London Commuting

[rick99]

I think the cycle super highyway along the embankment and through parliament square is way more dangerous than my the old route i took down the traffic clogged strand. There are so many guys doing 25mph a whisker way from each other (cyclists) that i genuinely believe that there will be fatality. Add a few tourist pedestrians. It's mad. Not sure what they can do about it. I find myself fully on teh side of the 'anti-cyclist' crtics who talk about entitled aggresive cyclists etc.

[horizon]

On my last trip to London (in August) I had two near misses, enough to cause me concern. Both were with cyclists. On the embankment super highway I shouted at one cyclist to slow down (around a sharp bend around roadworks). The huge advantage you have in London as a cyclist is that the traffic is mainly very slow. I prefer that to bus lanes and indeed cycle super highways. Having said that, they are transforming cycling so I'm not going to knock them but they do give me food for thought.

[mjr]

I think the cycle super highyway along the embankment and through parliament square is way more dangerous than my the old route i took down the traffic clogged strand. There are so many guys doing 25mph a whisker way from each other (cyclists) that i genuinely believe that there will be fatality.

Well, I think your thoughts and belief are waaaay out of whack. Someone who knows better than me can probably extract the peak time speeds from Strava but I doubt many can do 25mph along there when it's busy - it's already becoming too congested for the volume of traffic that uses it. Despite how narrow it is, there have been few serious crashes and most of them have become internet sensations like https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RH5HBq5hOg - most of the collisions tend to be minor shunts caused by people doing silly things like https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iKk-iQqfRQ

There's probably been a big reduction in danger from when people (including me) used the Strand route because most collisions are now cyclist-cyclist rather than the bus-cyclist ones I remember. London buses are surprisingly dangerous http://saferoxfordstreet.blogspot.com/2 ... -saba.html

[rick99]

Buses aren’t too dangerous when they’re stationary. I’ve never seen an accident on the strand in 10 years of using it. I’ve seen many (perhaps 5?) crashes around the CSH involving medics etc attending the aftermath in a year by this route.
I can’t argue with cold hard Strava facts or official road accident stats. BUT, I’ll back my own perception born out of 40 years of commuting to work and school and say that I feel I am much more likely to have an accident on there than I was on the strand.
Traffic fumes etc are a different matter.


I'm a trendy consumer. Just look at my wobbly bog brush using hovercraft full of eels

[Cyril Haearn]

Maximum speed limits are needed

When I am elected mayor I shall outlaw gears above 50", fixies will be the norm

For several reasons I am glad not so many people cycle where I live, out of town there are very few except in summer