Cycle friendly councils plan to leave UK, join NL 1.4 ..

[Cyril Haearn]

An interesting idea maybe, but the article is much too long.

I am not sure cycling is really so good in Holland. In Germany it certainly isn't. Speedchecks and controls of motor traffic are practically nonexistent. Once a year there is a "Blitzmarathon", for one day many speed checks are set up. There is lots of publicity beforehand, 364 days a year one can drive as fast as one likes with almost no chance of being caught.

By our central station one can see exactly what the police are up to. They stop cyclists on the pavement, although there is plenty of room and no danger. A few metres further one has to wait a long long time to cycle or walk across the road. Often the cars stop on the crossing so getting over safely is impossible. I have never seen a police officer there.

to paraphrase Erich Kästner, the police motto could be: Tu nichts, und rede drüber. (Do nothing, and talk about it).

[thirdcrank]

An interesting idea maybe, but the article is much too long.....

Have you forgotten to include a link?

[rualexander]

This was an April Fool http://www.ctc.org.uk/news/cycle-friend ... etherlands

[thirdcrank]

This was an April Fool http://www.ctc.org.uk/news/cycle-friend ... etherlands

Thanks for the link - I'd worked out the April Fool bit from the 1.4 in the thread title

By coincidence 1 April was the 40th anniversary of the local govt., reorganisation which saw the abolition of the former West Riding County Council and the creation of the two-tier structure with West Yorkshire CC as the highway authority. Just over a decade on and that was scrapped in 1985, with highway authority functions being returned to the former county boroughs such as Leeds which had expanded when they became metropolitan districts.

Anyway, on 1 April 2014, they all joined up again for transport functions and the new body includes the City of York. Although some people see York as a sort of Netherlands in the UK for cyclists, IMO the farcilities are as rubbish there as as anywhere else. It's just that York began with more cyclists and they've not managed to sicken themall off yet.

[ambodach]

Anybody who follows the idea that you can exceed the speed limit in Germany with impunity would certainly be a fool at any time of year. In the north at least there are many cameras and since they also portray the driver as well as speed there can be no arguement.

[pete75]

Anybody who follows the idea that you can exceed the speed limit in Germany with impunity would certainly be a fool at any time of year. In the north at least there are many cameras and since they also portray the driver as well as speed there can be no arguement.

Not so foolish if this article is anything to go by http://www.thelocal.de/20130829/51665

[Cyril Haearn]

Ambodach wrote:

Anybody who follows the idea that you can exceed the speed limit in Germany with impunity would certainly be a fool at any time of year. In the north at least there are many cameras and since they also portray the driver as well as speed there can be no arguement.

Not true in Lübeck, north Germany. There are 28 camera sites here but only two cameras. At any time at least 26 sites are not in use. Anyone who is caught will pay a pocket money fine. Points are only awarded to those going far above the maximum speed limit. To get banned, one has to defy the laws of physics.

[thirdcrank]

Looking at this in another way, if the headline of this thread were to be true, in the complete absence of any cycle-friendly councils, the number leaving UK to join NL would be nil.