The balance of power is shifting in our favour, albeit slowly. Hot on the heels of being able to ride through certain red lights, in Dec. we got a new bike sign and law:

The deal on a road marked with this sign is…
Cyclists can take up the full width of the lane
Cars can’t go any faster than 30km/hr
Cars can’t overtake cyclists

I’m not sure many roads are marked with this yet but it seems like a brilliant idea if likely to cause problems. In Brussels there are lots of roads that are too narrow to add even a painted bike lane without it being too close to parked cars. Hopefully this will allow the creation of some routes that will join up the already segregated bike lines.

Could be in for a bit of fun though as although car/bike agro isn’t up to London standards it is still there 🙁

Ok, I’m off to pay some more taxes…

Ok, I’m off to pay some more taxes…

It’d be dearer in France.

http://www.npr.org/2012/12/27/168143152/gerard-depardieus-tax-flight-stirs-fierce-debate-in-france

Cars can’t go any faster than 30km/hr

Can bikes? The whole point of comuting by bike is it’s faster, but not if one is being held up by slow cars (that’s 19mph, how many cars stick to the 20mph limits in this country?)

The whole point of comuting by bike is it’s better

FTFY.

seems more like something that allows cars to use cycle lanes to me.

19mph is quite reasonable for bikes in town, I suspect there is only a small percent of folks who will want to go above that. I agree with your basic point though as I hate where bike and pedestrian lanes aren’t segregated as you can’t travel safely at a sensible pace.

And as for all the Frenchies moving here. Great for house prices although not in the area I’m in yet

seems more like something that allows cars to use cycle lanes to me.

Well that could be the end result. For a long time it’s been clear that the only way to get more folks on bikes is to have dedicated bike lanes but there just isn’t space to build any without dedicating existing roads to it. This could be a first step

Keep training leffeboy and I’m sure you’ll hit 30kph one day 😛

Can bikes? The whole point of comuting by bike is it’s faster, but not if one is being held up by slow cars (that’s 19mph, how many cars stick to the 20mph limits in this country?)

I’ve been out round Richmond Park a couple of times over the last few days while staying in London and it’s actually quite a problem. Most of the cyclists round there are doing 15-25mph (depending on wind direction, gradient etc) and in theory at least, there’s a blanket 20mph speed limit. Problem is, at busy times, you get some drivers who really don’t know how to handle the constant overtaking – them overtaking slower cyclists and faster cyclists overtaking cars. The roads are really only 2 cars wide so 2 cars + 1 bike becomes problematic – drivers and cyclists unwilling to wait for a safe overtake. For drivers this means pulling into oncoming traffic, for cyclists it means shooting gaps between cars. I saw some stupidly daft moves from both sides… 🙁

Not quite sure what the answer is really. I suspect that a 20mph speed limit out on open streets means most drivers will do about 30.

The whole point of comuting by bike is it’s better

Too true!

So many people seem fixated that they have to be faster on the bike to make it worthwhile, that inevitably leads to some riders jumping reds, cutting up other traffic (cars and other bikes!). Stupidity.

Keep training leffeboy and I’m sure you’ll hit 30kph one day

Unlikely. I find it easier to just pretend that my speedometer is reading mph rather than kph 🙂

The whole point of comuting by bike is it’s better

Very true. What with a shower and getting changed at the other end I’m not 100% sold that commuting by bike is actually faster than public transport all in, but it does very importantly mean that I don’t have to cram myself onto the tube with the rest of West London.