Comments for PompeyBUG

Comment on Committee Meeting by Amanda Morris

Amanda Morris — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 19:30:39 +0000

when you mention Bike week and other events – can you make sure that you mention the month long My Journey Commuter Challenge which promotes an all-modes commuter challenge for the whole of May.

http://myjourney.getmeactive.org.uk

Another way to get people to try cycling

Comment on Contact Us by Commitee Meeting « PompeyBUG

Commitee Meeting « PompeyBUG — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 08:08:38 +0000

[...] Contact Us [...]

Comment on 20′s Plenty, but not for Mr Plod by Ian McCulloch

Ian McCulloch — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 14:24:46 +0000

Having recently moved to Portsmouth from Lancaster, where 20 mph limits are currently being introduced on all residential roads, Lancashire Police say they will be enforcing the speed limits, albeit after a period of letting people get used to them, so I don’t know about this ACPO policy of not enforcing them.

Comment on 20′s Plenty, but not for Mr Plod by Jerry

Jerry — Sun, 09 Dec 2012 19:42:08 +0000

Speed bumps and sleeping policemen just don’t work; they wreck car suspensions (even at the slowest of speeds) and cause damage to the inner tyre wall that can result in tyre failure. And unless you put them on every street, you simply move traffic. Case in point: much more traffic now uses Orchard Road / Talbot Road to avoid the bumps in Fawcett Road. This leads to accidents, but because they’re not reported, PCC do not recognise the problem. Nor do they seem to think through the consequences of their actions; allowing the new Sainsbury’s on Albert Road means people now park on the double yellows outside; this causes cars and cyclists to swerve around them and impinges on the cycle lane on the other side – this was obviously going to happen. There’s also a problem in that the PCC parking enforcement officers are able to issue tickets for parking on double yellow lines, but not, I think, able to issue tickets that mean points on your licence – unlike old traffic wardens. Examples would be parking on zebra crossings. Perhaps we could start up a page where we post pictures of regular bad boys and point the parking office towards it?

Comment on 20′s Plenty, but not for Mr Plod by Paul

Paul — Sun, 09 Dec 2012 11:51:30 +0000

Am I surprised? Of course not. Whilst I hold a degree of respect for our law enforcers – just like every other body in the public sector, they are susceptible to the vagaries of a slash and burn governement and for that they have to be alone honoured – I bear witness to incidents on an almost daily basis when on the bike, of the police turning a blind eye to flagrant breaches of motoring law. These include drivers on mobile devises;vehicles parked on pavements, vehicles parked on zig-zag lines at crossings; illegal right or left hand turnings out of junctions; infringement of the speed limit etc etc. Its a depressing situation for me as a cyclist and pedestrian, and my mood is worsened when I learn that simply enforcing the law in these types of situations involves a good deal of paperwork and time to process it. That alone is one of the excuses I hear why the police do not bother with this low level of crime. Of course if any of these incidents then results in injury or even death of a third party, the police authority will be putting it’s arms up in horror bemoaning the fact that they are being accused of reacting after the event rather than working proactively to prevent it.

To help the police and therfore alleviate this dilemma of non-enforcement, is it simply not a case of PCC just installing numbers of humps or sleeping policemen (no irony intended) in these restricted areas? Or is that a decision too far for the Council?

Comment on Faster Lorries on Rural Roads – Action Needed! by Dave Ludlam

Dave Ludlam — Sat, 10 Nov 2012 09:16:45 +0000

Absolute astonishment that this is even being considered. Prosecute those that currently break the law. Profit and market competitiveness are not the only considerations in life.

Comment on Cycle Forum Open Meeting Thursday 13 September by John Holland

John Holland — Thu, 13 Sep 2012 11:43:20 +0000

The cycle lanes on roundabouts do help cyclists get to the head of the queues through use of lead-in lanes but they can cause confusion as they don’t help if you are turning right and can place the cyclist in the wrong position. We had the debate whether they should remain or not and, on balance, we said they should. When installed, they were part of a DfT experiment.

Comment on Cycle Forum Open Meeting Thursday 13 September by Ron Billard

Ron Billard — Wed, 12 Sep 2012 12:11:02 +0000

Hi I am Chairman of Mole Valley Cycling Forum. We have noticed that portsmouth has cycle lanes on roundabouts. What is your experience? How much do they provide confidence? Contribute to accident reduction? contribute to Cycle awareness.

Many thanks

Ron Billard

Comment on Police urge cyclists to ‘be more polite’ as crackdown starts by Eric de Greef

Eric de Greef — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 20:22:20 +0000

I wrote to Jason Fazackarley

Dear Jason,

I sincerely hope that you were misquoted in The News, or that your words were taken out of context, and if that is the case, that you urge The News to publish a rectification.

“Many cyclists say they ride on the pavement because they feel unsafe on the road.
“Our advice is to get off your bike and walk on the pavement until you feel it is safe to get on the road.

So you are telling cyclists that motorists can bully you off the road, and when they have driven past you can go back on the road?
Do you seriously think that people who cycle recklessly on the pavement are the same ones who feel unsafe on the road?
I think that it take one bullying motorist to make a group of cyclists feel unsafe for a long time.

I teach my children to cycle on the road, they are 9 and 12 years old, but reading your comments I am made to feel an irresponsible rather than a responsible parent!

“But please also tell us why you felt unsafe, and we will look at improving that area for cyclists.

But as you are open for suggestions for improvement, I have a wish list to make the roads in my area safer for my children (I get by OK myself being a confident cyclist)
Introduce speed-reducing measures, such as speed bumps, in 20 mph zones
Extend the double yellow lines at crossroads to improve visibility.
Re-introduce two-way cycling in Eastfield and Westfield Road, so that we can avoid the busy Eastney Road
Apply zero tolerance to cars parked on cycle lanes

It’s not rocket science. It just takes vision, leadership and guts to stand up to the motorist lobby.

Best wishes

Eric de Greef

Comment on Police urge cyclists to ‘be more polite’ as crackdown starts by Hilarity

Hilarity — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 02:18:30 +0000

Crackpot – not crack down.

Portsmouth City Council in 2011/12 unfairly spends not one single penny – 1p – on cycling, of £2 milllion pounds of your money for highway LTP3 budget. PCC chooses not to provide 1cm of new safe legal alternatives for cyclists, whilst turning its perpetual blind eye to far more lethal vehicles routinely speeding, and parked on cycle lanes, double yellow lines, and yes – pavements. This £2m list of LTP3 schemes was approved behind closed doors in March 2011, mysteriously away from your gaze, dear reader. Why? Further – PCC does not count and monitor cycling in these schemes. How can PCC possibly have a clue what ad hoc barmy ideas work? PCC quietly sacked its cycling champion last year. PCC has no current cycling strategy. So – all in all PCC clearly has no fair idea or plan for the enlightened place of the bicycle in the very best clean active healthy 21st century city.
PCC institutionally demonises and discriminates against all Portsmouth cyclists in word, pound spent, and deed – like this crackpot crackdown.