Post by Bracken Van Ryssen on Nov 14, 2013 11:09:57 GMT
These are my notes from the evening, summarising points of view and statistics that I found of particular interest.
General Points from Council
Casualties have halved in recent years, however this can be attributed to recession and increasing car safety.
Deaths are still too high; equivalent to a death every fortnight.
7% of all road casualties are cyclists, but only 2% of trips are made by cyclists.
20 is Plenty (Rod King) www.20splentyforus.org.uk/
Bikeright www.bikeright.co.uk/
• A study in Portland (US) surveyed opinions on cycling and categorised them using this information. Results:
1% ‘Strong and Fearless’
7% ‘Enthused and Confident’
60% ‘Interested But Concerned’
32% ‘No Way, No How’
>The 60% should be the target audience for cycle planning.
• Infrastructure should prioritise more vulnerable road users, such as cars giving way to bicycles when making turns into minor roads.
• Currently only 50% of schools receive cycle training.
• Quality of bikes is of high importance when trying to get people cycling permanently.
• Re-Education is very important, e.g. drivers should be made aware of the reasons behind cyclist behaviour.
General Points from Council
Casualties have halved in recent years, however this can be attributed to recession and increasing car safety.
Deaths are still too high; equivalent to a death every fortnight.
7% of all road casualties are cyclists, but only 2% of trips are made by cyclists.
20 is Plenty (Rod King) www.20splentyforus.org.uk/
- Cities should be reinvented around what future generations need.
- 20mph areas should be based around behavioural change, rather than speed bumps.
- 20mph areas are about retrofitting communities for active travel.
- Many key cities such as York, Liverpool and increasing areas in London are rolling out citywide 20mph limits.
- While overall road casualties are going down, this masks an increasing percentage of pedestrian casualties.
- A city that permits 30mph on residential roads will never be child friendly.
- Inappropriate speed violates our public spaces, creating fear, apprehension and conflict.
- Speed lowers the ability to avoid collisions and increases the severity of the consequences.
- 20mph areas should be about cultural shifts and people beginning to value community streets.
- 20mph limits often make no appreciable difference to travel times, due to levels of congestion present.
- 73% of people and 70% of people agree with 20mph limits.
Bikeright www.bikeright.co.uk/
• A study in Portland (US) surveyed opinions on cycling and categorised them using this information. Results:
1% ‘Strong and Fearless’
7% ‘Enthused and Confident’
60% ‘Interested But Concerned’
32% ‘No Way, No How’
>The 60% should be the target audience for cycle planning.
• Infrastructure should prioritise more vulnerable road users, such as cars giving way to bicycles when making turns into minor roads.
• Currently only 50% of schools receive cycle training.
• Quality of bikes is of high importance when trying to get people cycling permanently.
• Re-Education is very important, e.g. drivers should be made aware of the reasons behind cyclist behaviour.