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18/01/2010

Take to the Pavements!

Cold as it may be – we’re probably only about 6-weeks away from a huge influx of cyclists on the street, and the letters will be back: ‘those pavement cycling maniacs’.

But where are they supposed to go?
Those excuses for lanes, those apologies for cycle-ways our councils lovingly paint – in their imitation of progress, just a little – but not too much.
After all, we have car-tax, fuel-duty, car-parking machine income to consider, don’t we?

It’s now almost impossible to stay in a cycle lane. With the new breed of commuter scooters (you know the ones – 200 decibels and 19mph) careering through the middle of traffic, most people’s default road position has moved 18 inches to the left – into the cycle lane. But that’s not all – that ‘class beating’ internal space so loved by car manufacturers ad-speak, only really means ‘Bigger’.
You average hatch-back today is wider and taller than any ‘family saloon’ of even 10 years ago – on the same roads.

And yes, it needs saying – the 4x4’s. Have you seen the SIZE of some of them now?
Get to any junction, in or on any vehicle, with a 4x4 on your outside and you’re stuffed – you simply have to wait until they’ve wafted (“look at me! I can burn 10-times as much fuel as you, you loser!”) their way off - until you can SEE enough – to move off yourself.

So the pavement wins every time. Yes, the painted lines can stay, but they need to be on a widened PAVEMENT – then you can also speed-restrict the traffic down to the 20mph we’re beginning to hear about.

People will hate me for this, but you know in your hearts – you know in your mirrors - too many mobile-phone wielding idiots, too many super-wide black-glass and steel tanks, too many wide-exhaust youths, so many bad tempers.

NOT using the pavement at times in the UK is utter nonsense.