Two-wheeled fascism: the trouble with London's cyclists
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By Michael Hodges
Updated: Thu Jul 30 2009 -
Time Out columnist Michael Hodges goes on the offensive against dangerous London cyclists. Have your say on the issues and read other responses and comments
What you said | Have your say
A very aggrieved cyclist turned up on BBC Radio 4 last week. He was upset about London cyclist deaths, in particular the number of cyclists killed by lorries that turn left at junctions and fail to see riders who are often trapped between the vehicles and safety railings against which, with woeful irony, they are crushed.
This is an extremely dangerous situation that should be stopped but, as well as being outraged by it, the man was clearly dangerous himself. In a tremulous, public-school voice on the edge, it seemed, of tears, he openly admitted that he ignored traffic signals: ‘It doesn't matter if the light is red or not, I’m just bothered about seeing a space in the traffic ahead and slipping in to it.’ Feature continuesAdvertisementThis neatly turned what was his and other cyclists’ problem into our problem. And by ‘our’ I mean the great majority of us who attempt to walk around the city every day and don’t want to be hit by cyclists ignoring red lights. The man could make his outrageous admission so easily because, in his and other cyclists’ world view, plebs who walk don’t matter. We are mere obstacles in the way of the divine right of an athletic, clean-living few to cycle wherever they want.
In the past, cyclists would at least be shame-faced enough about their aggression to lie: ‘Bikes are allowed on the pavement’; ‘we’re being forced on the path by the roadworks.’ Or they would blame us for being on the pavement in the first place: ‘The pavement doesn’t belong to pedestrians, it’s ours as well’ (well, yes it does, actually, and no it isn’t).
But now the London cycling community – privileged, white, self-absorbed and arrogant – can’t be bothered to make stuff up any more and is taking to the airwaves to encourage its members to break the law (and just to be clear, it is against the law to deliberately ride through a red light).
The arrogance of London’s rogue cyclists is as extreme as their appearance. Go to the website of the London Cycling Campaign (www.lcc.org.uk) and on the homepage you’ll find a picture of a grown man in a yellow anorak and tights riding his cycle across the pavement.
He’s coming up behind a lumpy male pedestrian in a baseball cap who has no way of knowing the cyclist is behind him because cyclists – around the time they started to dress in leotards and Waffen SS helmets – abandoned the traditional, and useful if you’re going to drive through a group of people, bell.
Lumpy men in baseball caps are ridiculous, laughable even, but not having thunderous thighs and a cagoule doesn’t justify physical assault. Yet. The worship of the (white) male human body, the disdain for the lower orders, the generally humourless attitude (seen any laughing cyclists recently?), we’ve been here before haven’t we? In fact we fought a war to stop it. Did London survive the attentions of the Luftwaffe only to be overrun by a new pack of two-wheeled fascists?
The original London fascists, Mosley’s blackshirts, survived on handouts from the aristocracy but modern pedestrian-hating cycling groups are allowed to register as a charities (the LCC is Registered Charity number 1115789). Worse, the government actually gives our money to the new fascists; funding for cycling has doubled in the last two years and there is now a Cycle to Work scheme to provide VAT-free bicycles. Why should pedestrians’ taxes pay to put more cyclists on our paths and support organisations committed to making our lives harder?
LCC has direct links with Sustrans, a group that is dedicated to turning country lanes into cycleways, forcing the ordinary hikers that traditionally use them out of the way. If successful, Sustrans’ s campaign will undo the radical work of the last century when mass trespasses won ordinary people access to the countryside. Quiet lanes and tracks where women, children and pensioners can dawdle along enjoying the flora and fauna would become noisy cycleways plagued by mountain bikes and bellowing male riders in neon body stockings.
In town and country then, the pedestrian is under assault from cyclists. Given the ferocity of the assault, letting tyres down and bending mudguards whenever the opportunity arises doesn’t seem an adequate response any more. So what are we going to do about the new fascists?- Add your comment to this feature
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77 comments
please stop writing, michael. don't do anything.
"The combination of extreme arrogance and amazing stupidity exhibited by cyclists in London just
boggles the mind. Frankly those cyclists being crushed by lorries are usually asking for it. Let's call it Darwinian Theory at work"
Let's just call you a dingy demented little fascist and be done with it.
At least it's a chance to use the word correctly.
I lived in Amsterdam for four years. The difference there is not just more cyclists, or that the law makes vehicles bear liability in an accident, but it is TOLERANCE. Because more people cycle, more understand all points of view. Its not that the world must be seen through a cyclists lens - there's a huge range of cyclist behaviour - but the almost complete intolerance in this discussion creates an environment where there is almost no net benefit for being a considerate/law-abiding cyclist. So my suggestion - is that you all ship yourself for a long weekend to Amsterdam, and answer the question whether the collective 'we' are interested enough to want to understand each other, or do we just want to vent and be right?
to the editor...
You should be ashamed... the article is riddled with factual errors & omissions. I'd of expected a higher quality from timeout, but clearly i am mistaken.
to the author...
