Having recently moved to Oxford from the wilds of car
worshipping West Kent I am enjoying your cycle friendly city. The majority of
drivers are brilliant – bus drivers in particular are very considerate of
cyclists. Yes, you get the few Neanderthals who try to run cyclists off the road
or deny them space, but overall cycling here is a joy.
But even Oxford could improve the environment for cyclists.
Local cycling campaign Cyclox is not impressed with the City Council’s proposals
to improve the layout of a major round about ‘The Plain’. See their ideas of
how to improve the roundabout for cyclists here:
Other measures to improve cycling have been suggested by Green
Party Peer and member of the London Assembly Jenny Jones:
She continues her campaign for presumed liability: in an
accident cyclists and pedestrians would automatically be entitled to
compensation unless there was proof of fault or alternatively the Dutch version
where the driver is automatically 50% liable. She also argues for more widespread
use of driving bans as punishment and for longer bans.
My personal favourite is her plea for Advanced Stop Lines to
be treated the same as yellow box junctions with the offence being
decriminalised so that enforcement can be done by local authorities. Do have a
look at the web site below for more detail on her cycle friendly proposals.
So yes, there are a few inconsiderate drivers even in Oxford,
but the vast majority are extremely considerate towards cyclists – thank you.
