Have you noticed....

[Agent_zed]

If countries like Holland are anything to go by increasing the amount of cyclists decreases road accidents. Around 70% of the population cycle which means when they drive they have more respect for bicycles.

I wonder if there will be an overall decrease in bad/fast driving in the coming years as the interest in cars by the younger generation seems to be falling. 20years ago kids were fitting huge dustbin exhaust cans and nailing spoilers on their hot hatches. Don't much see any one modding cars these days, at least not like they used to.

 

[Jacob]

If countries like Holland are anything to go by increasing the amount of cyclists decreases road accidents. Around 70% of the population cycle which means when they drive they have more respect for bicycles.

I wonder if there will be an overall decrease in bad/fast driving in the coming years as the interest in cars by the younger generation seems to be falling. 20years ago kids were fitting huge dustbin exhaust cans and nailing spoilers on their hot hatches. Don't much see any one modding cars these days, at least not like they used to.

UK road accident rate is improving; "2010-2020. The UK achieved a 20% reduction" and I think safer driving is really noticeable to anyone who can recall driving 20 or more years ago.
The figures are interesting, not much improvement but from a low base, so still low.: UK Road Safety progress since 2010 ranks as one of the worst in Europe - PACTS

 

[Yorkieguy]

One of the things I find ironic, is that when car drivers have to stop driving due to impaired physical and metal capacity, poor eyesight and general frailty, without the need for a driving test, insurance, or number plates, they can drive what are called 'Class 3 Invalid Carriages' on the roads among traffic at up to 8 MPH. (Vehicles with an upper speed limit of 8 mph (12 km/h) are Class 3 invalid carriages.) Their design and equipment means they can be used on some roads as well as pavements.

8MPH is about half the speed of a cyclist and a great impediment to traffic when on the road rather than pavements (where they're limited to 4 MPH). I live in a large village with a population of 20,000 or so, with lots of elderly people, among whom there are a disproportionately large number who, when they step out of their cars so frail that they're clearly not fit to be driving a car, yet if they were taken off the road, could be riding Class 3 mobility scooters. I guess the only saving grace is that they'd be less of a hazard to others that they would if still driving round in cars.

I'm 84 this year, so four years ago, to satisfy myself and other family members that I was still a safe and capable driver, (having passed my driving test in 1964), I did a 'Mature Drivers' Assessment' with the Institute of Advance Motoring. I was up to scratch with a few shortcomings and could have left it at that, but I went on to take the IAM Advanced Driving Course and Advance Driving Test, which is conducted by a serving police driving examiner. You are assessed on 23 aspects of driving, and on each one are classed as either 'commended, satisfactory, or needs improvement'. I was pleased to have passed, with 9 aspects judged as 'commended', and 14 as 'satisfactory', with detailed feedback on each aspect. The bottom line was: 'A good drive to a consistently high standard - Pass'. Throughout the test you have to give a running commentary known as 'spoken thoughts' so the examiner ir aware of how good your observations are.

I'm not 'crowing' about it - I'm just suggesting that to anyone who has been driving for a considerable time, I can't speak too highly about taking a driver assessment and the IAM course. (It might help keep me off a 'Class 3 Invalid Carriage' a little while longer!).

 

[Agent_zed]

UK road accident rate is improving; "2010-2020. The UK achieved a 20% reduction" and I think it's really noticeable to anyone who can recall driving 20 or more years ago.
But there is yet another Brexit dis-benefit - we lag behind most of Europe in a big way UK Road Safety progress since 2010 ranks as one of the worst in Europe - PACTS

We only managed a 20% reduction because we are already the 3rd safest country in Europe for road deaths/million population according to that same document. It gets harder to make big gains when you are already doing quite well.

 

[Jacob]

We only managed a 20% reduction because we are already the 3rd safest country in Europe for road deaths/million population according to that same document. It gets harder to make big gains when you are already doing quite well.

Yes I edited my post when I looked at the figures! My mistake - they'd headlined "lowest improvement".

 

[Phil Pascoe]

We managed only ...

We only managed a 20% reduction because we are already the 3rd safest country in Europe for road deaths/million population according to that same document. It gets harder to make big gains when you are already doing quite well.

We managed only a 20% reduction ...
?

 

[Jacob]

We managed only ...

We managed only a 20% reduction ...
?

Yes we are doing quite well and all the wittering from motorists about all other road users is just sour grapes!

 

[paulrbarnard]

Not really, a cycle path on a pavement is still part of the pavement, stepping off it onto the road is a bit different.

I believe the path in this case was divided by a paint line with a cycle symbol in one part and pedestrian in the other so equivalent to foot path at the side of the road. A raised curb, rather than a painted line, at the side of the road is only there to try to prevent the cars from driving on the footpath, though we all know that is a pretty futile attempt.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Yes we are doing quite well and all the wittering from motorists about all other road users is just sour grapes!

We only managed a 20% reduction because we are already the 3rd safest country in Europe
We managed only a 20% reduction because we are already the 3rd safest country in Europe

I was querying which was actually meant. I suspect the second.

 

[Jacob]

We only managed a 20% reduction because we are already the 3rd safest country in Europe
We managed only a 20% reduction because we are already the 3rd safest country in Europe

I was querying which was actually meant. I suspect the second.

I suspect they have the same meaning.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

They don't.

 

[Jacob]

They don't.

https://thiis.co.uk/number-of-logged-mobility-scooter-accidents-in-great-britain-up-by-5-5/

 

[MikeJhn]

The extraordinary patience and curtesy shown to cyclist in France has to be experienced, never cycled around Paris though.

 

[Jacob]

The extraordinary patience and curtesy shown to cyclist in France has to be experienced, never cycled around Paris though.

Yes agree. Have done a lot of France, not Paris yet but supposed to be good for bikes if you choose your route carefully.
Spain, Italy, Holland, Germany, Denmark all good. Getting back to UK often a miserable experience in comparison!

 

[John Brown]

Poland was not fun on main roads. The drivers weren't antagonistic or anything, just didn't seem to understand the concept of a wide berth. My guess is that the Poles don't really understand the concept of cycling by choice, as a leisure activity. Fair enough - that might be why they fit in so well over here.

 

[John Brown]

They don't.

You're quite right, Phil, that they mean different things, but the rest of the post makes it clear what was meant.

 

[HamsterJam]

The extraordinary patience and curtesy shown to cyclist in France has to be experienced, never cycled around Paris though.

I have cycled around the Arc de Triomphe. No quarter given to other car drivers let alone cyclists there.

 

[MikeJhn]

Similar to Marble Arch no quarter given to anyone, but then no one divers and you know what to expect.

 

[Bob Chapman]

We only managed a 20% reduction because we are already the 3rd safest country in Europe
We managed only a 20% reduction because we are already the 3rd safest country in Europe

Phil, would you explain what the difference is between these statements .
I’m not challenging what you say, but I can’t see the difference.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

1/ we managed a reduction only because we're the third safest Country in Europe - we wouldn't have managed it otherwise.
2/ we would have managed a larger % reduction if the Country was more dangerous.

It depends to what the "only" is relevant.