Westminstenders: Local Elections Madness

[RedToothBrush]

This week has gone from banging your head against the wall to wanting to bang your head through it.

Labour have voted to support a 2nd ref as their EU election campaign strategy. Only for Corbyn to ignore it. And a row has broken out.

Change UK seem well on track to make everyone else look professional and to look as 'liberal elite' as humanly possible in a real life reverse paraody of themselves.

The Brexit Party is going from strength to strength with the most wtf candidates imaginable and Farage is happy cos his mate is coming to tea with the Queen.

The Liberal Democrats have decided that anti semitism is OK in an effort to keep Labour seats.

And the Conservatives. Where to start? Probably with the Tory Leadership Election infighting which looks suspiciously as if its now breached national security.

As for Brexit. No one really wants to talk about it. Local elections are next week. May is now apparently supporting the Malthouse Compromise. Be warned, it is difficult to see it as anything but a Trojan Horse for No Deal. Not that everyone has worked this out yet. But until we have the blood bath of the local elections over and done with on Thursday, don't expect much to happen.

Then expect the Tories to lose their minds...

@OublietteBravo , methinks the poster is from a distant shore.

Don't disagree with you LonelyTiredAndLow that UK country roads are the worst for cyclists . Even though I am a confident cyclist, I'm not sure I would want to cycle along some country roads My mum and dad used to cycle-commute, with about a mile along a country road (they live(d) just outside Glasgow), and my dad now won't cycle on the road itself. On the police's advice he cycles along the pavement (barely any pedestrians on it). My mum died as an indirect result of a cycling accident - falling off her bike on a cycling holiday abroad and the resultant head injury ultimately cause a dementia that killed her . So even though it was a genuine accident and not car related, I am very aware of the dangers of cycling.

Dutch report confirms earlier findings that the increase is mostly in men aged 65, especially on e-bikes.

Possibly because they are travelling faster than they would under 100% their own power ?
Or they are previous non-cyclers ?

The accidents for women on e-bikes actually reduced

https://bicycledutch.wordpress.com/2018/04/25/more-cycling-fatalities-than-deaths-in-cars/

"two-thirds of the cycle deaths are people over 65 years of age, while they only ride 3% of the total distance"

(btw, Cycling helmets are really for protection against falling off and hitting the road, so they do save lives and serious injury.
From my own observations, I wonder if older men are less likely to bother with helmets, as well as over-estimating the speed they can handle)

Cycling is in fact a safe activity.
Cycling primarily in the countryside, i hate riding in Plymouth.
Of course if car drivers weren't such dicks and had a little patience, all roads would be safer.
i'd like to see a Strict Liability law introduced, would certainly make car drivers think about their actions.

www.cyclinguk.org/campaigning/views-and-briefings/road-safety-and-cycling-overview

methinks the poster is from a distant shore.

Different planet, more like ...

Cycling is in fact a safe activity.

Cycling among cars less so .....

jasjas1973
Sorry I hadn't expressed the details properly. I am not 'anti cycling' in the slightest and would be doing it now if it hadn't been 'stolen'.

I agree about the cycle helmets - that they don't really protect against a car impact and it's more for your own protection in case you fall and hit, eg a kerb. In mum's case, she was wearing a helmet which probably saved her life (just bad luck that she had the protein that meant that the healing process didn't stop and then became destructive ): she bounced first and broke her pelvis (proving that, as 66, she didn't have osteoporosis as it was her femur pushing into the pelvis that broke it) and then hitting a rock with her head

As another serious point, my dad had to fight to get her into rehab as she was over 65 - despite the fact that she had been fit and active and it has happened while cycling in India . She then made an 80% recovery, before going backwards again. Age-ism in action in our NHS

I'm sorry prettybird.

It's fascinating to see that we are being trolled by overseas visitors even now, isn't it.

Dh and ds (who is a very keen cyclist and used to cycle competitively on both closed road and track until he chose rugby just after we had bought him a VERY expensive bike ) and I disagree about the suggested strict liability legislation.

I'm in favour, because the odds are so stacked against the cyclist and it would make car drivers "think cyclist", whereas they are both concerned that numpty cyclists would win cases against cars, even though they were in the wrong.

I think / hope my cycling improves my fitness & health
It certainly is enjoyable & relaxing, except during bad weather

I accept the risk of accidents, in exchange for the benefits

And down a step ...

I'm in favour, because the odds are so stacked against the cyclist pedestrians and it would make car drivers cyclists "think cyclist pedestrian", whereas they are both concerned that numpty cyclists pedestrians would win cases against cars cyclists, even though they were in the wrong.

Maybe I've a jaundiced view of cyclists, but they are a menace on the pavement when DW is pootling along in her little scooter. And for all the frothing, the fact remains the death by cyclist count is non-zero in the UK.

