Two-wheeled fascism: the trouble with London's cyclists
-
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
|
|
More ways to enjoy Time Out
-
Weekly London newsletter
The best of London in your inbox
-
Time Out Widgets
|
|
77 comments
For every pedestrian that has an unfortunate near-accident with a cyclist crossing a red light. there is a pedestrian that jay-walks with no thought about potential cyclists coming their way and who then give you a very cross look when you come to within an inch of hitting them. Try cycling down Shaftsbury Avenue and you'll see what I mean.
I used to cycle and for various reasons now walk to work (I'm lucky I can do this) but there have been times when I've had verbal abuse from cyclists for crossing the road when I have right of way - I don't jump lights on foot or on bike. I applaud people who cycle to work but I don't want to feel intimidated crossing the road when the green man signal is on and cyclists ignore it causing danger to themselves and pedestrians. The article was very OTT and because of it the point is lost. Cyclists and pedestrians both reduce their carbon footprint and should both honour the highway code. There are NO excuses. Perhaps we should be targetting drivers and motorcyclists who edge into the clearly deliniated cyclists area at junctions?
You didn't pay Hodges for this garbage, did you?
I was so so disappointed to read this article in time out a few weeks ago. I seriously don't think you know the damage you are causing by writing an article like this. I decided to cycle to work in order to save money (being a teacher means that I can't even afford the bus- boo!!) I really enjoy cycling and i am pleased that I am saving some money and keeping fit. So I was shocked that some people some to harbour this resentment towards the cycling community! I give way at lights to make sure that I am not smashed into!! It is frightening how little room some drivers afford me. Anyone with a car should be APPLAUDING cyclists. we are the ones who are attempting to decrease our carbon footprint for future generations. Yes, some people are irresponsible and cycle dangerously. SO DO DRIVERS! Next time you see a cyclist why not: 1/ give them room. b/ Applaud them for trying to be decent human beings who are trying to make London less polluted and c/ maybe consider getting out of your car and getting a bike... My dad always says that there are some people who talk about doing things and some people who go out and do it. We are a country that talks far too much about climate change. Cycling is a really easy way of making a difference. GET ON YOUR BIKE AND STOP CRITICING OTHERS!!
I was walking along Cromwell rd last weekend and a jogger was waiting patiently for lights to change at an intersection. The lights went red, the cars stopped, the jogger jogged out - only to be blindsided by a cyclist who had decided to go through the red light.
Cars may be a danger to cyclists, but they also pose a danger to themselves and pedestrians if they do not pay proper attention to road rules and other road users.
Tired, hackneyed, ranting journalism. Cycling in London is up 83% in five years and accidents have fallen in the same period by 28%. The more cyclists there are the safer the roads become. My subscription to Time Out is cancelled, you guys had the chance to help make London safer, less polluted and more pleasant by encouraging the cycling revolution you've ignored except in silly articles like Hodge's.
You've blown it guys, and you're gonna lost a lot of pissed off cyclists.
Fascist??? Mr Hodges, please think twice before using such words... this is intolerable.
Someone was mentioning pram pushers, and what about umbrella users???? (especially not so tall people...) isn't ridiculous what I just said? Well I think the same applies to your article Mr hodges...
Well, Michael Hodges' shabby rant has clearly roused the passions. Which is precisely not what you want when trying to negotiate London by whatever is your chosen means of transport. Getting around London is not some kind of battle against any "enemy" (as some comments above seem to suggest). I'm inclined to think that keeping calm and looking out for others around you (in much the same way that pretty much everyone does on the tube) was a given. Those cyclists who think that they are part of some kind of war on motorised and pedestrian society probably need to check into the same clinic for comically insecure teenage angst as the one Michael Hodges presumably attends. It is a tiny, unwelcome minority of cyclists who terrorise pedestrians on pavements, run red lights (which gains all of oooooh, 30 seconds a go - got to be worth a near death experience, eh?), shout at motorists etc. Road rage is at least as ugly on a bike as it is in a car. I would also like to defend the LCC which always tries to represent cyclists' interests in a balanced way and certainly bears no relation to the "pedestrian-hating cycling group" to which the article refers.
Time Out: please don't allow this inane writing to trivialise a serious option for sustainable transport in London. Hodges' scribblings really don't do anyone any favours.
Patrick Clark
As a lifelong cycle commuter, Id like to point out that although I mostly obey redlights,there are often times at busy junctions when there is a long pause inbetween the lights changing, thus leaving a much safer route thru for the cyclist, and as with most experienced road cyclists, im far more aware of whats going on up ahead on the road than any other road user or pedestrian, and can spot somebody who's about to blindly step out into the road a mile off!
This may have been one of the most poorly written articles I have ever read, however, we're not addressing the real issues. A bike is not foot traffic, nor is it motor traffic. Therefore it doesn't belong on the footpath, nor the road. Cyclists are the outcasts of the transportation world but the benefits of cycling are clear and we should all (motorists, cyclists, pedestrians and Government) be doing something to encourage cycling.
The disjointed bike paths around the city are not an answer and neither is generalising on the background of cyclists. Get some perspective Mr Hodges.
As a lifelong Nazi cyclist, i'm happy that we leverage both pedestrians' and motorists' inadequacies. We are the master race in a squalid London. We are also happy to die for our cause if our Fuhrer, the Mayor, decides that we should be trampeled under the wheels of a juggernaught. It will add gravitas to our global movement for complete domination.
Really not at all impressed by this article.
As a considerate and conscientious cyclist I understand where Micheal Hodges is coming from, having seen some extreme traffic-light stupidity from fellow cyclists, one of which resulted in a fist fight, but hate the way he tarnishes all cyclists with the same brush. I cycle because it saves me money, which I can ill afford to spend on public transport, I obey traffic signals, as much for my own sake as others, and I certainly (despite the trend for nu-rave) don't wear neon lycra.
I'm guessing the article was partly tongue in cheek and done to wind up my fellow cyclists, which it's achieved spectacularly judging by the comments.
The sad thing for me is that Cyclists are demonised for riding through lights and on pavements (both unneccesary) but there is absolutely no debate in the London media about dangerous drivers who kill and maim hundreds of pedestrians a year. Only in London...
The baffling folly of making a casual comparison of cyclists and fascists aside, the mere fact that the author seems to think that all cyclists are priviledged, middle class and white, makes me sigh. Many people in London cycle because they simply can't afford to pay for public transport on a regular basis and the bike is a cheap alternative. Or because they live in an area poorly served by regular buses or tube. Sure many cyclists should be more considerate and careful on their bikes, but that can equally be said for any pedestrian, or driver.