Monthly Archives: November 2010

AWWTM: London: still not impressed with superhighways

Way back at the start of October we mentioned that the London Authority’s transport committee were seeking your views on the hire bikes and the two trial cycle superhighways.  The results are in, and we must have had a massive … Continue reading

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AWWTM: Unskilled and unaware of it

Most road “accidents” may be accidental in the sense that they are unintended.  But few, if any, can be considered accidental in the sense that nobody was to blame.  In road accidents, somebody did something wrong, and it’s almost always … Continue reading

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AWWTM: If a truck is full of bikes, should it be in the bike lane?

Despite being fully up to date with the latest city driving rules, the Serco/Barclays hire bike relocaters are worrying the Evening Standard today: Cyclist David Ellis, who was knocked over by a trailer used to transport the Mayor’s hire bikes … Continue reading

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AWWTM: What’s wrong with this number?

Prominently reported in the Camden Cycling Plan update: The latest update from Spring and Autumn 2008 shows a positive growth in cycling. Between 2007 and 2008 there has been an increase in numbers cycling by 44.6% and the estimated modal … Continue reading

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AWWTM: The M4 bus lane

The M4 bus lane was a fascinating thing.  Introduced in 1999 by John Prescott, ostensibly as a “green” policy to allow buses to pass the traffic jams into London, it became the icon of the so-called “war on the motorist”.  … Continue reading

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AWWTM: When I see a medical statistician on a bicycle…

Epidemiologists at a London medical research institute have looked at the police records of fatal accidents involving cyclists on London’s roads between the late nineties and mid noughties, and notes some interesting trends in where they occur and who is … Continue reading

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AWWTM: Roadwork charging

Over at At War With The Motorist, I take a skeptical look at the Mayor’s latest brilliant idea for solving London’s car problem: charging utilities companies by the hour for road words.  You can read it here.

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AWWTM: Philip Hammond happily promotes bogus transport solutions

In April 2008, the science writer Simon Singh wrote in The Guardian that chiropractors “happily promote bogus treatments”.  Singh was outlining the serious concerns he had about practitioners of unproven alternative medicines encouraging people with serious diseases to pay for … Continue reading

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AWWTM: Being realistic

So I mentioned that Carlton Reid and I both like the idea of mass bicycle use, and that we agree that high volumes of fast moving motor vehicles are a barrier to it.  But while I have drawn the conclusion … Continue reading

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AWWTM: Surrogates and segregation

The bicycle blogosphere has been buzzing about bike paths lately.  It’s an old argument in the UK, where nine out of ten bike paths are so badly designed that bicycle users conclude that they would always be better off on … Continue reading

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AWWTM: What is a Motorist?

The media and the road/car lobby have together created an entity the motorist. Apparently they all think that they should be able to park wherever they like and drive at whatever speed they consider to be appropriate, and that anybody … Continue reading

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AWWTM: I was a Cyclist

I rode a bike before that.  It was just a convenient way to make the short journeys I needed to make.  Initially to the university in Bristol, where helmets didn’t really seem to be the style.  Then around the sidestreets … Continue reading

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Bisphenol A might make you fat

(This is another archival repost, written for the old blog in 2009.) If you’ll excuse my tabloid headline writer… A year ago, I wrote Lies, damn lies, and tissue culture, describing some of the reasons why caution and healthy skepticism … Continue reading

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