Author Archives: aseasyasriding

The revenge of the inanimate object

Posted on April 10, 2013 by aseasyasriding

Last year I wrote about the mysterious case of a bollard in Wimbledon that had the temerity to make drivers crash into it. Almost unbelievably, the council had placed a bollard in a position where drivers cutting the corner, driving … Continue reading →

Posted in Dangerous driving, Inanimate objects, London, Road safety, Transport for London | 24 Comments

Sustrans’ “Connect London”

Posted on April 8, 2013 by aseasyasriding

There was some excellent news over the weekend, with the opening of the Two Tunnels route in Bath. The huge turnout, with people bikes and on foot eager to use this excellent new route into the centre of Bath, demonstrates … Continue reading →

Posted in Boris Johnson, Cycle Superhighways, Cycling in parks, Go Dutch, Infrastructure, LCC, London, Subjective safety, Sustrans, The Netherlands, Transport for London | 8 Comments

Exempting cyclists from traffic orders – leadership is needed

Posted on April 3, 2013 by aseasyasriding

Before it was consumed in the ‘bonfire of the quangos’, Cycling England produced some pretty good guidance. One of their design principles was that cyclists should be exempt from Traffic Regulation Orders (or Traffic Management Orders, in London). Cyclists should be … Continue reading →

Posted in Cycling Embassy Of Great Britain, Cycling policy, Horsham, Infrastructure, London, One-way streets, Street closures, West Sussex County Council | 10 Comments

Self-driving cars and simple errors

Posted on April 2, 2013 by aseasyasriding

Some recent news stories – A man is seriously ill in hospital after a car crashed and ended up embedded in a house in Suffolk. The red Audi TT left the road and crashed into the home in Long Meadow Walk, … Continue reading →

Posted in Dangerous driving, Drink driving, Driving ban, Road safety | 10 Comments

A Daily Mail article composed entirely of nonsense

Posted on March 28, 2013 by aseasyasriding

I realise this is probably as easy as shooting fish in a barrel, but the recent Daily Mail article about furious lawbreakers furious that they had been caught breaking the law (Mail translation – hard-working families hit by evil stealth … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 32 Comments

Would you walk here?

Posted on March 27, 2013 by aseasyasriding

The recent discussion on the ibikelondon and City Cyclists blogs about carriageway narrowing, and how it can be dreadfully unpleasant for cycling, started me thinking about precisely why these new arrangements are so awful. Beyond the fact that it makes … Continue reading →

Posted in Infrastructure, London, Subjective safety | 11 Comments

Shared space and driver behaviour

Posted on March 26, 2013 by aseasyasriding

One of the more interesting claims made for ‘shared space’ road designs is that they will serve to improve driver behaviour, by making those sitting behind the wheels of motor cars think for themselves, and to respond to stimuli, rather … Continue reading →

Posted in Shared Space, Subjective safety | 28 Comments

Why the Hierarchy of Provision is doomed

Posted on March 21, 2013 by aseasyasriding

The street pictured above is Blackfriars Road in London, looking north towards Southwark tube station. The illuminated tall building on the right is Transport for London’s headquarters, Palestra House. As you can see, the road is rather wide. At a … Continue reading →

Posted in 20 mph limits, Boris Johnson, CTC, Cycling policy, Department for Transport, Go Dutch, Infrastructure, LCC, London, Subjective safety, Transport for London | 18 Comments

Pickles and Portas aren’t listening

Posted on March 19, 2013 by aseasyasriding

I’ll start with a confession. Eric Pickles is the reason I started writing this blog. Back in the winter of 2011, he attended a conference organised by The Economist, on Urban Planning and Liveable Cities. After he had spoken, Mark … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 28 Comments

In praise of gyratories (and one-way systems) – why more of them could be the answer

Posted on March 14, 2013 by aseasyasriding

If you say the word ‘gyratory’ to anyone who cycles regularly around cities or large towns in Britain, they’ll probably shiver involuntarily and start to sweat a little. In their mind, they will almost certainly be picturing  scenes like this … Continue reading →

Posted in Bus lanes, Go Dutch, Gyratories, Infrastructure, LCC, London, One-way streets, Subjective safety, The Netherlands, Town planning, Transport for London | 16 Comments