Letter to the Editor: Emotion won’t solve issue of bikes on roads

He starts by suggesting cyclists aren’t the menace they’re portrayed to be. Clearly he lives in another part of the Island to those where one finds two dozen riding three abreast or lone cyclists scattering pedestrians while hurling abuse.

As for statistics: twice my vehicle has been hit by a cyclist – once when a youth came over a yellow line at speed, and another when a cyclist came the wrong way down a one-way street (which your correspondent approves of) and crashed into my vehicle, causing over £400 of damage. I traced the cyclist (the police couldn’t be bothered) and he was found guilty in court. But as he had no assets I had to pay for the damage – not to mention the inconvenience of being without my vehicle while it was being repaired.

He states, regarding cycle routes: ‘Build them and they will come.’ Presumably he hasn’t been to Grouville recently.

As for the general idea that we should all abandon our cars/vans etc, I gave the matter some thought and could not think of one instance, at least in the last few months, when I could have cycled instead of driven. For a start, I don’t believe it’s legal to carry freight or passengers on a bicycle. The days of crossbar passengers have gone.

Furthermore, the writer, in comparing Jersey with other countries, also conveniently glosses over one major issue: our roads are generally quite narrow compared with elsewhere. This means that not only is it either difficult or impossible to accommodate a cycle track, but also cyclists have to mix with traffic, a lot of which is of the commercial variety.

His comments regarding pollution are likewise misguided. Is he aware that the most economical speed for most vehicles is around 50 mph? This means that a string of cars following a cyclist along a main road increases pollution by a considerable margin – not only because a great deal more fuel is used, but because the exhaust emissions are worse, due to the fact that the engine temperature is down and any catalytic converter has ceased to function.

Problems are never solved by substituting emotion for facts.

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