No, this isn’t really about sexism. But sexism shines a light on what this article is really about.
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The Brick Wall
I’ve been party to The Great Helmet Debate for well over two decades now. You can’t ride bicycles regularly without numerous people—regardless of whether or not they ride a bicycle themselves—volunteering their opinion on helmets.
And it’s fine. I like debate. I like testing hypotheses. Rigorously. It’s how we make sure we get stuff right, or at the very least it’s how we make sure we’re offering coherent arguments rather than just opinions that you’re not even entitled to.
But there are many fascinating characteristics of The Great Helmet Debate, and one of them is this.
Numberwang
You know you should question everything, right?
The Missing Price Comparison
There are plenty of insurance price comparison websites around. I’ve used several of them and I’m sure you have too.
But there’s one option which you never see listed, and I’m curious about it.
Exchanging Places, or Exchanging Responsibility?
Time and again we’re shown who’s expected to take responsibility for road safety, and time and again it’s the people who don’t have the fast and massive piles of metal. Continue reading
What Everyone Needs To Know
Oh, look. A “share the road” campaign.
The Wrong Side of The Lens
The recent spate of deaths of people on bikes and on foot in London has triggered a number of reactions. Whilst many of these involve people vomiting ill-informed opinion into newspapers and onto the Internet, one of the more interesting reactions – in that it’s action rather than words – is the apparently heavy deployment of traffic police in London. But what effect will this have? And could their time be better spent?
A Letter to Boris
Apparently today is the last day of London Cycling Campaign’s email campaign asking Boris Johnson to take positive action. You can write to him here. Here’s what I wrote.
The Rock and The Hard Place
As more information emerges from the recent inquests into the deaths of Brian Dorling and Philippine de Gerin-Ricard, a disturbing pattern is forming.
Tipping Out The Paint
Is the writing on the wall for the writing on the road?
The Most Basic Respect
Although I read a lot of news articles about injury and death on the road, many involving “cyclists” (they’re people who happen to be on bicycles, but the “cyclist” generalisation is pertinent to this article), I very rarely read or even see the comments.
But sometimes, I do read them.
Thus far, I’ve managed to resist ever posting a comment myself.
This post is hopefully the one comment I will ever need to make.
When Not Driving Is Driving, And When It’s Not Driving
Question: If you’re not driving your car, are you driving?
Answer: It seems to depend on who gets killed.
The Law and The Road: Things Must Change
Nearly a year ago I was furious at a legal system that completely failed to provide either protection for vulnerable road users or remotely appropriate punishment for people who kill on the roads.
That piece spurred a number of people into writing to their MPs to demand answers. And it’s time to be spurred into action now.
Because now, things are worse.
Things must change.
One, Two, Free
The appeal against Gary McCourt’s lenient sentence has been denied.
What The Law Told Us This Week (no. 5)
Time once more to take a look at some recent court decisions and draw some conclusions (as well as to stretch the definition of “this week”).
What The Law Told Us This Week (no. 4)
This week’s message, loud and clear: It’s not your fault.
The Egg and The Kettle of Fish
“To promote the idea of sharing the streets more safely, we’ve made a fun film here in the City of London Corporation.”
No.
No, you haven’t.
It’s Not a Ban
Whilst writing my previous post, it occurred to me that we have a language problem.
What The Law Told Us This Week (no. 3)
Thanks to a few things, I’m covering a couple of weeks here. But there have been several sentences passed on cases involving fatalities of pedestrians and cyclists during the past fortnight.
Continue reading
Cyclists: Go Truck Yourselves
What a difference a day (and a bit) makes. From the Space for Cycling ride on Monday to another death and the Freight Transport Association’s kick in the teeth today.