e-Petition results

In some places - Grenoble, for example - there is good provision for cyclists on the roads. If I lived there I would use the cycle lanes rather than the main highway. Here, in Bristol, things are a little different. The cycle lanes often appear to have been designed to put cyclists life in danger or, at least, to discourage them from using the roads. Cycle lanes come and go at random, they often have less priority at junctions than minor roads crossing them, etc. We cyclists know that for safety, they are often best avoided. [From Wikipedia: "At a 1990 European conference on cycling, the term Russian roulette was openly used to describe the use of roadside cycle paths.]

When the highway code was being redrafted, some of us cyclists were concerned that the new wording might, in effect, be requiring us to use these unsafe cycle lanes. Consequently, an e-petition was raised on the 10 Downing Street web-site, which I signed. And I am delighted to say that it has worked! The government has changed some of the rules to remove the element of compulsion. Hooray.