Bit of a hijack here but it's something I feel passionate about. There is another thread that mentions and links to a survey being organised by the IAM which is constructed to support yet another attack on cyclists. See below.

Please go to the survey and fill in sensibly. I also recommend that you give contact details for survey results so that we can compare how many of us responded and how the results pan out. It might be spitting in the wind but lets give it a go.

Please reply to this thread if you fill in the survey so that we can track how many pro cycling surveys were filled in.

Spread the word.

http://www.iam.org.uk/iam_polls/

another thread on this poll!

Done. Didn't leave my contact details though as I don't really want a pro car/anti bike lobby like this contacting me.

I left my contact details 🙂

I suggested universal 20mph speed limits unless there was a bike lane.

I surgested other – compulsory cycle awarness training for all drivers 😛

Grimy – me too 😀

Currently 78% "cycle frequently".

That's a pretty good hijack. 😀

Looking at the results, its interesting to see that 78% of respondents are frequent cyclists, and 95% agree or strongly agree that more money should be spent on making cycling safer, but over 60% don't agree that additional police resources should be used to keep us in check.

Red light jumpers, pedestrian weavers and wrong way one way streeter's all give us a bad name and just antagonise drivers, as well as endangering peds, and car drivers if they have to swerve. I know many think they are only endangering themselves, but it still gives us a bad name and gives drivers a reason not to respect us on the roads. We've all seen cyclists running red lights and weaving through pedestrian crossings…

It seems a bit unfair to demand 20mph speed limits (which I support as well) when there are cyclists doing whatever they please.

Hadn't looked at that. It's quite biased isn't it? Anyway, filled it in.

I suggested that drivers be educated as to the vulnerabilities of cycles, especially during poor visibility.

Also, that on passing a cyclist ALL drivers should apologise to the cyclist for driving in the first place.

😀

/not really/

If councils didn't install so many traffic lights there would be fewer incidents of cyclists jumping them.

Maybe that sounds backwards, but until the arrival of the World's Most Expensive Cycle Track my 3 mile route to work involved something like 12 sets of traffic lights. That's just silly.

Filled in too ,as a driver and havin done the IAM test years ago myself ,i think all drivers shud experience what it's like to be buzzed by close passsing traffic or a car up your arse that won't pass,dazzled by ignorant night drivers then left dazzed in darkness after.

If honest we all do breaches of the road traffic laws when it suits BUT there is that element that spoils the overall impression of all that get the attention .

Completed it and left details…why not be made aware of any anti-cycling surveys?…Knackers them for anti cycling PR hooks which are probably the point of this survey…trying to get some Bulls**t story in the Mail!

Done – I suggested the same as grimy!

Completed. Good suggestion Grimy BTW.

done, good thread, thanks for bringing this up. I agree with spooky, it's always a shame to see some idiot damaging the reputation of cycling. Clearly though most injuries on the roads are caused by cars so it would be a waste of money to focus more police resources on cyclists.

Thanks guys, you're all doing a sterling job IMO. Lets spread the word as much as possible.

As said I think it's a good idea to leave your details for contact. That way us cyclists are kept in the loop and can add our tuppence worth when they try to pull off this sort of cr*p.

I agree that there are a number of cycle riders who give "us" a bad name. But this is the same throughout society. Any group getting negative attention is usually due to a small number. Unfortunately our brains only ever seem to remember the bad and rarely the good or even average.

As you will have all seen it's very easy to say you did a survey where people could leave their opinions but create questions that make it too easy to give the answer the originator wants. Luckily they left this one open enough for us to counter the anti cycling sentiment behind the survey.

hehe, look at the results !

If they are truly advanced drivers then they will want to be aware of all traffic, including bikes, so we are doing them a favour.

suggested that driving test should include cycling on the road

>being organised by the IAM which is constructed to support yet another attack on cyclists

Interestingly, associates/members make up 15% of the poll responses.

Just over 4% support registration/licensing for cyclists.
Even if you assumed the *only* supporters of that were IAM associates/members, that means over 2/3 of them *aren't* in support of licensing/registration.

…survey being organised by the IAM which is constructed to support yet another attack on cyclists

I think it is a bit paranoid to suggest that IAM are anti-cyclist just beacuse they provide driver training. They have a cycling section on their website and provide cycling training. They always struck me as a sensible bunch to be honest with a priority on safety above all.

From the cycling section of their website:

Objective

“The IAM feels it should address safety for as many road users as possible. We want to get more people cycling and make cycling safer.”
Duncan Pickering, IAM Cycling Development Manager

Done and done, i'll post it on the triathlon forum i frequent too.

Done but again not leaving them my details

but over 60% don't agree that additional police resources should be used to keep us in check

It seems a bit unfair to demand 20mph speed limits (which I support as well) when there are cyclists doing whatever they please

problem is it is unpolicable so it would be a waste of resources. Just look at mobile phone use in cars, it's against the law but I see it all the time. I don't necessarily want cars to be forced to go 20mph everywhere either(in most built up areas with parked cars and stuff it feels pretty daft to be doing more anyway), I just want them to have a bit of awareness of things on the road other than themselves.

suggested that driving test should include cycling on the road

They'd never get that past the health and safety bods with all the shit drivers out there on the roads 😉

I agree though, if every driver could experience being on a bike and cut up by an idiot driver, there'd be a lot more consideration for cyclists out there.

>I think it is a bit paranoid to suggest that IAM are anti-cyclist just beacuse they provide driver training

That was kinda what I was trying to pull out of the figures I posted above.

To look at it another way, the IAM use Roadcraft and Motorcycle Roadcraft as their tuition material (I thought there was a cycle version too but can't find it..). Perhaps the poll's simply just to see if support is for providing instruction – tho' the poll could be better constructed, eg the CBT question probably ought to be split out into two parts.