I have loved and used the streets of London all my life, as a cyclist, driver and pedestrian. Touch wood, I have done so without accident, blemish or insurance claim. Yet now I find myself perpetually on the wrong side of the law.
Regulation has become bureaucratic and chaotic. When I try to drive at the authorised speed of 20mph on many through roads, I am hooted at and overtaken by vans, cars, coaches and buses. And when I sit dutifully on my bike at a traffic light, I am jostled by swarms of cyclists riding through on red, furious at being treated as if they were car drivers.
As for pedestrians, walking on many pavements is like taking a ride on the dodgems. Riders of ebikes and e-scooters ignore bans and expect everyone to move out of the way. I normally approve of anarchy.
There is too much regulation everywhere. The great Dutch traffic engineer Hans Monderman boldly advocated “shared space” in cities. He wanted kerbs, road markings and traffic signals minimised and replaced by “human discipline”.
All road users should navigate urban space by watching out for each other all the time. Monderman is virtually unknown in Britain, but principles similar to his were trialled with success in London’s Exhibition Road and Seven Dials. His counterintuitive ideas have been applied with remarkable success across northern Europe, with accidents falling.
In 2023, 45% of Copenhageners cycled to work or school. As a lifelong cyclist I admit to finding a certain exhilaration in riding a bike. I avoid main thoroughfares but like snaking through streets crammed with traffic, finding shortcuts through alleys and mews.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
