‘his HGV wandered off the carriageway’

But it turns out it wasn’t wanderlust on the part of an HGV but rather the fact that the driver was using a handheld mobile phone at the time.

Apart from wandering, lorries are also prone to plunging:

A MAIN road into York was closed after a nine-tonne lorry left the road and crashed into a ditch. The lorry driver had to be freed by firefighters when his vehicle left the A166 Stamford Bridge Road and plunged into a ditch during rush-hour at about 8am yesterday. It travelled about 20 feet from the carriageway and into an 8ft-deep ditch. 

Elsewhere, a car went for a dip:

emergency services were called to Osbaldwick after a car went into the beck near the Derwent Arms at about 5.30pm on Wednesday.

Cars just wanna have fun

Cars are frisky little beasts, no better than terriers. They hate the monotony of the carriageway. They are always pulling tricks on their hapless and helpless owners.

Human agency is entirely lacking when they do the naughty stuff.

A MAN was taken to hospital after the car he was in rolled into a field this morning.

Cycling on the pavement: the context of a photograph

Photo: Stratford Herald



In the sphere of road transport, British newspapers are notable for two things. One is that they persistently construct drivers as victims, mercilessly exploited by ‘road tax’ and oppressed by extra taxes and vicious repression in the form of parking and speed tickets, then further brutalised by greedy council’s parking zones which charge you one or two quid a week for the right to park in the neighbourhood where you live – in fact it’s a marvel anyone can afford to buy a car at all, let alone a People Carrier or an Audi or a 4X4.

The other is that cyclists are persistently demonised as being uniquely badly-behaved, irresponsible rule breakers. The absence of empirical data is of no consequence; the stereotypes are available and most journalists obligingly conform to them.

When not busy jumping a red light and outraging the innate decency of a society where traffic law is regarded with deep reverence by all other road users, our stereotypical cyclist is, of course, riding on the pavement and ‘almost killing’ frail, terrified pensioners. Such offences are compounded by those cyclists who neglect to wear cycle helmets or yellow luminous vests, who are just inviting brain damage and collisions with innocent motorists.

In Stratford (no, not the heart of darkness located in the London Borough of Newham but rather the town notable as the home of Adrian Newey, famous Formula 1 engineer), there is horrifying news of badly behaved cyclists:

It has unearthed a whole range of deeper social issues relating to the debate. Issues which include, intimidation, hostility, socially unacceptable behaviour, human rights, road safety, motoring and the environment. 

Yeah, right… Pavement cycling certainly puts such trifles as starvation in Africa or turbulence in the Middle East into perspective.

The story is accompanied by a photo of a school child in uniform cycling on the pavement, and includes the blood-curdling revelation that

According to one motoring organisation - The Automobile Association - selfish pavement cycling is widespread across the country and on the increase. 

Yes, who better to offer an objective, scientific analysis of cycling behaviour than the A.A.?

The other photograph used to illustrate the story is the one shown above. For the full story the reader is invited to buy a hard copy of the newspaper (smart move) but as I’m not in Stratford-upon-Avon I am unable to do so. However I guess that the pedestrian campaigner in the photo is indignant that half the footway has been appropriated for cyclists. And I wouldn’t disagree. This is classic crap British off-road cycling infrastructure of the kind that very few cyclists like, and which makes it difficult for CTC members to sleep at night for fear they will be herded by law onto such cycle paths by big brutal men wearing Dutch police uniforms.

Although not identified, the photo shows a section of the Birmingham Road (A3400) between the junctions with Arden Street and Windsor Street. As infrastructure it is not exactly a gift to cyclists: see if you can spot what is wrong, both in the photo below and in the Google streetview picture.

This crap cycle path (which naturally requires cyclists to give way at every side road) illustrates the absurdity of transport planning in Stratford. Permissible pavement cycling on so-called ‘shared use’ footways is the first resort of the car-centric planner who is unwilling to reallocate road space to cyclists. It is irrational to invite cyclists on to footways in some parts of Stratford, and then to express indignation when it occurs elsewhere. If you won’t plan for cyclists, then some will take unilateral action to ensure their own safety and convenience. It’s the stupid infrastructure. 

