“Poll after poll has shown that the biggest reason for people not wanting to cycle is perceived danger. And anyone who has dared to ride a bike on unprotected roads will soon discover that a large part of this danger comes from pure illegality, not least the vast proportion of drivers who speed, especially on residential roads.
This neatly leads us to the other factor highlighted by the report, and its reaction to it: the howls of outrage if people politely suggest that people could perhaps be less of a danger to others when they drive.
Before the report’s launch, the only one of 10 recommendations highlighted in the media was the idea of removing the so-called tolerances in speeding offences, whereby you can currently go about 10% plus 2mph above a limit and not be penalised.”
The link to the parliamentary group report (.pdf file) is here.
I live in a moderately sized British town which is completely flat and would be perfect for cycling, but it’s so car focused it’s ridiculous. There used to be a cycle lane at some point but it’s completely washed out and no one bothers to fix it. If you cycle anywhere you expect to be killed any moment, because people are annoyed by you and overtake by the smallest margin. Just recently there was this absolute bastard complaining in the town’s Facebook group about people doing less than 60mph in the b-roads around town, the same b-roads that are super twisty and barely fit two cars side by side, and should really be 40mph.
Small twisty residential roads should really be 40 KM/H or less
The B roads the poster mentions are very likely rural and not residential, which default to the national speed limit of 60 mph for singe lane roads. Residential roads in the UK are usually 30 mph, sometimes 20 mph.