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[...] It is clear that a significant minority of British drivers put their time and their 'needs' above the safety of other road users and pedestrians. In a few decades, the driverless car will be perfected and the driven car must be made obsolete, preferably by law.
Until then the Government and the insurance industry should take radical steps to help residents of rural and urban communities reclaim their neighbourhoods from the lorries, the lunatics - and those Great British Motorists who like toddlers think they can do what they like, and explode with rage and indignation when questioned about it.
Black boxes compulsory in every vehicle, with improved technology that detects speed limit breaking and careless or aggressive driving.
Insurance companies encouraged to hike premiums immediately and punitively as bad driving is revealed.
Insurance companies obliged to hand over to DVLA and / or police all data that reveals traffic offences and dangerous driving.
Legal framework to allow prosecution and driving bans relating to offences revealed by black boxes.
Legal changes to encourage use of dashcam / helmet-cam / CCTV evidence to prosecute motorists.
Comprehensive review of 30mph speed limits, with local consultations on which should be lowered to 20mph.
Limit revs to 3,000rpm on all vehicles - as condition of passing MOT - to cut noise and dangerous acceleration.
Funding for technology that will limit all vehicles automatically to the local speed limit (and in the case of national speed limits, a safe speed for the road conditions); and will prevent heavy goods vehicles from using inappropriate rural and urban roads.
Source: This is Money
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 22 2016, @03:38AM
England has many bike &/or walking paths. One group that supports them and lobbies for more is called Sustrans. But the paths don't always go where you want and most English roads that I've ridden on have minimal space for bicycles.
Compare to here in upstate New York, (outside New York City--that's another world). For the last 20 years every time a state road is rebuilt, a 4-6 foot paved shoulder is added on both sides as a walk/bicycle path. By now we have great bike access across most of the state.
Note that State Roads do not include roads maintained by counties/cities/towns, they can still be a problem. But in the highest traffic areas there are usually sidewalks that can be used (technically illegal for bikes, but no one cares outside NY City).
(Score: 2) by Scruffy Beard 2 on Monday August 22 2016, @06:11AM
You know how you are scared of heavy, fast-moving vehicles passing within inches?
That is how pedestrians feel when a cyclist uses the side-walk.
(Score: 2) by TheRaven on Monday August 22 2016, @10:34AM
sudo mod me up
(Score: 1) by Francis on Monday August 22 2016, @01:58PM
We've had pedestrians killed by cyclists around here when they collided. And because cyclists don't have plates, it can be challenging to figure out whom it was if they don't stop.
What's more, bikes are quite quiet and move rather quickly. I personally was almost run over by one one evening when the bike came out of nowhere with no lighting on it at all and zipped by a foot or so in front of me. I could easily have gotten spooked and moved.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Monday August 22 2016, @04:28PM
> We've had pedestrians killed by cyclists around here when they collided. And because cyclists don't have plates,
> it can be challenging to figure out whom it was if they don't stop.
Citation needed.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 22 2016, @08:17PM
Nope, no citation needed. Here's an example from NYC, but it's pretty similar to what happens here. Ride too fast, knock somebody over and they die of a head injury. http://nypost.com/2014/09/18/cyclist-slams-into-pedestrian-in-central-park/ [nypost.com]
Bottom line is just because you choose to pretend like cyclists aren't dangerous to pedestrians when they aren't being careful, doesn't make it safe. And if they do choose to run, it's unlikely that anybody is going to catch them as there's no plates and you can do your own repairs at home. Most bike crashes don't even get reported because there's no law saying they have to.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Monday August 22 2016, @08:43PM
I missed the part where the name of the culprit wasn't over half a dozen times in the article.
Can I get a cite on a fatal bicycle hit-and-run? How about stats proving it's more common than bungee jumping accidents?
(Score: 2) by Scruffy Beard 2 on Tuesday August 23 2016, @06:53PM
Found an example where an elderly woman was seriously injured. Broken hips often kill elderly people within a year.
84-year-old in hospital after being hit by cyclist on pedestrian path [globalnews.ca]
Morning Links: LAPD still looking for hit-and-run cyclist, and a bike rider critically injured in SoLA hit-and-run [bikinginla.com]
Cyclist who fractured pedestrian’s rib after crashing into her on city footpath hands himself in [adelaidenow.com.au]
Were you under the impression that cyclists have better morals and are less likely to flee the scene?
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Tuesday August 23 2016, @08:19PM
No, but I know it's not that easy to kill someone and still have a flee-capable bike/rider. Humans are not hard to injure, but they are hard to kill.
The lack of fatal hit-and-run results from your search does prove the point. We might have found something with an even lower risk than terrorism.
(Score: 2) by Scruffy Beard 2 on Tuesday August 23 2016, @08:24PM
To kill somebody, they just need to hit their head wrong after falling over. I was focussing on Hit-and-run by cyclists, not death by cyclist.