Comment: Road manners - News - Evening Standard
       

Comment: Road manners

Jenny Jones's call for a change in attitudes from both drivers and cyclists carries added weight given that the Green Party Assembly Member has been knocked off her bike by a motorist, breaking her wrist. Drivers, she says, need to stop accelerating away at amber lights, while cyclists should stop going through red lights as though the rules of the road did not apply to them.

Ms Jones is right. Of course, we need more cycle lanes and bike racks. Hauliers must ensure that lorries are fitted with mirrors that reflect passenger-side blind spots. And as traffic schemes developed in the Netherlands and being adopted in parts of Kensington and Chelsea have shown, getting rid of street furniture can lead to a more radical sharing of space between drivers, cyclists and pedestrians. But on many roads and at junctions, the only way to make cycling safer is more civil behaviour by both groups.

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