This week’s round-up covers the Tour (of course!), the sad but seemingly inevitable hostility between drivers and cyclists, and an interesting method of attempting to dismantle it.
It’s unlikely you missed it but, just in case, we’ll start this week’s round-up with the excellent news that our very own Chris Froome has won the 2015 Tour de France. With this feat he’s nabbed himself a place in the history books as the first Brit to win the race twice (and £318,000, which is a nice touch!).
Image by BBC and linked to source
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Well done Chris!
Why can’t we all just be friends?
Other news this week focusses on the forever contentious relationship between cyclists and drivers, how they deal with each other on the road, and some cool cycling schemes. Starting with the former.
It seems like each side of the cyclists vs drivers debate is equally as vocal (and volatile) as the other. Twitter regularly plays hosts to slinging matches between the two, as they debate who was in the wrong, who has what rights, and where each other should get off. But a study carried out at the University of Colorado has found that both sides ignore traffic laws at similar rates.
Some good old fashioned Twitter vitriol, courtesy of The Snark Cycle
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“When you look at the transportation system and the laws we have, pretty much everybody is a criminal”, says Wesley Marshall, associate professor of civil engineering at the university. He also explains that the motivations discovered by the study were slightly different between the groups: drivers (and pedestrians) break the rules to save time, whereas cyclists often do it “they felt like they’re more visible”).
An interesting take on the debate, and one that’s sure to add plenty of fuel to the existing fire!
Living without cars: is it possible?
As, most likely, will a scheme being tested by some European cities in September as part of European Mobility Week. Cities across the continent will ban cars from their centre for one day in an attempt to tackle pollution, promote sustainable transport, and question assumptions about transportation. So far four capitals have signed up – Budapest, Lisbon, Ljubljana and Stockholm – as well as 242 other cities.
Anik See over at ABC Australia wrote a great piece last week about living without cars which ties in nicely with the above. It explores carless life on three continents across three generations and makes for inspiring reading. And special mention to Charlie Pickering, the chap in the image at the top of this post, who may have found the most elegant and effective solution to animosity between road users:
Stop being a w*nker. More people would ride, the roads would be less congested if everyone, cars and bikes, just stopped being a w*nker… Because only when we all stop being w*nkers can we all pull together.
Spoken like a true poet.
A new bridge
To round off the round-up by tapping into the positive side of the debate, let’s take a look at some short-listed design ideas for a new cycling bridge in London.