Search found 4585 matches

by snibgo
8 May 2015, 7:09am
Forum: Campaigning & Public Policy
Topic: Goodbye Julian Huppert
Replies: 1
Views: 953

Goodbye Julian Huppert

Dr Huppert, MP for Cambridge, has been a victim of the hammering the LibDems received in the General Election. He was narrowly defeated by Labour. The new MP, Daniel Zeichner, seems a plausible pro-cycling MP. (See http://www.camcycle.org.uk/elections/20 ... cambridge/ )

If he is half as active as Dr Huppert has been, we will be fortunate.
by snibgo
24 Apr 2015, 6:16pm
Forum: On the road
Topic: University Project (Charging Rucksack Concept)
Replies: 30
Views: 3707

Re: University Project (Charging Rucksack Concept)

I sometimes carry a laptop in a pannier. I put it inside a laptop bag, in the pannier. No problems (so far).

I don't wear rucksacks on bikes.

The idea sounds useful for hill-walkers, especially on a walking/camping tour with limited opportunity for charging gadgets.
by snibgo
31 Mar 2015, 9:54pm
Forum: On the road
Topic: Best Farcility of the Year?? £210,000 Wasted?? Chichester
Replies: 22
Views: 7716

Re: Best Farcility of the Year?? £210,000 Wasted?? Chicheste

mjr wrote:DUAL. NETWORK. EVIL. BAD. WRONG.

Yes.

The common design goal for UK "dual networks" seems to be as somewhere for kiddies to play, away from the big dangerous motorists, ensuring kiddies don't hold up (adult) motorists.

I'm not against providing facilities for real kiddies. That's great. The problem comes when cycling is infantalised, and designers think that all cycling facilities need to be playgrounds that are separate from the important business of travelling, which they want to be done by motoring.
by snibgo
30 Mar 2015, 4:48am
Forum: On the road
Topic: Best Farcility of the Year?? £210,000 Wasted?? Chichester
Replies: 22
Views: 7716

Re: Best Farcility of the Year?? £210,000 Wasted?? Chicheste

661-Pete wrote:I cannot figure out how any oversized roundabout aka 'gyratory', constructed usually by imposing one-way flow on existing streets, has actually improved the traffic flow.

I have no solid information, but I can imagine how they might.

When a conventional (Tee or crossroads) junction carries one road with most traffic, and one or more side roads with give-way, a roundabout gives people coming out of the side-roads a chance to get out. The larger the roundabout, the more opportunity to tune the road layout to give "straight-through" ease to some directions, and sharper curves to slow down other directions. Through this, all motorists can use the junction at the same speed, which eases merging and queueing, and maximises throughput (motorists per hour).

And the larger the roundabout is, the greater the speed at which it can be driven across, which motorists love.

But a junction that also carries cyclists should (IMHO must) meet other criteria. I want all vehicles to travel at the same speed, say 10 mph. This means slowing motorists down, heavily. It needn't mean reducing the throughput (motorists per hour) but will of course increase the time for the motorists' journeys.


Encouraging cyclists to ride on the left naturally increases the risk of left-hooks. Reducing the speed of motorists to that of cyclists, and having all road-users in the same lanes, is a better solution. Best of all, in my view, is to re-engineer so cyclists have priority. If that means bollards all over the town, so be it.
by snibgo
29 Mar 2015, 9:40pm
Forum: On the road
Topic: Best Farcility of the Year?? £210,000 Wasted?? Chichester
Replies: 22
Views: 7716

Re: Best Farcility of the Year?? £210,000 Wasted?? Chicheste

Oh dear oh dear. Techno-gadgetry to inform drivers that there are cyclists about. And when the techno-gadgetry fails, the driver has the perfect excuse for driving into a cyclist. This is an amazingly stupid idea.

From the video, it seems a very car-friendly gyratory. Very large radii for the motorists enable them to speed around. Cyclists are expected to always give way to the important people, who are in cars.

The order could be inverted. Most space would be given over to cyclists who always got a clear run, with motorists always having to give way to them. The roadworks could leave the junction open for cyclists, and motorists given helpful information on finding alternative routes.
by snibgo
24 Mar 2015, 12:23pm
Forum: Campaigning & Public Policy
Topic: 'Smart' watches - another distraction?
Replies: 7
Views: 6965

Re: 'Smart' watches - another distraction?

If it's jammed in somewhere, or blu-tacked or taped or glued or in a holder ... and it doesn't have to be held to turn it on or whatever, then it isn't hand-held. But a court might need to be convinced of this.
by snibgo
23 Mar 2015, 1:43pm
Forum: Campaigning & Public Policy
Topic: 'Smart' watches - another distraction?
Replies: 7
Views: 6965

Re: 'Smart' watches - another distraction?

The legislation is The Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) (Amendment) (No. 4) Regulations 2003.

