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Columnist says cyclists should "do something in return" for pop-up cycle lanes – Cycling UK responds

‘If we decided all motorists must stop speeding before more money is spent on them, our road builders could pack up for good’

On Monday a column in the Scotsman argued that when it comes to the construction of pop-up cycle lanes, cyclists somehow need to “do something in return”. Responding to the piece, Cycling UK has asked why people on bikes should need to meet special criteria before they are kept safe.

Scotland has pledged £10m for ‘pop-up’ cycle lanes and widened footways to help people maintain a safe physical distance during the coronavirus lockdown.

In her column, Helen Martin said she thought this was a good idea. However, she then laid out conditions she felt should apply to that investment.

“What matters is that lanes are used, and not pavements or pedestrian paths; cyclists have lights and luminous jackets (not wearing black) at night; and they obey traffic lights where they apply.

“Failure of any of those could involve a small fine just to make sure they adhere to the investment.”

She added: “To get the support of everyone for this investment it would be only fair to have cyclists comply with reasonable rules.”

In a letter to the newspaper, Cycling UK’s head of campaigns, Duncan Dollimore, asked why those who ride bikes should need to meet special criteria to be kept safe. He also highlighted how these kinds of road improvements bring benefits to those who choose not to cycle.

“It’s worth pointing out (because it wasn’t mentioned) that these facilities are to allow people to get around and take exercise whilst maintaining social distancing guidelines,” he wrote. “They are to keep people safe in the time of coronavirus.

“They’re not just for cyclists either. Temporary measures like wider pavements, new cycle lanes and road closures will create more space for everyone sharing the open air. People walking, kids on scooters, wheelchair users, parents pushing prams and yes, people riding bikes. We all need to keep two metres apart, and there isn’t currently enough space to do that everywhere.

“Your columnist rightly acknowledges that these facilities will bring other benefits too, like reducing toxic emissions, promoting cheaper and healthier ways to get around and preventing accidents. Sounds like a no-brainer then?

“Not according to Helen, who argues that cyclists should prove themselves to be worthy of such safe infrastructure. Let’s remember that cyclists are just people riding bikes. Whether we are on foot, riding a bike, taking the bus or driving a car, we’re all people trying to get from A to B.

“Why should people on bikes meet special criteria before they are kept safe? We don’t group people who use other methods of transport together in the same way. If we decided that all motorists must stop speeding before any more money is spent on them, our road builders could pack up for good.

“I’m sure we can all agree that measures to keep people safe, to enable key workers get to their jobs and to help us all take our much-needed daily exercise are positive. So let’s get behind these pop-up facilities – they’re for everyone.”

Alex has written for more cricket publications than the rest of the road.cc team combined. Despite the apparent evidence of this picture, he doesn't especially like cake.

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23 comments

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Tired of the tr... | 3 years ago
0 likes

So has the paper actually published that letter? Can't see it on the website.

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Chris Hayes | 3 years ago
1 like

Does he mean something like paying taxes and lowering the burden on the NHS by staying fitter and healthier? Then we can add contributing to the common good by not filling his lungs with carbon dioxide...though that sounds tempting.

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mikewood | 3 years ago
4 likes

When are we going to get to the point that this sort of thing is classed as inciting hatred against a minority in the same way that it would be if it was religious or racial stereotyping?

This and the other biased/sensationist press is inciting things like punishment passes if it's felt someone should be using a cycle lane, even though it's puncture central or full of pedestrians. Or tacks thrown in the road, or nails in pieces of wood buring in leaves or barbed wire strung across a cycle path.

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Mungecrundle | 3 years ago
2 likes

Cyclists should do the same as everyone else. Go about their normal business (as far as current circumstances permit) using safe and effective infrastructure provided from public resources to faciltate their travel.

Nothing more, nothing less. Why the suggestion that people using bicycles have some sort of higher obligation?

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David9694 replied to Mungecrundle | 3 years ago
1 like

Haven't you heard?  Alongside the £bns to be spent on road layouts to "get Britain moving", there's going to be "bung a bob for a bike lane". We should be honoured and demand an immediate halt to the near-universal running of red traffic lights and pavement riding. 

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David9694 | 3 years ago
2 likes

I'm beginning to like the way The Scotsman's Helen Martin thinks - national policy and funding could be decided this way.  Five reasons why why the motor car should be off the goodies/presents list, for starters, just from one town, in one weekend:

https://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/18439575.uninsured-driver-caught-...

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Rik Mayals unde... | 3 years ago
2 likes

So if cyclists shouldn't wear black, pedestrians shouldn't wear black either. After all, it is the responsibility of the motorist to ensure that their eyesight is good enough to be able to see when they get behind the wheel. Inconsiderate other road users should not wear black, thus giving the motorist an excuse.

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Richard_pics replied to Rik Mayals underpants | 3 years ago
1 like

Cars should all be painted bright high vis yellow too.

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David9694 replied to Richard_pics | 3 years ago
1 like

Known as "taxis" in many towns

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David9694 replied to Rik Mayals underpants | 3 years ago
0 likes

From "common sense" crime and accident prevention advice, like "look both ways", "keep out of the electrical sub-station/ off the tracks, little Jimmy" it seems it's no distance at all to precautions becoming expectations :"he wasn't wearing a helmet/ hi viz, m'lud". Somewhere in the middle sits "don't leave your valuables on display". 

notice the sleights of hand in the 2012 Scotsman article - you're not normal if you don't take these steps to protect yourself.

