Road Safety

Pedestrian refuges / traffic islands - put there for your safety. On the one hand, they mean that pedestrians can cross roads one lane at a time. And drivers, get a greater perception of their speed, which hopefully means that they slow down. The trouble is, that there isn’t always room for a car AND...
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Rick Smith, creator of Yehuda Moon & The Kickstand Cyclery is away for a month or so, re-charging his creative batteries. The trouble is, I’m missing my daily dose of bike shop comic strip - so much so, that I’ve had a go at a strip of my own (click to enlarge): If you’ve...
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Possibly the strangest news story ever, via MSN : A woman driver caused a pile-up after becoming distracted while shaving her bikini line. Megan Mariah Barnes, 37, crashed into the back of a truck in the Florida Keys after giving her ex-husband the wheel as she shaved her private parts. Barnes was driving to meet her boyfriend...
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Remember that whole thing that the strong should bow to the weak in transport? So cars give way to bikes, who in turn give way to pedestrians? Well, as you can see, it was alive and well in Whitley Bay last week: Oh, hang on a minute, I’ve got that wrong haven’t I? It’s just...
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Bikeportland.org yesterday featured a map showing their local accident blackspots for cyclists: What you’ll notice from this is that accidents seem to happen more on busier streets, and most frequently at junctions. (In other news, the sky is apparently blue, grass green, and dogs found to bark). You can see this even more clearly on...
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Whoever said that all the deep coal mines in England were closed in the 80s & 90s? There are still loads of them. You’ll find them at random locations in the roads of North Tyneside, Newcastle and Northumberland. As well as speleology, some of them also offer excellent opportunities for cave diving. Next week I’ll take...
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This video appeared on Cyclelicio.us a few days ago. It shows that you’re far, far "safer" to take the lane on a dual carriageway than to ride along the hard shoulder. In so doing, the overtaking traffic gives you a much wider berth than if you’ve already marginalised yourself to the edge of the...
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Time was short today, with a whole bunch of stuff that needed doing at home. It was also pretty cold out, and threatening to rain, so I wimped out and did the week’s long ride on the turbo. I had to put a film on to take my mind off the whole riding-indoors-going-nowhere thing, and...
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Yes indeed, driving is hazardous. In a week in which it’s been revealed that more drivers than ever are chatting away on the phone (almost as if they know their chances of getting away with it are virtually assured, because it’s plain that the police don’t give a damn), I’ve seen all sorts of...
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Remember the driver who managed to squeeze through an impossibly tight gap to get past me earlier in the week? The one to whom I should be grateful for not actually hitting me ? At the time, due to the feeble flash on my Blackberry, I couldn’t get a decent photo to record the details...
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