BBC 2 tonight 8.00pm

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bogmyrtle
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BBC 2 tonight 8.00pm

Post by bogmyrtle »

Inside the Factory about the production of folding bikes. I assume Brompton. Apart from annoying presenters could be interesting.
A bike does more miles to the banana than a Porsche.
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cycleruk
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Re: BBC 2 tonight 8.00pm

Post by cycleruk »

Worth a watch and yes it is the Brompton.
Thanks for the heads-up.

Iplayer:-
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0 ... 4-bicycles
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mjr
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Re: BBC 2 tonight 8.00pm

Post by mjr »

Was Reppaten at 2305 tonight. Quite interesting about the bikes, also interesting about Brooks, but the lorry and performance sections were annoying in parts (surely the conclusion should be to ask why lorries are allowed on the road where the divers can't see out properly) and I've never seen so many incorrectly-worn helmets in one show.
MJR, mostly pedalling 3-speed roadsters. KL+West Norfolk BUG incl social easy rides http://www.klwnbug.co.uk
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bogmyrtle
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Re: BBC 2 tonight 8.00pm

Post by bogmyrtle »

I thought the bit about limited visibility from a lorry cab got the point across effectively. It also showed how cab design is evolving to help overcome the problems associated with increasing number of pestrians and cyclists getting closer to the vehicle than they should. It would be completely impractical to remove every existing lorry off the road.
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Tangled Metal
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Re: BBC 2 tonight 8.00pm

Post by Tangled Metal »

That lorry segment I found spot on and very informative. I know they have limited visibility but how bad I did not know. I'm sure many more out there watching it know a lot less than me on that. Worth having in such a program. Should be in the highway code it's not that obvious the blind spot being as bad as that. I used to work on the idea that if you can see the side mirrors the driver can see you but obviously not the case.

Taking trucks off the road and you'll not get anything to shops, to construction sites, rubbish collected, industry in towns and cities would be impossible, etc. The answer is at best reduce them and try to move it to outside peak times. Make trucks have.better sight lines which is the requirement in London. Needs making it universal across the UK.
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mjr
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Re: BBC 2 tonight 8.00pm

Post by mjr »

bogmyrtle wrote:It would be completely impractical to remove every existing lorry off the road.

Why? They're going to get removed eventually and most have several refits/refurbishments during their lifetimes, so a refit-or-remove programme seems completely practical. No-one's suggesting it should be overnight, but we really should be talking about a timely changeover in the interests of public safety. Requiring such lorries to use a banksman in urban areas would create a few jobs, too.

Tangled Metal wrote:That lorry segment I found spot on and very informative. I know they have limited visibility but how bad I did not know. I'm sure many more out there watching it know a lot less than me on that. Worth having in such a program. Should be in the highway code it's not that obvious the blind spot being as bad as that. I used to work on the idea that if you can see the side mirrors the driver can see you but obviously not the case.

I recorded it so I can rewatch it, but I think that lorry looked like it was legal and had the full complement of mirrors, but they were careful not to show them or tell Cherry to use them - and as presumably a car/van driver at best, she's not used to having all those mirrors. For example, I'm sure those three cyclists in front would have been visible in the top mirror.

Tangled Metal wrote:The answer is at best reduce them and try to move it to outside peak times. Make trucks have.better sight lines which is the requirement in London. Needs making it universal across the UK.

Exactly! As well as time restrictions for limited-visibility lorries, the better designs are out there now but the market is not delivering because it's currently too cheap to keep killing and deflecting the blame, so it's time to intervene and encourage. That's an answer which should have been given explicitly in the programme, but instead what we got was typical of much road "safety" "education" in implying that it's mainly the fault of the "vulnerable" road user if we get killed by such death-trap vehicles.
MJR, mostly pedalling 3-speed roadsters. KL+West Norfolk BUG incl social easy rides http://www.klwnbug.co.uk
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bogmyrtle
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Re: BBC 2 tonight 8.00pm

Post by bogmyrtle »

Think I must have been watching a different programme
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mjr
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Re: BBC 2 tonight 8.00pm

Post by mjr »

Here's what I was watching, transcribed:

Intro: "As an enthusiastic urban cyclist, I generally feel safe, but it is hard not to worry when you see flowers laid out in tribute at the side of the road. In London alone, there have been 66 fatalities since 2011 and more than half of them were collisions with a truck. To find out why cyclists and trucks are such a deadly combination, I'm getting behind the wheel of an HGV with instructor Doug Johnson."

Link between driving experiences: "I had absolutely no idea that the blind spot was such a huge area next to the lorry. It just goes to show that when you're cycling, you have to be so aware. HGV designers can play their part too. A number of manufacturers have added extra visibility to their vehicles, like this Mercedes Econic lorry. Joe Riley drives one of the 5000 that are on our roads."

Outro: "The difference is incredible. The huge windows and added sensors mean that cyclists can just feel that much safer on the roads."

And that was basically it. Apparently, cyclists killed on our roads were insufficiently aware of deathtrap vehicles and it's not that we seem to be doing almost nothing to tackle these deathtraps and give professional drivers good tools that make their job easier, rather than require them to gamble with the lives of ordinary people. :(

What were you watching?
MJR, mostly pedalling 3-speed roadsters. KL+West Norfolk BUG incl social easy rides http://www.klwnbug.co.uk
All the above is CC-By-SA and no other implied copyright license to Cycle magazine.
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