Is It A Bike Lane?
@isitabikelane.bsky.social
2.7K followers 460 following 270 posts
In search of safe infrastructure Stop painting pictures of bikes on the road under parked cars and telling yourself you’ve made a cycle lane 📍London, UK
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Reposted by Is It A Bike Lane?
ottoenglish.bsky.social
What dastardly schemes will this evil council conjure up next in its mission to.... checks notes... stop people getting killed by bad drivers
Killer kerb' that wrecks
cars installed by pro-
pedestrian council
Furious motorists complain over 13-
inch high construction introduced
by Lib Dem-led local authority
isitabikelane.bsky.social
Not only useless as a deterrent, but useless as a sales pitch for Bosch

“Thieves might not bother to steal your battery because some people have paid to disable theirs”. Maybe, but then it makes no difference whether I pay to disable mine, or just let others pay instead
isitabikelane.bsky.social
Bosch e-bike batteries have the ability to electronically lock if stolen, making them useless to thieves. But you have to subscribe for £35 a year to activate this function

That makes it totally useless as a deterrent as thieves will assume most are unlocked

This is not how you tackle the problem!
isitabikelane.bsky.social
Yes my battery was just stolen
isitabikelane.bsky.social
Bosch e-bike batteries have the ability to electronically lock if stolen, making them useless to thieves. But you have to subscribe for £35 a year to activate this function

That makes it totally useless as a deterrent as thieves will assume most are unlocked

This is not how you tackle the problem!
isitabikelane.bsky.social
Hello, I’m the intelligent but socially awkward nerd in a romantic comedy

To make sure you know I’m a nerd I will use an asthma inhaler. But for some reason I’ll use it completely wrongly, because, who cares, I’m just comic relief
adamcsharp.bsky.social
Hello. I am an expendable character in an action film. If you shoot me with a regular gun I will scream in pain before I die. But if you shoot me with a silencer I will - obligingly - just let out a quiet gasp.
glennyrodge.bsky.social
Hello. I am a person in a film or television drama. I never use the toilet.
isitabikelane.bsky.social
Anyone know if the Landrover was diesel or petrol? Seems equally relevant for the headline…
Reposted by Is It A Bike Lane?
rosiemund.bsky.social
When I complained about a similar framing of this story previously, the BBC told me that it was newsworthy because it was a fatality involving an e-bike.

Not because a driver chased them down and crashed into them leading to Armstrong's death and her boyfriend to lose his leg.

Fuck the BBC.
This was a fatal crash involved an e-bike which we felt made it newsworthy and we described it accordingly and accurately.
isitabikelane.bsky.social
And if you wonder how I dare keep a ££££ e-bike in full view of the street at night here’s my setup:

Stainless steel Sheffield rack concreted in. Wheel lock + Gold-rated chain + Diamond-rated Litelok X3 u-lock. Two GPS trackers. Bosch engine immobiliser. Two security cameras. Insurance.

🤞
isitabikelane.bsky.social
And an update on this too. Thanks to your suggestion of Bikmo, who seem to be about the only insurer who’ll cover an e-bike that lives locked in a front garden at night

Costs me £300 a year though. But just added a 2nd e-bike to same policy for just £10 so definitely worth it now
isitabikelane.bsky.social
Let’s test BlueSky’s hive mind

Any suggestions for cycle insurance that covers a bike that lives overnight in a front garden?

It’s pretty secure - Sheffield stand, two sold-secure-gold locks. But insurers like Laka all say it has to be in a “private secure place” at home
isitabikelane.bsky.social
Update on this. We went with a Gazelle Paris. Just squeezed under £2k and it’s a very decent bike

Thank you all for your suggestions. Happy riding
isitabikelane.bsky.social
Hi Bluesky, recommendations please (UK)

Looking for a mid-range e-bike for my wife. Currently rides a Swapfiets and wants similar practical style

So upright, step-through, covered chain, battery linked front and rear light, mudguards, kickstand, rack, ring lock etc

Sub £2k
isitabikelane.bsky.social
News coverage of an accident will always make sure to put “e-bike” in the headline (whether it is one or actually an e-motorbike). But the headline never tells us if car accidents were diesel or petrol.

Subtle demonisation of e-bikes, with an implied “we all know whose fault it was” dog whistle
isitabikelane.bsky.social
This is good. I’m a huge fan of e-bikes, but illegal ones are a threat to to the whole sector (eg TfL ban).

E-bikes can transform travel but we need to regulate the dangerous illegal ones that seem so freely available, as they get conflated
isitabikelane.bsky.social
Love it when someone drives fast round a bend at you, with their truck fully straddling the white line. Then shouts at you for being in the middle of the road
🤷🏼
isitabikelane.bsky.social
Is it OK to sit down with a portable air conditioner running off a mobile diesel generator, right outside someone’s house on a polluted day?

Because people keep parking up and idling their engines in the street, like that’s OK
isitabikelane.bsky.social
Against expectations, I found myself at a car race
Formula One qualifying at Silverstone. Some cars going round a track
isitabikelane.bsky.social
I don’t know how to describe it but the clouds are upside down
View of high cirrocumulus clouds above a rooftop. The light and shading somehow makes it seem like the you’re looking down on the tops of the clouds. Like the “upside down peas” meme
isitabikelane.bsky.social
They're definitely bikes. So are motorbikes!

If you prefer you can call them Electrically Assisted Pedal Cycles as that's the legal definition in the UK. People will look at you oddly though...
isitabikelane.bsky.social
Just an incredible number of commuters on Lime bikes in London this week

People are noticing that on hot days an e-bike is the breezy sweat-free alternative to public transport
isitabikelane.bsky.social
One that’s been everywhere for decades when you notice it: tackling rat-running traffic with a no-entry (or one-way, or banned turn etc), rather than a “no-entry except cycles”. Just a total failure to notice there are other types of road users who weren’t causing a problem.
Reposted by Is It A Bike Lane?
ianwalker.bsky.social
If anyone has spotted any particularly car-brained or motonormative policy statements anywhere (e.g., from government, local authorities, businesses, etc.) then I'd be grateful if you could point me at them. It's for a thing.
Reposted by Is It A Bike Lane?
maxsullivan.bsky.social
We've installed another three new simple zebra crossings, this time near Edgware Road.

Without them drivers yield to pedestrians around 40% of the time. With them, it's around 80%.

(Based on monitoring results from our first 4 sites)
Junction of Chapel and Cabbell Streets. Two simple side road zebras without Belisha beacons can be seen with pedestrians crossing and a driver yielding. Edgware Road underground station entrance visible in the background. North junction of Chapel and Cabbell Streets. One simple side road zebras without Belisha beacons can be seen with pedestrians crossing. Edgware Road underground station entrance is visible. Junction of Transept and Chapel Streets looking West with three pedestrians crossing a simple side road zebra without Belisha beacons.
Reposted by Is It A Bike Lane?
hackneycyclist.bsky.social
Here is a 🧵on what I think the ideal cycleway should look like, based on many years of me cycling on Dutch cycle infrastructure all over the country 👇
isitabikelane.bsky.social
Got a lovely email back from the company saying how valued this driver was