Brighton road rage against cyclists: motorist hammer attack on cyclist; pedestrians confront cylists flouting lane control on the seafront

Brighton's Argus newspaper today reported that a cyclist was hit up to 15 times with a hammer in a road rage attack.

The Argus report said police believe the driver struck because he was irritated the 60-year-old cyclist was taking too long to ride up a hill while struggling against the wind preventing the driver from passing. The cyclist was apparently not seriously injured.

More on this story: http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/9242970.Hove_cyclist_beaten_15_times_with_hammer_for_riding_too_slowly/

Also today, the Argus reported confrontations between pedestrians and cyclists in the King's Esplanade area - where the National Cycle Route No 2 cycle lane abruptly terminates and joins vehicular traffic.

The Argus said: "Cyclists are repeatedly flouting the rules on riding their bikes on the seafront leading to confrontations with pedestrians."

For more on this: http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/9241224.Cyclists_flout_rules_on_Hove_seafront/

Cycle lane violations: website for reporting cars parked on cycle lanes in Brighton and Hove

I just discovered a website for reporting cars parked on cycle lanes. It is a worldwide website, with a special section just for Brighton, and with quite a few local entries. It includes photos and licence plate numbers, with a handy table where the numbers of offenses for each licence plate are totalled.

Cycle lane violations in Brighton and Hove can be reported here: http://brighton.mybikelane.com/

Scary Places on Official Cycle Routes - No 1. Vogue Gyratory on Route 90 in Brighton

The Vogue Gyratory in Brighton is a classic cyclists nightmare. Named for an old blue movie cinema that used to be on the site, the gyratory was built in the 1980s with no provision for cyclists. Yet it is on a main traffic artery Brighton to the Universities and Lewes - and on official Regional Cycle Route 90.

Left filtering cars cut across your path as you cycle to Lewes & Uni on Regional Cycle Route 90

As you cycle north along the Regional Cycle Route 90, which follows the main Lewes Road connecting London to Brighton, the cycle lane disappears and you find yourself on a multilane gyratory. You are cycling uphill, and have to cross left filtering traffic in order stay in the middle lane and get to the exit where route 90 continues. In the middle of this is a traffic light where advance advance stop lines for cyclists have been painted.

You can negotiate this gyratory with an assertive attitude, but as an official cycle route, surely it should be safe for intermediate level cyclists? Remembering we are encouraging school children to cycle to school.

Brighton's city council has won a £4.5m grant to develop sustainable transport along this route, aka Lewes Road Corridor. But it does little to address this unfriendly Gyratory, except for proposing 'green wave' priority for cyclists at the traffic lights. Really, a separate cycle lane is needed, not minor provisions such as the proposed 'green wave'.

We need a new city plan to undo the damage of decades of planning exclusively for motorcars.

Painted lines and green waves alone don't make things safer for cyclists and pedestrians - this gyratory is a short distance from the underpass where a cyclist was killed in a collision with a van only a year ago, also on cycle route 90, while cycling along the cycle lane.

More on the Lewes Road sustainable transport project on my blog