Cycle Lane Monitoring
Yet another fine is proposed to be added to the motorists financing of the police, as more cameras are to monitor us in our daily lives. This plan is to increase the fine for motorists driving in a cycle lane from £30 - which is rarely given by police - to £120 to be awarded by cameras.
“Drivers will be fined £120 for straying into cycle lanes under plans to give local authorities powers to install yet another set of roadside enforcement cameras.
Even minor infringements, such as moving briefly into a cycle lane to pass a vehicle turning right, will result in a fixed penalty. Drivers will not know that they have been caught until the penalty notice arrives in the post a few days later.
The powers are initially being proposed for use by authorities in London but would be introduced later across the rest of the country.
The cameras would also monitor cycle boxes at traffic lights, known as “advanced stop lines”.” (The Times)
Why are more bloody cameras needed? The level of surveillance in our society is already excessive, and this is aimed quite obviously at both punishing those to continue to “dare” to drive cars and to increase revenue.
The problem with cycle lanes is that they are usually shit. They are often in the wrong places, badly marked, poorly maintained, often pointless, and rarely linked up with one another. I rarely use cycle lanes for the simple reason that they are not in the right place. Councils often place them on pavements, which makes them both out of the way and potentially dangerous. Putting a cycle lane on the pavement when they are absurdly short - such as literally around a corner - is pointless. If I were to use it, I would not be able to get back onto the road safely at all.
Cycle lanes are all well and good, but not unless they are in the right place. Painting a few lines and calling it a “cycle lane” to fill up the quota isn’t good enough. They need to be somewhere where they actually make a difference, and few of them are.
The draconian manner in which the fines are proposed to be applied is ridiculous. If it does not endanger any cyclist and is done briefly in order to keep traffic moving - such as moving briefly into a cycle lane to pass a vehicle turning right - shouldn’t earn the driver a fine of any amount. Common sense has to prevail at some point, though considering the sort of people who think this crap up, I doubt it ever actually will.
On the other side of the coin, however, this is being proposed in order to “make cycling safer by sending a strong message to drivers that they cannot ignore the white bicycle symbols painted on the road.” It does have a slight point, but not any extent that warrants this idea. But cycling would be made safer by having cycle lanes in useful areas, following well though out routes, and actually joined up. Also by stressing the responsibility of motorists to pay attention to cyclists. Even so, some cyclists are just terrible at following the road rules themselves, such as ignoring red lights, and thus put themselves in danger and deserve no sympathy.
Source: The Times
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