Communication problems; and a change of scene
by bikesalive
BIKES ALIVE E-MAIL ADDRESS
There have been some problems with the Bikes Alive e-mail address since last night. If you’ve sent a message to BikesAlive@london.com which has bounced, please re-send it to the following temporary address: bikesalive@hushmail.com. It’s hoped this will be a temporary problem: keep an eye on this website for news.
A CHANGE OF SCENE
The next “official” Bikes Alive outing will be at Archway, rather than at Kings Cross. On Thursday 1 March, at 6.15pm, we’ll be meeting in Archway Close, London N19, in the middle of the massive roundabout at the centre of the Archway gyratory system (right by Highgate tube station), in support of a long-running local campaign to calm and humanise the roads at Archway. Pedestrians and cyclists will be circling the system to reclaim – for a little while – some road space for human beings. See www.2wayarchway.org.uk for lots of background to this campaign. Note in particular, given the famous (Archway-related) historical tale of a mayor of London and his cat, that participants are encouraged to dig out any cat costumes they might have to hand/paw.
OTHER IMMINENT LONDON CYCLING EVENTS
1) On the eve of a House of Commons debate on cycle safety, there will be a mass bike ride past parliament this evening, “to draw attention to the drastic changes needed to make London’s streets truly safe and inviting for cycling and walking”.
Initiated by two excellent London cycling blog-sites (Cyclists in the City, and I Bike London, the duo who also initiated the Tour de Danger around some of London’s most dangerous junctions one Saturday morning a few months back), the event is also backed by the London Cycling campaign (LCC) – which means it’s likely to involve a lot of cyclists. (And which also means it’s likely to be very brief, and to avoid at all costs inconveniencing motorists … unless there are lots of people who refuse to obey orders…)
Cyclists are invited to meet at the Duke of York steps on The Mall (at 6.15pm for a 6.30pm start) for the ride.
2) And don’t forget that this Friday, 24 February, being the last Friday in the month, will see the regular Critical Mass bike ride. Celebrating the change in the balance of power on London’s streets when there are hundreds of cyclists around in one place, it will meet as usual outside the NFT bar, under the south end of Waterloo Bridge, between 6pm and 6.30pm. By 7pm it will move off to wherever the fancy takes it/them/us.
I’ve often thought the LCC needed a militant wing – not sure if you would want to be thought of as such. We do need urgent change on our roads but TfL, the police and LCC seem to exude complacency, smugness and a complete lack of any sense of urgency whilst cyclists are being killed.
All we really need is the basic human right of being able to get about our city without fear.
Society seems so confused on the issue. Whereas at work we will seriously consider health and safety issues for relatively trivial issues, once I get on my bike to leave work all concern about safety seems to be forgotten. Last week I was almost mown down by a runaway cement mixer on York Way as I left Kings X. A year ago, also at Kings X, a black cab driver deliberately took me out with his car door on the basis that he “hated the way you cyclists always go to the front at traffic lights.”
The main reason people get in a car is comfort and they like to shut out the world. In order to make drivers feel a bit less comfortable I think we could look at making it obvious we are filming drivers who are using hand held mobiles and their number plates during demonstrations. This is a bit more confrontational, but maybe worth doing to draw attention to another way in which many motorists casually put cyclists at risk.
Contact details are:
David Vail – Hackney
davidvail@blueyonder.co.uk
I think it is socially responsible (even if a bit confrontational) to challenge dangerous and anti-social behaviour we encounter – after all, social pressure is as important as official policing as a way of improving people’s behaviour.
With this in mind, I always challenge drivers I see using a mobile phone. I point at them, shout at them, hoot my bike horn at them, and generally try to embarrass them. Sometimes they do – literally – drop their phone. At other times, they’re abusive.
I think it would be good if we all confronted such behaviour – and indeed, if enough people openly took pictures of drivers using their phones (or doing other dangerous and illegal things), it might have some impact.
Maybe, if people have time, the evidence should also be given to the police to see what they’ll do. I’m only too aware of the fact that the police have little interest in clamping down on crimes committed by people in motor vehicles – but maybe if enough of us sent them reports, they’d come to realise that their priorities need to change to match society’s.
As far as an LCC “militant wing”, well… it’s a pity if more “militant” activity has to be totally separate from more traditional campaigning. Even if LCC won’t/can’t officially support more direct-action-style events, they could at least tell their membership and let them make up their own minds – why won’t they do this? Is it because they have the “franchise” to undertake lots of bike activity with money they get from TfL, and being a conduit for large sums of money – from the very people who are a major part of the problem! – makes them unwilling to get too radical (either in terms of what they say or what they do)?
Keith Lucas, WC1 (badhoc@london.com).