Last week saw me driving a lot in London at various times of the day, often at rush hour and always going across the city from home to East London, picking up passengers along the way and back again.
I asked my passengers to take note of various behaviours and record stats over the whole week. So here we go:
Going through a red light
- Cyclists 2
- Cars 26
- 7.5T Trucks 5
- Articulated lorries 2
- Buses 4
Using a mobile phone on the move:
- Cyclists 0 (that i could tell)
- Cars 34
- 7.5T Trucks 10
- Articulated lorries 0 (that I could see)
- Buses 1
Changing lanes/joining carriageway without looking, signaling or regard for other users:
- Cyclists 1
- Car 3
- 7.5T Truck 0
- Articulated Lorries 0
- Buses 2
Breaching the ASL on a red light (amber is allowed):
- Cars 11
- 7.5T truck 4
-Articulated lorries 1
- Buses 8
Other:
- Cyclists riding up the inside of vehicles 3
- Cyclists riding on pavements that are not designated as shared use 2
- 'Punishment' passes on cyclists 12
- Cars parked in cycle lanes (lost count at 50, but somewhere in the region of 80)
Incidents of note:
-Cycling tour led by a complete numpty putting his guidees at risk (all the gear and no idea trying to pass as a MAMIL) turning right at a traffic light in single file as the gaps allowed where there was room to wait in a group and all pass safely at the end of the phase.
-Driver using mobile phone in outside lane of M25 and once finished with the call decided that every car in front must get out of their way (flashing lights and undertaking) Performed a lane 4 to lane 1 to lane 4 manoeuvre cutting up 3 cars and causing them to brake sharply. Turns out this driver lives near me and despite their efforts made no more progress than I did driving more sedately.
-Pedestrian taking ombridge at me tooting the horn (politely) in order to make him aware of my presence (Electric Vehicle) while he was crossing the road. Then coming closer to, I guess, 'have a word' before losing his bottle and walking away.
- a 7.5T lorry not fitted with the new mandatory side guards. Police who were in the same traffic as me and the offending lorry either did not see it or decided not to take action.
So maybe this was an abnormal week where cyclists were mostly behaving themselves or, perhaps, the opinion towards them by some is merely a perception rather than a statistic reality. I certainly never once felt threatened or had to take avoiding action due to a cyclist, but almost every other type of road user did cause this reaction at least once.
I shall be doing more studies