The Birmingham Road is a classic example of a direct, primary route into an urban centre which ought to have segregated cycle paths built to the high standards that the Dutch manage. This is how the Dutch moved away from car-centricity in the 1970s and it’s the only way it will happen in Britain, even if just about everyone involved in cycle campaigning and transport planning remains in deep denial.

Oh but I was forgetting. In a quaint old Tudor town there just isn’t the space, is there?

This is another part of the Birmingham Road, not far from the earlier location. When I think of how sites like this could be I want to weep, I do really.

Footnote

Naturally Stratford Council and the local police are not remotely concerned when local residents take over the pavement for private car parking, as here on Bull Street (below). Complete obstruction of the footway, though illegal, will attract no censure from any passing PCSO, police officer or council official. And curiously, all those apoplectics who get worked up about cyclists on footways are strangely silent in the face of such daily appropriations.

Spot the irrelevant, victim-blaming detail

Cyclist Joseph Belmonte, known as Pepe, was struck from behind by Pc David Lynch’s van in Hackney. The officer, who was responding to an emergency call, was driving at more than double the 30mph speed limit before losing control of his van. Mr Belmonte, 31, who was not wearing a helmet, was thrown across the van’s bonnet and into a tree like a “ragdoll”, according to witnesses. He was left with brain, spine and face injuries and a broken right arm and finger. He also remained in an induced coma for nine days after the crash and needed surgery. 

Lynch, 31, from Hitchin in Hertfordshire, walked free from Southwark crown court on Tuesday after receiving an eight-month suspended prison sentence. He had previously pleaded guilty to careless driving and was also convicted of the more serious charge of dangerous driving. Father-of-two Lynch was driving his British Transport Police Mercedes Vito van at up to 68mph in a 30mph zone when he lost control of the vehicle and hit Mr Belmonte at 45mph. 

The smash happened as Lynch sped to an urgent call for assistance at Hackney Downs station on March 31 last year. Lynch, who has two previous convictions for speeding, was also ordered by judge Jeffrey Pegden QC to complete 240 hours’ community service and faces a 6pm-7am curfew for 12 weeks. He was banned from driving for 15 months and ordered to retake his driving test, as well as pay £1,000 costs.

Golby’s garbage

Not much can happen in Chelmsford if the local rag is reduced to publishing ‘news’ like this:

A CYCLIST has warned the public is losing patience with bike users because of their “almost constant stupidity”. 

Deborah Golby, who has been cycling for nearly 45 years, says instead of blaming motorists for collisions and near misses, cyclists should work on their own skills on the road. 

"When accidents happen, the public perception is that it is the motorist’s fault, but I can tell you now, it usually isn’t.

‘doored’ in Kingston

A father-of-two had to undergo surgery after being knocked off his bike by a car door in Kingston.

[ Note the way that this journalist’s use of language removes all human agency from this event. ]

Steve Helm, 44, of Willoughby Road, Kingston, said he thought drivers and passengers needed to be more aware of cyclists. 

Better still would be infrastructure which kept cyclists and parked vehicles quite separate.

Cyclophobia update

Here is the formula and here is the latest example (complete with traditional “a cyclist almost killed…” personal anecdote):

THERE is an explanation for Andrew Mitchell’s sneering arrogance towards the police that has been overlooked – the creep rides a bicycle. 

After the summer when Bradley Wiggins and Victoria Pendleton ascended to superstardom, cycling has never been more fashionable. 

And cyclists have never had such preening contempt for everyone else. 



Meanwhile here is the latest scandalous sentence imposed on a van driver who slammed into the back of a cyclist and killed him (the scandal lies in the perfunctory and insulting one year driving ban). It remains unclear if the police investigated the possibility that the driver was using a handheld mobile phone at the time of the collision.

And here is the latest physical assault on a cyclist.

By the way, after mysteriously vanishing, the Cycling Lawyer is back. His comments on the Andrew Mitchell affair are worth reading

Journalism plays a role in shaping how we see the world around us, and at a national level the carnage on the roads goes more or less unreported and unnoticed. It was noticeable that apart from the Daily Mail (which is actually very good on human interest stories) most of the British national media simply ignored the extraordinary case of Joao Correia-Lopes.

