Suited and booted
39% of riders admitted to hospital suffer serious injuries to their arms or legs.
Protect yourself before every ride.
Author Archive: Bob Shrubb
Chair of South Ashford Community Forum
Leave 150
Leave 150 cm between your vehicle and a bike when overtak
ing
Cycling groups
If you want to get out and about on your bike but are not sure where to start, have a look at information from the following organisations. They can help you find the safest local cycling routes, as well as point you to kit and training and link you up with other cyclists.
Junctions are dangerous for cyclists
Junctions are another dangerous hotspot for cyclists, with collisions often occurring because drivers failed to look properly.18 Between 2011 and 2016, 45% of all cyclist deaths occurred at or near junctions, with more than half of these recorded at T-junctions. Just under a third of all cyclist deaths were recorded on roundabouts, mini-roundabouts and crossroads over the same period.
Take time to look properly before you pull out at junctions.
Turn your head to look, don’t just rely on a sideways glance.
Bikes are smaller and narrower than cars and it can take longer for our eyes and our brain to notice that they are there. Turning your head and looking for longer will help you to spot bikes and will help you to judge their speed and distance, so you can pull out safely and avoid a crash.
Always stop behind the lines at a junction.
Never drive into a bike box if the traffic light is amber or red. Riders need this space to enable them to move safely through junctions. Don’t drive or park in cycle lanes either.
Cycling is better for the environment
Cycling is also much better for the environment than driving. More than a quarter of greenhouse gas emissions are produced by cars and other vehicles,6 whereas cycling is generally considered to be a zero-emissions form of transport. Even when emissions from production and maintenance of bikes are taken into account, the emissions associated with cycling are significantly lower. And if UK citizens cycled to work with the same frequency as people do in the Netherlands, for example, where more than a quarter of journeys are made by bike, carbon dioxide outputs could reduce by more than 1,500 tonnes per year.
Estimates suggest that around 12,000 premature deaths could be prevented over the next 10 years if the UK and Scottish governments meet their targets for increasing the number of journeys made on foot or by bicycle.
Choosing to ride a bike instead of driving can also help to reduce congestion in urban areas – almost four in ten people acknowledge that many of the two-mile journeys they currently make in a car could instead be made by bike.
Brake, Cycling -The facts 2018
#BikeSmart
Drive slowly
Drive slowly in places where people live
The vast majority (77%) of cyclist casualties are from incidents on roads with 30mph speed limits.15 At this speed, cars travel an average of 23 metres (or 5.75 car lengths) before stopping, and anyone hit by a car travelling at 30mph has a 20% chance of dying.
Driving more slowly will give you more time to spot danger and more time to react. It also means you can stop a lot more quickly. 20mph is the right speed in places where people live, work and play. Slow traffic makes more people want to walk and cycle in their communities.
Slow down on rural roads.
Cyclists are also vulnerable on roads outside towns and cities. In 2016, 59 cyclists died in collisions in rural areas, while 43 died in urban areas.
Many crashes involving bikes on rural roads are because drivers are travelling too fast.
Slowing down will help you to take sharp bends more safely and you will be more likely to spot riders in front of you. Brake
Brake:
- Cycling – The facts, 2018
- Smart drivers are Bike Smart, 2018
#BikeSmart
Former South Kent College Site, Jemmett Road
Discharge of condition 38 (Residential Information Pack – Landscaping)
Original Application
Demolition of existing buildings and construction of up to 241 dwellings and associated access and landscaping
posted on 10 December 2016.
Conditions
- No dwelling shall be occupied until details of a residents’ information pack in respect of the approved soft landscaping and tree planting on the Plot (or within communal areas) has been submitted and approved by the Local Planning Authority in writing. The residents’ information pack shall comprise the following:-
- appropriate graphic and written material to illustrate the details of landscaping to be provided on the Plot or within the relevant communal areas of flats together with similar material to identify how the landscaping is a component part of the street scene within which the Plot or block of flats is located,
- details of the likely visual impact of the approved planting at maturity and the benefits of chosen species in terms of enhancing biodiversity
- details of essential maintenance information per season to help residents and those managing communal areas maintain approved landscaping to maturity.
The approved details shall be given to the first occupier of the dwelling and also those managing communal areas at flats at first occupation.
Pound House, Trumpet House, Waterman House and Bears End House, Godfrey Walk
Replacement of existing UPVC windows and balcony doors for maintenance reasons. Although the material and colour will remain, the fenestration design is intended to change.
Start of Consultation: 12 Nov 2018, End of Consultation: 6 Dec 2018
42 Musgrove, TN23 7UW – decided
Lawful development certificate – proposed – drop kerb
Decided: Proposed Use/Development Not Lawful