The offense is slightly wider than I had thought.
(1) No person shall drive a motor vehicle on a road if he is using—

(a)a hand-held mobile telephone; or

(b)a hand-held device of a kind specified in paragraph (4).

...

(4) A device referred to in paragraphs (1)(b), (2)(b) and (3)(b) is a device, other than a two-way radio, which performs an interactive communication function by transmitting and receiving data.

...

(6)(a) a mobile telephone or other device is to be treated as hand-held if it is, or must be, held at some point during the course of making or receiving a call or performing any other interactive communication function;

(But, roughly speaking, it's okay in an emergency.)

Court cases have arisen over the precise meaning of "drive", "road" and "using" in this context. I think that balancing a mobile in the steering wheel would be ruled as "hand-held". But I think a wrist-watch, worn on the wrist, stabbed by fingers of the other hand, probably would not be "hand-held".
by snibgo
23 Mar 2015, 12:41am
Forum: Campaigning & Public Policy
Topic: £100M going toward driverless research..so there is money
Replies: 28
Views: 8330

Re: £100M going toward driverless research..so there is mone

I've heard that radar can see through fog, so the robots will be zooming along in (human) non-visible conditions. The robots will be held back by weakly humans. Ha!

But even if driverless cars are the next best thing, why should taxpayers fund the development? Are manufacturers so cash-strapped that they can't afford the R&D? Last I heard, the taxpayers were just as hard up.

Sure, £100m isn't a huge amount. Just a couple of quid from each of us. But I've seen nothing that convinces me we should pay.
by snibgo
22 Mar 2015, 4:50pm
Forum: Campaigning & Public Policy
Topic: 'Smart' watches - another distraction?
Replies: 7
Views: 6965

Re: 'Smart' watches - another distraction?

squeaker wrote:... is using a smart watch, other than to see what time it is, ipso facto using a mobile phone?

I think the relevant wording is "hand-held communication device". If nothing is held in the hand, that offence isn't committed.

It could be a distraction, of course. "Not in proper control", etc.
by snibgo
22 Mar 2015, 1:43pm
Forum: On the road
Topic: Cyclist defence fund Michael Mason
Replies: 116
Views: 22768

Re: Cyclist defence fund Michael Mason

Bicycler wrote:Re: the helmet issue and its (ir)relevance. I have no idea what is acceptable in criminal trials. Could someone shed some light? Would the defence be allowed to argue that someone is not guilty of causing death by ..... driving because the deceased ought to have worn something which would have prevented the collision from resulting in his death? If that would be permissible then, given that everyone knows how helmets save lives, it is not as irrelevant to a successful prosecution as we might want it to be.

I'm not a lawyer, but I think there is a principle of taking the victim as he was found (or some similar wording). If the death was caused by a head injury that was caused by being knocked off by a car dangerously driving into him, then that is the cause. Even if a helmet would have prevented the death, in no way would the lack of helmet be a cause of death.

I would look for case law around seatbelts. I suppose there are cases of successful prosecution of death by dangerous driving even when the victim was (illegally) not wearing a seatbelt. One possible example: http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/1897922.0/?cid=873816
by snibgo
14 Mar 2015, 8:50pm
Forum: Campaigning & Public Policy
Topic: Tractor speed limit and trailer weight increased
Replies: 22
Views: 8343

Re: Tractor speed limit and trailer weight increased

Psamathe wrote:It was a 30 limit. So they increased the speed limit to 40 and found the average speed of vehicles dropped.

Speed limits (if they are the maximums) and average speeds are inversely correlated when the road is busy. Congested motorways are given temporary speed limits, which raises the average speed.

Unless the roads are full of tractors with trailers, raising their speed limits won't decrease the average.
by snibgo
14 Mar 2015, 12:54am
Forum: Campaigning & Public Policy
Topic: Mobility Scooters
Replies: 11
Views: 7408

Re: Mobility Scooters

BeeKeeper wrote:Class 3 vehicles ... cannot be used ... in "cycles only" cycle lanes.

I never knew that. I suppose it applies to Classes 1 and 2 as well. Next time I encounter one in a mandatory cycle lane, I'll know what to do.
by snibgo
13 Mar 2015, 3:45pm
Forum: On the road
Topic: ASL fixed penalty
Replies: 9
Views: 6028

Re: ASL fixed penalty

Enforcement is currently done with a detector loop under the road after the second stop line, and a camera pointing at that area. These could be moved to the first stop line. Technically, not difficult.

It would take motorists some time to realise that a red light means "don't cross the first stop line". Judging by cases on Pepipoo, motorists often don't realise that the stop line defines the offence. (I could say something similar about many cyclists.)
by snibgo
12 Mar 2015, 10:35pm
Forum: On the road
Topic: It's a miracle
Replies: 13
Views: 5409

Re: It's a miracle

That's because a peleton of bikes were doing the same journey in the opposite direction.