Zombie facts outbreak spreads

Yesterday's Mail on Sunday rant gets another airing:

Ms Wyatt, who has written for The Sunday Telegraph, The Spectator and Daily Mail and appeared on both Question Time and Newsnight, said a law to force cyclists to take a test was “long overdue”. 

She added: “Urban England is not suited to bicycles. There are no wide boulevards to separate cars and cyclists as in Paris, Rome and Madrid. 

The Transport Research Laboratory, in conjunction with the police, has established that half of all collisions between bikes and cars are the fault of the cyclist.

The latest cyclophobic rant in a national newspaper

Look, it’s a lovely hot day in glorious Waltham Forest and I don’t have the inclination right now to deconstruct the latest ill-informed cyclophobic rant in a national newspaper.

I’m sure other bloggers can find aspects they might want to engage with.

To get you all started, here’s a zombie fact:

the police have established, in conjunction with the Transport Research Laboratory, that half of all collisions between bicycles and cars are the fault of the cyclist. 

I do wonder how much the persistent demonising of cyclists in the national media and the occasional jocular suggestion that cyclists deserve to be run off the roads contributes to incidents like this and this.

Footnote 

A zombie fact is a contention which “carries on regardless even when shot down”. The term was apparently first coined by David Allen Green. One very common zombie fact is that British roads are too narrow for the kind of segregated cycling infrastructure that can be seen on the continent and most notably in the Netherlands. It can even be found in this particular piece, though it is more commonly encountered on cycling discussion threads.

Common sense about cars and town centres

A Daily Telegraph journalist:

 The more intolerable it is to drive into town centres, the more deserted they will become. 

And now here are some shocking scenes showing what happens when you get rid of cars from urban centres:


 

Representing lawless drivers as victims

Many motorists believe they have been seen as an easy target in recent years. The industrialisation of speed enforcement over the past decade led to a flourishing speed camera industry. 

[ Some lawless drivers resent being caught ]

At its height, speed cameras earned more than £100 million a year from motorists, with the cash being reinvested in yet more devices by safety camera partnerships set up by police and local authorities.

[ Speed cameras revealed that the standards of driving on Britain’s roads are so poor that significant numbers of drivers even get caught by cameras in bright yellow boxes with advance warning signs ]

The previous Government tried to defuse their unpopularity by decreeing that the fines should be handed over to the Treasury rather than being spent on installing more cameras.

[ Speed cameras are not unpopular despite ceaseless attempts by the corporate media to suggest that petrolheads represent all drivers. But politicians have traditionally been terrified of the supposed influence of the Murdoch press and the Daily Mail ]

Then, in a move to appease motorists further, the Coalition stopped all central Government funding for cameras on taking office. Philip Hammond, the Coaltion’s first transport secretary, declared an end to the war on motorist within hours of taking on the portfolio.

[ "Motorists" =  the libertarian sort, who believe they should drive in whatever way they please, wherever they please, whenever they please, without any restrictions. But with free parking. ]

As for the war on the motorist...

War on the motorist update

The Daily Mail is usually exceptionally keen to kick out Johnny Foreigner when Johnny breaks the law.

But everybody knows that traffic offences aren’t really crimes, are they?

He has served in the British Army for four years with an ‘exemplary record’, but Poloko Hiri has now been ordered out of the UK – because of a speeding offence. The 32-year-old from Botswana has had his application for citizenship rejected by the UK Border Agency who claimed the single offence was a sign of ‘bad character’. The UKBA rejected his bid because he had received a £100 fine and five penalty points for speeding on the M1. He had been doing 81mph in a 50mph roadworks zone at 1.30am. 

A UK Border Agency spokesman said: ‘Each claim for settlement is considered on individual circumstances and in line with published policy.’

Spot the irrelevant and prejudicial detail

The Press Association:

Mr Belmonte, who was not wearing a helmet, was cycling to his girlfriend's house in Newington Green, north London, and had travelled the route on many occasions before, the court heard. 

 [The driver] was travelling at 68mph in a 30mph zone when he hit Mr Belmonte, known as Pepe to his friends and family, who was cycling ahead of him in the same direction.

