logo
  • Welcome
    • Darlovelo History
    • Contact us
    • SiteMap
  • Membership
    • Borrow a Bike
  • Campaigning
    • Cyclists, Cycles, Cycle Paths
    • Our Manifesto
    • Current Campaigns
      • 20s Plenty for Darlington
      • Fill That Hole
    • Darlington Cycling Campaign History
      • Darlington Cycling Symposium 2007
  • Top Post Categories
    • News
    • Inspiration
    • Infrastructure
    • Politics
    • Cars
    • Pedestrian Heart
    • Bikes
    • Cycling in Europe
    • 20MPH
  • Donate

Rewrite of the Highway Code

Posted on March 15, 2006

An email from AndrewU reminded me to blog about this. Thanks AndrewU.

The new highway code advises cyclists to use bike lanes where provided. But cycling organisations say this will make travelling on two wheels more dangerous. How come?

Shattered glass. Strewn rubbish. Parked cars. Deep drains. Jarring potholes. Lanes barely wider than a bike (sans rider). Lanes of a few metres. Or that switch from one side of the road to the other.

Such is the state of many of the cycle routes that criss-cross our towns and countryside. Yet these are the very facilities intended to encourage people onto their bikes.

And now the Driving Standards Agency, part of the Department for Transport, has released a draft highway code advising that cyclists should use bike lanes where provided.

The CTC, the UK’s national cyclists’ organisation, has collected thousands of signatures in a campaign to try to get the new wording changed. They fear that this advice could actually put cyclists at risk; that drivers’ insurance companies will try to avoid paying damages to cyclists injured after riding in the road rather than a nearby cycle path.

But cyclists have told BBC Radio 4’s PM that they have good reason to ride in the road, as bike lanes are often badly designed, even dangerous.

There are lots of examples and comments at the end of the article.

(Edited to add the link to the article…)

« Positive changes in Darlington?
Ah, you see, umm, the thing is, erm. Gosh. »

Contact Details

PLEASE NOTE
We are a voluntary organisation. Our phone may be on silent when our volunteer is at his/her day job. Sending an email is usually quicker.

Email:
cool(at)darlovelo.org
Phone:
07519741734

Darlovelo on Twitter

My Tweets

Blog Archives

Categories

Our History

  • Beauty and the Bike
  • Darlington Cycling Campaign
CyberChimps

CyberChimps

Marketed By Neil Patel
© Darlovelo - Bicycle Hire in Darlington