicinity - that was me.
Voting the smug b****** out of office is quite another.
Like its a unique trait
Of course there is a power dynamic between cyclist and pedestrians. But the dynamic between drivers and everyone else is much greater and far far deadlier.
No detail though
In the show the Unabomber poses just such a question to the FBI guy who we see, stopped at a red light on a deserted road...but he does eye up the light and then the scene finishes.
Excellent.
My original point was, that is there a difference between illegally running a red light in a car, and running a red light on a bike - to which the correct answer is no, there isn’t.
The sooner we see licence plates and licences and cycling tests and compulsory training the happier I will be.
I now cycle and am frequently the only idiot waiting at the red traffic light as everyone flies through. It irritates me greatly. I don't think that other cyclists are particularly aggressive although they are super vulnerable so perhaps it's a get your retaliation in first. Yesterday on the Embankment opposite the Savoy there was an ambulance with its crew tending a splattered cyclist who was sitting up in a space blanket but his face and legs were pretty messed up, although he was conscious and talking.
Can happen any time to a cyclist. Slightly less so to a motorcyclist but there are always black cabs to mow you down.
I would just say to conservative mps get in your letters and remove Boris and win GE 24
Which, by the way, is a good idea for the most egregious rule breakers.
However it did cause problems. My then boss was pulled over for running a red light, and they demanded his driving license. "I don't have one", he said. And they refused to believe him. They - stupidly - decided to escalate this, taking him down the station on the assumption that he was lying (he wasn't.)
Now, last time the public figure was nowhere near the trigger level when it was announced it was hit, so we cannot really know, but it is a pretty high number to reach, unfortunately.
The sooner we all have identifying tattoos and microchips the safer you'll be.
MARKS & Spencer shoppers can now get groceries delivered to their doors in 30 minutes from 142 of the supermarket's branches - including ones in Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow. The expanded delivery service with Deliveroo, which launched yesterday, comes ahead of its £750million deal with Ocado set to start in September. - 5 May 2020
There have been a few “drunk in charge of a horse” or “drunk in charge of an electric scooter” procecutions, where people who had sensibly left their car at the pub ended up banned from driving as a result. I’m not sure that’s particularly a good thing, where maybe a fine should be more appropriate.
It handed them a 5000 or more vote swing per seat
But I kind of get where the police were coming from: a well off 35 year old American bloke in London is 99% likely to have a driving license. And the police didn't want people pulling a Huhne and saying "sorry, I don't have a license". But they massively overreacted to his denials. Taking his name and number and verifying it later would have been much more sensible. (Although, I guess, still vulnerable to people lying to the police.)
And in general voters don't care about who came up with what idea, it is if the government do something (however unfair that is) and is it any good.