Bad Language

The BBC ignores complaints and just continues in the old, old way:

A woman died when her bicycle collided with a car in west Lancashire.

Christine Favager, 69, from Ormskirk, was riding on Asmall Lane in Scarisbrick when the crash happened at about 1940 BST on Monday.

Lancashire Police said a 19-year old man was questioned on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving and bailed pending further inquiries.

The local paper is no better:

THE community in Scarisbrick is reeling after the tragic death of a cyclist on one of its busiest country roads.

Christine Favager, 69, was killed instantly when her bicycle collided with a Vauxhall Vectra on Asmall Lane in Scarisbrick at around 7.40pm on Monday night.

Mrs Favager was known to cycle regularly from her home in Ormskirk along Asmall Lane daily, which residents say is a dangerous stretch of road.

I think when the facts are in it will turn out that the victim was simply pedalling along in her own quiet way when the driver who killed her slammed into her at speed, with such force that she was killed on the spot. In other words, the driver collided with her, not the other way round.

Bad Language

Police are appealing for witnesses to a crash in Queensbury. A cyclist and a white van collided at 10.15am yesterday on the A644 Brighouse and Denholme Road close to Perseverance Road. The cyclist was with a group of eight other cyclists. He was towards the back of the group. He collided with the white van which was overtaking the group at the time. The driver then continued on without stopping.

This kind of language is commonplace in the British media, and the BBC is a prime offender

Bollard horror

Personally I think they’re kinda cute… But it seems unlikely they will ever be installed, since reaction has been adverse.

What is striking about this scene is its barbarism. If you build a long straight road like this you should not be surprised that drivers will speed. Putting up a crappy little sign that reads SCHOOL will not affect their behaviour (even if they notice the sign, since some drivers will be concentrating on sending or reading a text message).

The pedestrian crossing consists of a traffic island, which doubles as a pinch point for cyclists.

This is a road designed to prioritise fast, smooth, convenient driving at the expense of safe, convenient walking and cycling. Few parents will want to let their child cycle to school on a road like this.

The final insult, evidently, is that parents doing the school run park on the pavement, which is what the bollards are primarily designed to deter. The local council could, if it wished, obtain powers to hand out tickets to drivers who park on the footway. But Conservative councils in particular are on the side of anti-social behaviour when the offender is a motorist. The police could take action but British policing has long been institutionally car supremacist.

In any case, debates about bollards entirely miss the point. Cosmetic additions to car-centric streets never address the core issues.

And if you design cars with a top speed of 146mph, you should not be surprised if journalists on major national newspapers get caught driving them at 40 mph in a 30 mph zone – nor that this criminally dangerous behaviour in the vicinity of a local cycling blogger is turned into an occasion for some laddish just-having-a-larf humour. From his article it seems that this is not Wollaston's first speeding conviction. And see if you can spot the difference between the headlines in the website version and the hard copy:

Catch up with the news at your local bike stand

Walthamstow Town Square today.

Trying to garrotte a cyclist is just a ‘prank’

Cyclist hurt by Surrey path wire 'prank'

A cyclist suffered minor neck injuries when he hit a wire which had been tied across a pathway in Surrey.

Police said the man in his 50s was knocked off his bike when his neck hit the wire as he cycled along the path in Earlswood, near Redhill.

The incident happened between Asylum Arch Road and Horley Road during the early hours of Wednesday.

‘Daily Mail’ displays sudden enthusiasm for cycling

The 30-year-old athlete dons tiny leotards and knee-high socks as she shows off her incredibly toned figure while pulling off some incredibly alluring poses on a bicycle in the new pictures.

I am not sure that 'pulling off' is quite the right expression, suitable though it might be for Daily Mail readers.

Bicycle ‘comes into contact’ with Saab

A CYCLIST is recovering from head injuries he suffered in a road traffic collision when the bicycle he was riding came into contact with a car in Bengeworth.

Police were called to the scene and arrested a man in his 30s on suspicion of dangerous driving. The collision between the bicycle and the grey Saab car happened at the bottom of Badsey Lane near where it joins Elm Road.