Is cycling party political? Plus comment on the parliamentary cyclesafe debate.

[Domestique]

I watched most of the debate and tbh was left unimpressed. At the end when the minister summed up what he intended to look into he never mentioned the negligence/liability points that where raised nor a safe passing distance.
Other people might be happy but I didnt hear much to make me think anything is going to change. Which is what I expected.

[mattc]

The problem here is that there two types of "pro-bike" stuff that gov could do:

The easy stuff:
- Painting bike lanes, paying for cyclist training, Bike2Work (a joke, IMHO*)

Tricky Stuff:
- Basically any changes to the legal system, so:
- Presumed/strict liability
- Increased sentences for killing people thru negligence
- removing the "basic human right" of UK citizens to drive a car

Spending more on the "easy stuff" will help, but I fear the only big gains will come via legal changes.

(Apologies if I've missed anyone's pet scheme!)

*I'd prefer something more radical that allows ANYONE to get bikes cheaply, without it subsidising upper-rate tax payers. Currently there is no help for buying bike to "get on" if job-seeking!

[Andustar]

I think the figures are expressed per person, not per cyclist or per motorist.

IE the 75p multiplied by population = total budget. (not multiplied by number of cyclists). This would give a total spend on cycling of 45 to 50 million, which is probably about right (all possible schemes, paths, painted majik lanes etc).

A pittance compared with the billions on motorways and trunk roads alone.


EDIT: - 2.5 billion for motorways and trunk roads = £37 per person, say double that to include all road spending and you are at £70 per person for roads (not including all other motoring related spend), compared to just 0.75 for cycling.

[Si_Co]

<snip>
- removing the "basic human right" of UK citizens to drive a car
<snip>

This makes me  you an I know that's a load of tosh and proper enforcement of traffic law should not be tricky stuff, the public apathy to KSI's on the roads is slowly but surely getting worse. I really don't know what the answer is to this shift in attitude.

[mattc]

I really don't know what the answer is to this shift in attitude.

Me neither! There seem to be 2 main avenues:
- cultural shift, peer-pressure etc. This can only come from increased bums-on-seats, through direct effect and 2ry i.e. if your daughter/wife/friend is reporting near-misses, you MIGHT start taking more care around other riders
- legal changes (see my other post!)

The former will come about, but I see it as glacially slow, and the slower it is, the slower the effect!

I have no idea how to get the latter to happen without more cyclists in influential positions, or the government thinking there are votes in it.

[Honest John]

My point was Kate Hoey. I don't really understand what the point of her being there was, I can only think that she had pressure from her constituents to attend.

I don't know which constituents those would be. She doesn't usually respond positively to anyone talking about cycling, even though the constituency does include a few hotbeds of vehicular cycling.

[mattc]

I wonder if a possible reason for not more MPs (at least of the red and green persuasion) not signing it is the association with Murdoch's Times. I see the EDM itself explicitly mentions support of the Times' campaign. While I support the aims of the Times' campaign, I feel reluctant to lend support or legitimacy to one of Murdhoch's media outlets.

There are quiet a few reasons that regular cyclists are not backing the campaign. The promotion of helmets, emphasis on RLJs for starters. Personally I'd prefer
Make Our ROADS safe, instead of just "Cities".

A campaign not backed is not a campaign.

How, exactly, would a campaign get the same amount of coverage if it was not beholden to one or other of the major media outlets?

Sod it: the CTC have asked me (personally, by email) to support the thing, so I've sold my soul I'm on the bandwagon!

[phil d]

Not sure that it has any particular relevance, but it seems there were rather more conservative MPs at the debate than any other party, somewhat in contrast to the the proportion supporting the original EDM.

[Redlight]

Nice to see Julian Huppert recognised by Total Politics magazine as MP of the Month for his achievement in getting (a) so many MPs and (b) ministers to take part in the debate.  It's quite an achievement for a backbencher.