Government Campaign

[MDT]

So struck me the other day that, over the last couple of years we have had a fairly constant and very clear campaign from the Government to educate drivers of the need to pass cyclists slowly, and with a very safe distance. This has been reinforced across adverts, social media and supported by the police and others. I think as a general rule drivers have taken this on board and are much more considered when passing a cyclist. So I would mark this up as a relatively successful campaign.

So, why don’t they take the same approach to other traffic issues, why not run a campaign to educate drivers on how to use the different lanes on a dual carriageway / motorway?

I don’t know how much this would cost, but I would hazard a guess it would free up a lot more space per £ spent on the roads than building a “smart motorway” assuming that it worked as well as the cycling one.
What else might have a relatively quick win from a Campaign?

[119]

MDT said:

So struck me the other day that, over the last couple of years we have had a fairly constant and very clear campaign from the Government to educate drivers of the need to pass cyclists slowly, and with a very safe distance. This has been reinforced across adverts, social media and supported by the police and others. I think as a general rule drivers have taken this on board and are much more considered when passing a cyclist. So I would mark this up as a relatively successful campaign.

So, why don’t they take the same approach to other traffic issues, why not run a campaign to educate drivers on how to use the different lanes on a dual carriageway / motorway?

I don’t know how much this would cost, but I would hazard a guess it would free up a lot more space per £ spent on the roads than building a “smart motorway” assuming that it worked as well as the cycling one.
What else might have a relatively quick win from a Campaign?

How many deaths/injuries have there been from lane hogging?

[Automaton]

[redacted]

[Chubbyross]

[redacted]

[carinaman]

Chubbyross said:

It’s not an odd response. Governments for many years now have been primarily reacting to what the press report. Cyclist deaths were getting a lot of newspaper coverage, especially in and around London. The government reacted. We very rarely see any news stories about lane hogging, hence very little being done about it.

'The Press' run with 'news' generated by former Journalists who now work within the Public Sector. Is there any money in Newspapers or 'The Press'?



For at least 15 years road safety organisations and articles in the Press have been saying how much a fatality on the roads cost the economy. The PHer that making the point that lane hogging doesn't cause fatalities has a point as reducing the fatalities on our roads has cited the economic cost of them for years.

https://www.cornwalllive.com/news/cornwall-news/li...

[DOCG]

carinaman said:

Chubbyross said:

It’s not an odd response. Governments for many years now have been primarily reacting to what the press report. Cyclist deaths were getting a lot of newspaper coverage, especially in and around London. The government reacted. We very rarely see any news stories about lane hogging, hence very little being done about it.

'The Press' run with 'news' generated by former Journalists who now work within the Public Sector. Is there any money in Newspapers or 'The Press'?



For at least 15 years road safety organisations and articles in the Press have been saying how much a fatality on the roads cost the economy. The PHer that making the point that lane hogging doesn't cause fatalities has a point as reducing the fatalities on our roads has cited the economic cost of them for years.

https://www.cornwalllive.com/news/cornwall-news/li...

And what about the economic cost of road congestion due to lane-hogging?

[cootuk]

Cyclists are a very powerful lobby group who are very vocal - and rightly so. Other groups, less vocal, have less success in influencing government policy.
The active participation of police, and use of cams for evidence, allows positive reinforcement of the message.
It used to be words of advice
Now it's prosecutions which really gets the message across.

[RedAndy]

AT half term last week I went from Suffolk to Teesside and then to the west Borders. Loads of the overhead gantries were saying "keep left unless overtaking" and similar messages.

[Bill]

RedAndy said:

AT half term last week I went from Suffolk to Teesside and then to the west Borders. Loads of the overhead gantries were saying "keep left unless overtaking" and similar messages.

Seems proportionate... Be inattentive and inconvenience others and there's some signs, drive dangerously close to vulnerable road users and get a fine.

[DOCG]

cootuk said:

Cyclists are a very powerful lobby group who are very vocal - and rightly so. Other groups, less vocal, have less success in influencing government policy.
The active participation of police, and use of cams for evidence, allows positive reinforcement of the message.
It used to be words of advice
Now it's prosecutions which really gets the message across.

Why is it "rightly so"?

[xx99xx]

RedAndy said:

AT half term last week I went from Suffolk to Teesside and then to the west Borders. Loads of the overhead gantries were saying "keep left unless overtaking" and similar messages.

Yes they're all over the lower end of the M1 sporadically too. Currently displaying at the moment. Does it work? Nope.

[cootuk]

DOCG said:

cootuk said:

Cyclists are a very powerful lobby group who are very vocal - and rightly so. Other groups, less vocal, have less success in influencing government policy.
The active participation of police, and use of cams for evidence, allows positive reinforcement of the message.
It used to be words of advice
Now it's prosecutions which really gets the message across.

Why is it "rightly so"?

They are a vulnerable road user.
They have a right to be safe when using the road.
I hate ttcyckes that race, never look behind themselves, etc etc, but they still have a right not to be killed or severely injured by other road users.

Edited by cootuk on Saturday 4th November 06:02

[ChocolateFrog]

MDT said:

So struck me the other day that, over the last couple of years we have had a fairly constant and very clear campaign from the Government to educate drivers of the need to pass cyclists slowly, and with a very safe distance. This has been reinforced across adverts, social media and supported by the police and others. I think as a general rule drivers have taken this on board and are much more considered when passing a cyclist. So I would mark this up as a relatively successful campaign.

So, why don’t they take the same approach to other traffic issues, why not run a campaign to educate drivers on how to use the different lanes on a dual carriageway / motorway?

I don’t know how much this would cost, but I would hazard a guess it would free up a lot more space per £ spent on the roads than building a “smart motorway” assuming that it worked as well as the cycling one.
What else might have a relatively quick win from a Campaign?

Because when car drivers get wrong there's a good chance the cyclist dies.

[swisstoni]

Traffic issues really don’t move any needles for authorities unless there’s a dollar to be made.
Road policing was largely abandoned during ‘austerity’ to allow police numbers to be reduced or redeployed.

Now it would be very difficult to direct any resources back even though it makes as much sense today as it ever did.

[The big yin]

Yes the pass cyclists slowly leaving enough room has been well publicised, but what about a campaign to get cyclists to put lights on their bikes and wear light or reflective clothing which would show they at least care about being safe or seen.

[bad company]

[redacted]

[VSKeith]

carinaman said:

'The Press' run with 'news' generated by former Journalists who now work within the Public Sector. Is there any money in Newspapers or 'The Press'?

An excellent book, and 'churnalism' has only got worse since then