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David9694 | 3 years ago
5 likes

Lines on an Importune Column by William McGonagall

'twas the year of our Lord twenty-twenty

And in the opinion column of The Scotsman, there grew trouble a-plenty

For I am sorry to report that instead of the regular news,

Helen Martin was allowed to exhibit her unseemly views

On yon cyclists, whom she did accuse

Of not wearing helmets, or donning high viz

To the tax payer, one giant swiz

£10 million was to be invested 

The Royal Mile with white lines infested 

To make cycle lanes, but Helen protested,
"You must be worthy and earn to earn the right

To have all this money spent to be better your plight!"

But the cyclists rose up, mustering their might 

Said "Helmets are complex and we'll gi'you a fight.

The decision to wear high viz, an individual right.

Yon motorist, he's a regular offender,

Ignoring the road rules, the vulnerable's defender.

The views in your column, Helen, are a barrel o'shite!

 

 

 

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Gary's bike channel | 3 years ago
4 likes

my nissan cabstar- think it was 260 quid ved. My corsa, 155 quid. My sv650 was 90. My er500 was 66 quid. My 125 was 20 quid. Total ved paid this year[ tax them all near april]  so just shy of 600 quid a year. Whereas some hybrid cars dont cost anything! How dare they use the road when they havent paid as much as me! they should contribute more to these cycle lanes and if they dont use them i will complain with a gammon face expression.      such stupid people out there, the road tax argument is all over internet, google.... if they still dont accept it then i suppose it just means they dont want to learn or are incapable. I have to work with a very anti cyclist old man, he tells me he beeps at them when they cycle in groups because'' theyre all over the road'. I didnt try to explain it, as hes not the type to accept it. So when we went to get fuel, bear in mind this is in a 3 tonne cab tipper truck, we came up behind two ycclists, side by side. Old man says to me angrily '' see this is why people hate cyclist, fucking idiots, get single file''. I said nothing, waited for maybe 8 seconds, dropped to second gear and went past them in the other lane. No issue.  If that doesnt show how dumb people who dont cycle are, there is no hope. Its easier to overtake cyclists riding two or three abreast and makes no difference to the overtake- if they were occupying the opposite lane as well then yes, it would.  Cyclists do make the best drivers. 

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Rick_Rude | 3 years ago
4 likes

I pay tax and 2 lots of road tax and endless tax on petrol. Is this not enough?

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OldRidgeback replied to Rick_Rude | 3 years ago
9 likes

Rick_Rude wrote:

I pay tax and 2 lots of road tax and endless tax on petrol. Is this not enough?

Once when a stupid driver told me I didn't pay road tax for my bike I pointed out that neither did he as it was abolished in 1937. Then I said if he meant VED, I pay for a car and two motorbikes, meaning by his rule I've three times as much right to be on the road as him, and would he please get out of my way. He was a bit baffled, then sweary.

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Anglepoise replied to OldRidgeback | 3 years ago
1 like

We pay the same tax as any other zero emissions vehicles for using the roads...£0.00 🤣

Will the people advocating for cyclists to pay some form of tax for using roads feel the same when they have to pay tax at the same rate for their kids or will they call for some kind of bureaucratic exception?

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Sriracha | 3 years ago
7 likes

Yes, the thing cyclists can do in terms of "payback" is to ... erm ... cycle more. It is not just cyclists who have been pleasantly surprised by the reduction in motor traffic. We all appreciate the birdsong we can now hear, the clear air, the noise reduction and so on. And the benefits to the economy by way of improved health, lower NHS costs, lower absenteeism and so on are huge.

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Hywel | 3 years ago
1 like

Despite it being short and what is clearly an incoherent passively-agressive rant, the article should have come with a troll warning.

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HarrogateSpa | 3 years ago
1 like

Stupid article designed to generate irritation/clicks, a little while ago now; good reply.

Can we let it go and not give it the oxygen of belated publicity?

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johnnym replied to HarrogateSpa | 3 years ago
1 like

Agree.  A journalist that was actually any good would have better stuff to write about.  Let it drift with all the other hack sewage out to the sea of oblivion.  

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eburtthebike | 3 years ago
15 likes

Great letter, and I particularly liked "If we decided that all motorists must stop speeding before any more money is spent on them, our road builders could pack up for good."laugh

But has the newspaper published it?

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David9694 replied to eburtthebike | 3 years ago
1 like

https://www.scotsman.com/news/opinion/columnists/helen-martin-invest-act...

here's Helen again back in 2012 with much the same set of messages. I'm away from my computer at the moment on daily exercise - will try to pull it apart later unless you all get there first

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eburtthebike replied to David9694 | 3 years ago
2 likes

Thanks for digging that up.

So she just regurgitated the previous article and they printed it.  Lazy, stupid anti-cycling journalism, and the editor is just as bad.

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brooksby replied to eburtthebike | 3 years ago
2 likes

eburtthebike wrote:

Great letter, and I particularly liked "If we decided that all motorists must stop speeding before any more money is spent on them, our road builders could pack up for good."laugh

I'd think we could add to that that all motorists should be responsible and answerable for the activities of all other motorists.

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