Following complaints about the volume and speed of cyclists, the council in their wisdom have laid 14 speed bumps in the alleyway of a residential area in North London. The move came in fear, that one day a pedestrian would be injured by a careless cyclist.

As expected the cyclists are absolutely outraged and there is the added dimension of the implication these obstacles will have on the disabled, elderly and mothers with buggies and prams.

Who’s at Fault…?
A move has been made by Government advisors to make motorists legally responsible by default, should they be involved in an accident with a cyclists, even if the motorist is not a fault.
The idea stems from regulations in place in the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany.  It seems a little extreme that a motorist should pay for an accident caused by the dangerous manoeuvre of a cyclist, however if a  realistic compromise could be reached, as cyclist groups point out, it would encourage more people to get out of their cars and make more journeys by bike, on foot or by public transport.
On a lighter note…
 A German brothel is offering cyclists a 5 euro discount, if they travel to the establishment by bike.  The owner said, ‘it’s good for business, it’s good for the environment and it’s good for the girls!’

Many residents cycle along the promenade at Sandbanks, not only because they care about the environment, want to stay fit and healthy, but purely for pleasure and now Bournemouth Council have seen fit to introduce the draconian, patronising and anti-environmental measure of using speed cameras!

In this day and age would it not be far more responsible for our councils to encourage this form of environmentally friendly commuting and find some sort of compromise rather that alienating the cyclists?