“If You’re On A Bicycle, Stay AWAY From The Cars!” | Motor Expert Explains Cambridge Road Junction

A cycling road junction in Cambridge modelled on those in Copenhagen, is apparently so confusing for users that the local council have made a YouTube video explaining how to use it.

Motoring journalist and former Top Gear presenter Steve Berry says he has watched the video and thinks “it’s pretty simple to follow”.

He explains: “If you’re on a bicycle, stay on these coloured lanes, stay away from the cars, and you’ve got your own little sets of traffic lights…. which you must pay attention to!”

Ian Collins thinks the chances of people taking up cycling when they’ve never done it before is “about the same as somebody taking up billiards”.

He says: “You either want it, or you don’t want it.”

#cycling #cyclist #cambridge #junction #cars #roads

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a cycling Road Junction in Cambridge is apparently so confusing that py that Council bosses have made a YouTube video explaining how to use it well that tells you quite a lot in itself right the junction includes four pedestrian Islands Four miniature zebra Crossings and eight sets of traffic lights for cyclists and pedestrians for those watching right now you can see the nature of this labyrinthine mess let’s talk to Steve Barry former Top Gear presenter and all around Good Egg top journalist broadcaster and nice bloke how are you Steve not so bad I I’m in Bolton which is the home of the second of these Cyclops Junctions it’s an acronym isn’t it it means cycling optimized something PS so basically a way of separating cars from pedestrians and cyclists which is probably a good idea so what is the I mean of course that as you put it there Steve that’s a a cracking idea what what is um what is the theory here then in terms of how these things are meant to work I mean I get the idea that they want to keep cyclist away from cars but this is this is a whole other they created a whole other mess in doing so kind of I I I know I’ve kind of been wheeled onto of a pop at the council for what they’ve done but I’ve watched their video and Ian it’s pretty simple it’s like when you’re on a bicycle Stay On These colored Lanes stay away from the cars and you’ve got your own sets of little traffic lights which you must pay attention to now of course cyclists they’re already inherently predisposed to ignore any sort of colored traffic signal so I think that’s where the problem might be coming in well that I was about to say I mean asking a cycl asking Cy I know there are some cyclists who stop at red lights you know I think I saw three of them in 2022 so I do know they exist uh but there is it is a bit of a national sport if you’re on two wheels then usual Road Rules don’t quite apply in the same way and I think cyclist some cyclist genuinely believe the whole point of cycling it’s not that they’re just being idiots although by definition they would be I think some of them genuinely think look we’re cyclists we’re not big cars we don’t kill people so therefore we don’t have to adhere to the same rules yeah um and the of course the the quick and easy explanation of that is because there’s no comeback yeah because they haven’t got any sort of identification on their vehicle and it is a vehicle and you could seriously injure somebody if you’re clattering alonger it’s quite easy to get up to even I can get up to 30 mph on a bicycle and I’m 60 you can do somebody some serious damage until until there are consequences yeah to the illegal rad use actions of cyclists they will continue to carry on as they please and that’s it but this whole cycling thing it’s like that you you know what’s happened here don’t you the local counselors have gone across to Holland and they’ve gone oh wouldn’t it be Great Britain was like this and we all cycled to work and we all got fit and everyone stopped being fat and our country was really flat like Holland is and it didn’t rain all the time like it does here in Manchester we’ve got in the most expensive the most annoying the most completely redundant cycling Network in Manchester that you can imagine and Andy bman and Chris Borman who’s some sort of cycling Ambassador used to be a Olympic champion back in the day FR and all that they keep appearing on the television and on the radio and in the Press urging the benefits of cycling we’re in Manchester we’ve just had the wetest 18 months on record in the history of weather we’re not all suddenly going to start cycling around the place and arriving at our place of work education or pleasure looking like a drowned rat the north of England is not suited to cycling as a way of getting around yeah because of the weather so stop going off on these jollies to Copenhagen and Brussels and Amsterdam are going oh wouldn’t it be great if we were like them we’re not like them do you know what Steve you’re you’re absolutely spot on and you you fed exactly into a point that I’ve been making for ages and you know the weather in the South has not exactly been santro pay for the last 18 months either it doesn’t you know we had 17 seasons in one day in the last day or so it’s extraordinarily bad similarly down in London uh sadik Khan has done his best he’s in Andy Burnham fashion um to pre his environmental whiskers I think they love the idea in addition to going to Copenhagen I think they also go to these Merl powwows where they all Stand Together patting each other on the back as to who is the greenest mayor as if that’s the only criteria for greatness in office