theplanlessman

joined 2 years ago
[–] theplanlessman@feddit.uk 9 points 2 years ago (6 children)

This was filmed in London, which actually has some of the best cycling infrastructure in the UK (though that's a low bar to pass). It seems, however, that he's taking a route that happens to not have much of that infrastructure on it.

Though as you say, people should be able to cycle however they please, and it is enshrined in UK law that cyclists are not required to use cycling infrastructure. In this case I'd say he's going fast enough that he'd be a danger to the slower cyclists and pedestrians on the cycle paths and multi-use pathways, so riding on the road makes more sense anyway.

[–] theplanlessman@feddit.uk 20 points 2 years ago (3 children)

What's funny is that it's only that way because of all the people driving rather than cycling. If the people who could get to where they're going without a car (bike/bus/train/whatever) used those alternative forms of transportation, then it would make the roads much clearer for the few people who actually need to drive (trades/emergency vehicles, etc.).

Both the total throughput and average speed of these roads would increase if more people were on bikes and buses. Unfortunately if it were to ever happen I fear people would just see the clearer roads and think, "Hey, the roads are clear now, I should drive again!" and we'd be right back to square one.

[–] theplanlessman@feddit.uk 19 points 2 years ago (2 children)

There is already the regulation in the Highway Code:

114: "You MUST NOT use any lights in a way which would dazzle or cause discomfort to other road users"

The "MUST NOT" indicates that this is a legal requirement and so it is a criminal offense to disobey it. Now if we could get the police to actually ENFORCE the legal requirements in the Highway Code, then maybe things might improve on the roads.

[–] theplanlessman@feddit.uk 6 points 2 years ago

So you think cars create a dangerous and inhospitable environment unsuitable for humans? I think we can agree on that point.

[–] theplanlessman@feddit.uk 0 points 2 years ago (1 children)

It's incredible, isn't it? They're digging up the local "arterial" (it's too small to really be an arterial route, but it certainly carries that much traffic) to install some fibre (finally!), so it is down to one lane, and you can imagine the jams that have ensued.

The thing is, we're a whole 4 miles out of the city centre, and again, based on the turnings people are taking, I know most of the traffic in the morning is heading into town, and yet no one seems to think that perhaps a bike or bus would reduce the traffic and make the journey quicker for everyone involved.

[–] theplanlessman@feddit.uk 4 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 children)

35 years old and I've never learned to drive. I've just been lucky enough to never had the need. I've always lived either in the centre of a city or in a place where public transport just made more sense (London and Japan). I currently live in neither of those situations, but I get by just fine on my bicycle.

My wife drives, though only rarely, and she's pushing me to get around to learning.

[–] theplanlessman@feddit.uk 3 points 2 years ago (2 children)

You think losing thousands of highly trained doctors will improve the NHS?

[–] theplanlessman@feddit.uk 6 points 2 years ago

I can't find any more info on the Saudi law, but I believe the EU law at least has provisions for moving to a new standard in the future if a better alternative comes along. So when USB-D arrives, if it is seen to be a better standard, the EU can mandate that it becomes the new charging standard.

[–] theplanlessman@feddit.uk 1 points 2 years ago

That depends on the type of ebike, surely? Here in the UK/EU ebikes are limited to 250w power, motor only active when pedaling, and a max speed of 25kph. I regularly get over 25kph on my acoustic bike, should I also be banned from bike ways?

[–] theplanlessman@feddit.uk 10 points 2 years ago

You need headphones with multipoint functionality. If your current pair can't connect to multiple sources at once already then you may need to buy new ones that can.

[–] theplanlessman@feddit.uk 6 points 2 years ago

They're popping up here in the UK too. Our winding pre-industrial roads really aren't big enough for these road tanks, they constantly get in the way. They're even too big for a lot of parking spaces, you see them spilling over all the time.

[–] theplanlessman@feddit.uk 7 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

An intriguing idea, but they seem a little vague about where they're actually getting their traffic data from, just a "third party". For crowd-sourced traffic data to be at all useful it needs to be coming from software that a lot of drivers happen to have on their phones, so I wouldn't be surprised if Google or Apple aren't to be found somewhere in the pipeline.

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