Hey Boris, little more space, little less blame...

Think about any journey you take, whether it's on foot or in a car. If you go for a wander, then you've got a path to amble along. If you go for a drive, then you've got a road. Not much to ask for is it? 

Cycle, and you've got a bit of blue paint on either a path or a road. That's the crux of the problem, isn't it? A lack of suitable infrastructure; what exists is shared with massive metal boxes, piloted on the whole by numpties.

Well that's how I see things, but ask the "cycling mayor" Boris Johnson and you find out it's not that simple. He's blaming the cyclists for the 5 cycling deaths in London (in the past 10 days), and I quote -  "unless people obey the laws of the road and people actively take account of the signals that we put in, there's no amount of traffic engineering that we invest in that is going to save people's lives".

Right. Hold the fuck up. 

There is a suggestion that one of the poor souls who died may have been on the wrong side of the road, but there is no conclusive proof at the moment. Boris is just dragging the reputations of the cyclists down, by not addressing his lack of infrastructure, and ultimately the Capital's failing. Instead he is inventing suggestions that the people who died were in the wrong, not his ill executed Cycle Superhighway network.

And look closer, there is a reason why some cyclists run red lights, or cycle on the wrong side of the roads, or generally hop up paths to avoid roundabouts and junctions - it's because the road system we rely on isn't fit for purpose. It was designed for cars and lorries and buses, and last time I checked I don't have any of those in my hallway. The rules that are applied to cyclists need to be considered, adapted, and improved.

So yeah, a kid in Denmark has a better idea of bike infrastructure and design that Boris will ever have.

Meanwhile, I've taken to wearing these on my bike to spread the word, and I'm dressing up like this every time I go out on my bike in the near future. I'm also going to be one of the people 'dying' to make a point, out the front of the TFL HQ. Be a doll, and spread the word.