and you’re absolutely right I I’ve always said that the chances of people taking up cycling when they’ve never done it before is about the same as somebody taking up billions you know you either you either want it or you don’t want it I can’t imagine on mass we’re going to see this sudden transformation of Brits cocking their leg over a crossbar to get from A to B the roads don’t allow for it even when they make big ones like that and and neither does the the psyche of the British public well he in the all sorts of difference between two mayors of London including the former one Boris Johnson and the current one Sadi khah both of them talked about cycling around London as a practical means of getting around but the only one I’ve seen actually do it was Boris whenever I see khah he seems to be getting around London not just in one large SUV but a but a sort of filler of about half a dozen of the damn thing Prim Minal prote lectures the rest of us about how we should get around in cities what about Boris and he might have looked Daft in that well in fact he did look Daft in that cycling helmet that always seem slightly a skew on his head he never seemed to be able to get it straight did he yeah but he practiced what he preached Boris didn’t he he would turn up on a bike that’s very true I want I was once trying to get a a a tube home uh in Westminster and I it was absolutely teaming down and I was trying to get across Parliament square and it was very late at night and I wanted to get the last tube and I came I was running for the and I came around a corner and around the other side of the corner came a very wet Boris on his bike it was very AP do apologize young man um and off he went again but there he was even through thick and thin sun and Rain Boris loved a bicycle is you’re right sad C I don’t know about Andy Burnham I’ve never seen him on a bike maybe he’s got a skateboard it’s a bit cooler over there in Manchester perhaps Steve Well Andy b stands next to a bicycle and like you usually a child in a sort of Hive his vest while he extols the virtues of cycling but I’ve yet to see the man actually do it for himself we are a great nation of cyclists I’m from bu Lancashire home of one of Britain’s great cycling Heroes re Harris there’s a statue an actual get this in an actual good piece of public art a statue of red Paris and it’s at the vome the national Cycling Center in Manchester however I’m sure you’ll have noticed as of others the naing Cycling Center which is in Manchester is completely enclosed it has a roof because it’s always bloody R in here me you do ouring indoors indeed listen final words Steve couldn’t get you on without mentioning what is going on in France as a motoring journalist you would have seen this uh the French encouraging drivers to drive like women that’s the message because apparently women drive better and that’s a good thing all around less accidents and what’s not to likee and the is a bit like that question have you stopped beating your wife isn’t it I I I can’t I can’t imagine that I could give an answer that isn’t going to annoy a lot of people here it goes whenever you see statistics relating to the French and their driving habits you have to remember that in France there’s a whole industry selling little motorized lawn mow type things with a windscreen doors so that French men and it is men because 95% of the people busted for drunk driving in France are men so that those men can actually drive around in something because it doesn’t qualify as a car that’s how bad French men are at driving the whole idea of who’s better need involves a lot more consideration and a lot more thought and is also to do with the fact that we have some of it might be synthetic but in my case it is test testosterone csing through our system and when you look at the modern world if you want to get rid of all the things that testosterone has done I think you’re left with the one invention that a woman’s come up with Penicillin apart from that oh no it wasn’t pen was it yeah Mary cury she was pen yeah I’ll give women that well I’ll tell you the same thing Mak men drive too fast and take chances has created the modern world so if you want to cut our C hores off you can go you’re going back to living in caves and going out and biffing a masteron over the head for tea there it is uh talking of coonis uh Jeremy Kyle is’s a mate of yours Steve is Stevie B listen watch watch his face let’s be honest Steve women are better drivers than men aren’t they pal that do you know what they do which is massively annoying they don’t move the head I can’t hear what he’s saying they don’t move the head watch women when they’re driving women don’t move their head they’re like it’s like they’re a Lego person that’s a really good that’s a really good point what is I can’t hear what he’s saying what’s he’s say what he I love I’m sort of translator here because the thing is Steve Jeremy has not got any headphones so you can hear you you can hear him but he can’t hear you so what what Steve is saying is that when women Drive they don’t move their head and I tell you the other thing sorry there’s a lot of stereotyping going on here Steve you know when somebody acknowledges you for giving way too many women I see do the they’re steering and then they go like that I’m obious I’m obviously going to upset our kid up North but my wife is a better driver than me fact my other half is a better driver than me so we’ve both redeemed oursel listen Steve um we will love we will talk again Steve Barry motoring journalist e