Firstly – I don’t think we’re happy to be ‘masochistically happy to be butchered by bus and lorry drivers’. In this country we are in a position where cyclists are still struggling to get our status on the road taken seriously by those in government. It’s not a British past time to ‘slaughter the cyclists’ either – your choice of word ‘slaughter’ invokes images of bloodthirsty murder and violence! Murder is intentional. I don’t think any of these cyclists deaths could be classed as murder, no matter how harrowing or shocking the deaths remain.

I think what we have here is a nation only just waking up to the fact that cycling can be a part of everyday life, and the roads nor motorists are equipped to deal with it properly yet. We are not as progressive as some European nations in this respect – but i believe things can and will change. Hopefully sooner rather than later.

Cycle lanes are not well designed in this country. There are some particularly silly ones on my route to work around Bloomsbury where cyclists have to swap sides of the separated lane which causes quite a lot of confusion. Because the lane is separates from the traffic, it also causes big problems when cars wish to turn right – because the cycle lane is separate from the road, the cars have forgotten cyclists are there. I have seen so many near misses What bad planning!

When I did cycle training with Islington council, the trainer encouraged me to think twice before using cycle lanes for the same reason – they could lead you into bad situations. I wonder if cycle lanes also lull cyclists into a false sense of security about the hazards that are around them.

What can we do to improve this dangerous situation? What’s going to happen when thousands of casual and perhaps inexperienced cyclists are unleashed on the roads this summer with London’s cycle scheme?

In the meantime I’m happy to adopt a wide position in the road – and encourage those who have the audacity to beep me or criticize my position on the road to ‘swivel on it’.

Thanks for sharing the video.

A University of Bolton report will confirm the cycle lane experience: “Effect of cycle lanes on the proximity between motor traffic and cycle traffic”. From the abstract, “The results suggest that in the presence of a cycle lane, drivers may be driving within the confines of their own marked lane with less recognition being given to the need to provide a comfortable passing distance to cycle traffic in the adjacent cycle lane.”

You asked: “What is wrong with this nation, so masochistically happy to be butchered by bus and lorry drivers?” I doubt the bus, lorry of HGV drivers are intentionally trying to kill anyone riding cycle lane.

Consider the numerous blind zones in any large vehicle? Portland, Oregon (USA) has same problem with large trucks, here is a Water Dept safety video: http://tinyurl.com/27ahlgf

What is the alternative to the cycle lane? Control the lane, take the primary position! This nothing magical about the paint or laws that will increase a cyclists safety on narrow streets (<14 ft, 4.3M) with large vehicles. Being visible, in front of the vehicle is very counter-intuitive.

I’m troubled by your emotive use of the word “Britain” and “British” in your post. It seems to suggest a fundamental and nationwide problem with behaviour that does not exist elsewhere in the world. If you are accusing the British of having an anti-cycling behaviour then you should observe in the video you embed that the coach squeezing past the cyclists is actually a foreign vehicle!

The problem Britain does have is that it is overpopulated and much of the infrastructure is overstretched, especially in urban areas. Combined with a competitive spirit there is an awful lot of friction between people – regardless of activity.

It seems to me that “cycling infrastructure” is being pushed out to encourage cycling. However, as we all know, poor cycling infrastructure is just dangerous. The paradox is that if excellent cycling provision was made country wide then cyclists would be expected to use it at all times rather than the road. This would actually restrict one of the freedoms that cycling currently has.

I cannot put all my theories onto a short blog comment, and you wouldn’t want me to, but please don’t mix up road-user behaviour with national culture, it could be considered xenophobic.

I have to agree that this bridge can be a problem. I tend to use it in both directions, on my way to and from work. It is very poorly designed and the bus lane tends to encourage both bus driver and taxis to overtake too closely to cyclists; on the northbound bus lane. The southbound cycle lane is too narrow and curiously, often blocked by police cars. This may have something to do with the proximity to MI6 and MI5.
Last year the start of Bike Week was welcomed in by the sight of TfL staff and Police handing out tickets to cyclists; who were forced to use the pavement by ongoing works at the horrible St George’s Wharf project. I did e-mail TfL who acknowledged that there was a problem, but did not explain why ticketing cyclists was the correct response.
Interestingly, we take a totally different route when crossing the river in our Christiana; both my wife and I recognise the inherent bad design of this part of London.
Personally, I’d be happy to scrap the whole of Vauxhall Cross and redesign it and the Bridge to make the area more user friendly for cyclists and pedestrians.

In the early 1900s, British cyclists were offered the chance to have cycle lanes to separate them from the increasing traffic – and refused them on the grounds that it would make them second-class citizens – as ye sow so shall ye reap!

“I’m troubled by your emotive use of the word “Britain” and “British” in your post. It seems to suggest a fundamental and nationwide problem with behaviour that does not exist elsewhere in the world. If you are accusing the British of having an anti-cycling behaviour then you should observe in the video you embed that the coach squeezing past the cyclists is actually a foreign vehicle!”

True. But Britain *is* particularly backwards when it comes to looking after cyclists. Almost every other country in the developed world treats cyclists better, with the possible exception of Spain, Italy and Australia. In the USA, provision is also generally poor but there are also shining examples that make Britain look third world. Not one person in the British government has recognised this in the last ten years. We don’t look even close to. We have a fairly unique idea that anything that might discourage motoring is a “war on the motorist”. I don’t think it’s unfair to highlight this.

“The problem Britain does have is that it is overpopulated and much of the infrastructure is overstretched, especially in urban areas”

No. The problem is cyclists are still treated like crap. Cycling actually works best in areas that do have lots of people in them. Areas of high population density are best, just like the Netherlands and, yes, south east England. Cars on the other hand are best suited to, and encourage, sprawling suburban developments.

And yes, much of our cycling infrastructure is bad. But infrastructure is not inherently bad. Please remember that it’s bad because it always plays second fiddle to cars.