I agree that cyclists should not go on to pavements - although it is partly because our road infrastructure and driver mentality is so poor (hence the police advice for cyclists to use the pavement beside the rural road as there are almost never any pedestrians - although what they should do is put up a "Shared use" sign) that some cyclists not me use the pavements.

Ditto with cyclists stopping ahead of the stop line at traffic lights: there are some junctions (there was one on my commute home from where I used to work) where that is the only safe place to wait for the lights to turn.

No info on LDs ever arrived . Choice was 6 Con, 1 Lab & 2LD, one of which was at the top of ballot, so should help.
Two other voters there, lunchtime.

And for all the frothing, the fact remains the death by cyclist count is non-zero in the UK.

That's not right. A pedestrian died (in London, I think) as a result of an idiot on a racing bike with no brakes, IIRC, smashing into her as she crossed the road.

I imagine there have been a fair few cyclist-caused collisions in a similar way or on pavements. It doesn't have to result in death to be a serious accident.

I'm on the fence really. There's idiots everywhere, whether they're pedestrians, cyclists, motorists, motorcyclists, lorry drivers etc. It's being able to avoid these types of people, which is sometimes by judgment and often by luck, which keeps us safe!

The pavements local to me are split so that bikes go on one side and pedestrians the other.
It’s largely ignored but cyclists are allowed on the pavement.
We have a lot of pathways through our estate that are perfect for cycling.

I do get slightly frustrated when there is a slowish cyclist travelling along the road at rush hour (single carriageway) when there is the markings on the pavement.

Fast cyclists should be on the road.

I am too nervous to cycle on the road so mainly keep to pavements.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/uk-england-41028321

Here's the cyclist story.

You may have meant no cyclists have killed motorists though, DGR, which I'm sure is true (I can't imagine it wouldn't be, given the odds).

Since I was little, there's been a drive (see what I did there) to encourage cycling for health and the environment. Fuck all money. But a lot of warm words, so I've made my mind up about it.

Besides (back to Brexit ?) if everyone did cycle, that fabled car manufacturing market would really struggle.

If you look - and it doesn't have to be forensically deep - into a lot of aspect of modern life, you'll discover that while politicians are saying one thing, they are actually doing another. Shocking, I know. But true. And I decided a long time ago what paths I would take in life.

(DF sometimes says do what the priest does, not what he says. Which is where I get it from).

So let's get back to Green policies, then. What exactly has any government done in the past 30 years to (for example) reduce commuting ?

Fuck all.

OK, so now I know what the score is. I know what I will do.

Rinse and repeat for any other issue des nos jours.

That cyclist was riding illegally as "fixies" used on the road have to have a brake on the front wheel (back wheel "brake" is the pedal itself) . He deserved to have the book thrown at him and there should be a better law than "cycling furiously" with which to prosecute

(A fixie is really a track bike: I've been on one and it is strange experience as it really is difficult to stop)

And for all the frothing, the fact remains the death by cyclist count is non-zero in the UK.

That's not right. A pedestrian died (in London, I think) as a result of an idiot on a racing bike with no brakes, IIRC, smashing into her as she crossed the road

Which is what I said. Death BY cyclists is non-zero. They have killed at least on pedestrian I know of. With little or no remorse from memory.

DWs scooter just about does 4mph (I can outwalk it if I like). It's no match for a bike coming along behind at 20mph.

Ah yes, non-zero! 🙈 That'll teach me to talk to clients and read at the same time!

That cyclist certainly showed no remorse.

He certainly did cyclists a disservice

DGR I also have a "jaundiced view of cyclists" as one slammed into the back of my car whilst I was waiting at traffic lights causing hundred of pounds worth of damage. Liability indeed!

Anyway we are back from voting. Tory candidate looked frankly embarrassed to be sitting there. Apparently there have been large rifts in the party locally...I don't think I particularly care about being outed so here's a link to The Canterbury Conservative Association which is run by a load of Europhobes who think the best way of winning back the seat is to propagate Hard Brexit. The chairman wrote an article on ConHome a few days ago
here...
If you scroll down there are a couple of long posts by Joe Egerton who goes into some interesting detail about the failings . Recommend popcorn.

Cycling is great in cities
in rural areas much less so

My kids secondary school is 4 miles away along A roads
Their 6th form was an hour away up three motorway junctions
but they did use the bus

In Comprehensive areas, most people go to nearer schools
in London with thousands of options, the carbon footprint of school transport is much higher

Population change - that genie is out of the bottle
Only sub saharan Africa has birth rates above replacement.
Populations in the rest of the world will go into active decline within the next 15 years
no matter what the bosses do / want