Try lookng past your nose.... "cause & effect". Examine the reasoning why some cyclists do what they do. 9 times out of 10 it is either;
a) safety/survival - eg. jump the red light to avoid getting crushed from lorries
b) inadequate alternatives - eg. pathetic london government that continues to persist with it's third world standard of cycling infrastructure. Take a leaf from Amserdams book... dedicated cycling roads (not just the occasional pathetic strip of green on the side of the road to allow drivers to push one into the safety railing), less cars on road (cleaner environment), etc.
Pedestrians 'run' more red lights than cyclists could possibly manage.
LOL!!!dude what the hell is wrong with you?....oh yes i know...
there is no doubt that all cyclists 'give way' to pedestrians a lot more frequently (about 10 times more) than pedestrians would encounter us on their territory.
Every day, pedestrians cross the road in front of cyclists without bothering to look in the blissful ignorance that no noise means nothing is coming or because they think that we are easier to avoid and are more likely to give way than cars.
It is scary for both of us - cyclists can go at speeds of up to 30mph and our brakes are not as efficient as cars.
Most of my near misses have been due to ignorant strollers rather than cars. Please acknowledge our speed potential - being hit by a car at 30mph has a approx 50% mortality...
not sure what the 30mph cyclists vs pedestrian mortality outcome is but you know its going to invlove 2 injured parties - honestly pedestrians put our lives in danger too and cyclists are constantly having to avoid YOU a hell of a lot more than the other way around.
Has Hodges ever stopped to think or ask why cyclists go on the inside of the lane and go through red lights? Motorbikes come along the right hand side of the lane, so thats a no-go. Cyclists go IN FRONT of the traffic at lights so that they don't get crushed because of drivers failing to put their indicators until they are actually turning left. More often than not there isn't a cycle lane at the traffic lights so to get out of the way, cyclists go through the light. The roads weren't designed for bicycles, motorbikes, lorries, buses and cars to all go along at the same time. We're all encouraged to take public transport or cycle, the reason I cycle is because I won't pay £100 a month to stand with my face in someone's rucksack on a hot tube, taking twice as long to get to work.
Hodges, you are the fascist. And a cnut.
The guy who wrote this article is your prototype of the London commuter: miserable, looking glum, aggressive and clearly very UNFIT!! get yourself off those packed smelly carriages and start cycling or even walking, and you will boost your levels of dopamine and seronotine!! that would make you less of a miserable bastard, honestly! I've been cycling for 5 years in London, I stop at 99.99% of the traffic lights, I am super considerate and wary, but at the same time I don't let cars ( and especially black cabs who hate us so much) run all over me...although obviously, wonder who would be the worse off.... However, there are some cyclists who need a good kicking for arrogantly and smuggely ignoring the rules!! It really gets to me when some of them behave like total morons on the roads....it gives us such a bad name! Cycling has gone up by 82% since 2000....do the maths!
Hodges you’re an idiot. If you want to rant and rave about cyclists breaking the law fine, but at least acknowledge that they’re not the only road users who do so. Motorbikes, cars, vans, lorries and buses regularly accelerate to go through amber lights and often end up jumping red ones as a result. Cyclists may well do it more often, but I’ve never come close to colliding with a cyclist on a pedestrian crossing, where as I have twice nearly been knocked down by cars going through a red light. I’ve seen motorbikes and even the occasional car driving along pavements and everyday I see motorists of all descriptions driving above the speed limit. Over the last 50 years the car has come to completely dominate our urban environment. I can’t think of one example of a city that has been improved as a result - just compare you experience as a pedestrian in London to the experience of pedestrians in cities like Copenhagen, Malmo and Freiburg which over the same period have actively encouraged travel on foot, by bike and by public transport. Investment in all three forms of travel usually goes hand in hand, just as it now does in London (thanks to Ken). It must be hard meeting weekly deadlines, but if you stop to think and look around once in a while you’ll realise that not only is it a minority of cyclists who regularly jump red lights and ride on pavements, but that it is love for and dependence on the motor car that’s the real problem.
I have just returned to London after spending a month on a borrowed bike in Melbourne. I was pleasantly surprised at the setup of the bike facilities in Melbourne, with bike roads everywhere that actually ended in an appropriate place but, above all, provided myriads of off-road bayside, riverside and thru-park tracks. 95% of the other cyclists acknowledged me and I appreciated their courteousness. After 30+ years of bike riding on London's streets (I'm female), I have to say that, although the level of competitiveness amongst commuting cyclists has risen, who can blame this attitude in a huge city where car & lorry drivers show little regard? And a loud bell or horn will make the pedestrians jump if they stroll blindly onto the road. What a load of drivel
At this stage I would like to reply with an intelligent riposte to the ludicrous opinions in the article. Like to but won't, the guy is a twat.
Some people need to be dragged by the hair to the gates of Auschwitz Berkenau to be reminded of what fascism means before shooting their ignorant attention-seeking fat mouths off.
This isn't even original. Before he was finally run out of town on a rail, radio shock-jock Jon Grunt used to routinely refer to "lycra-clad cyclo-fascists". He didn't last long after that either.
what a load of bollocks he has written!! I'm a cyclist my apologies I am white, but female and a safe cyclist. yes some cyclists do run lights but usually at their own risk from oncoming traffic. In 3 years cycling every day to uni and work I've never seen a cycle accident involving a bike and pedestrian it has always been bike vs car and no matter whose fault pretty obvious whose worse off!!