More than 400 children and adults cycled through Brighton and Hove today (Sunday 28 April) to ask for the streets to be made safe for cycling with a network of separated cycle lanes.
Iliana Koutsou, of the local cycling campaign group Bricycles, said: “It was by far the biggest Kidical Mass ride we’ve yet seen.
“(It) only goes to show more and more people want Brighton and Hove to be more accessible for cycling.”
Councillors from both Labour and Green parties took part in the ride along with two candidates nominated for the next parliamentary elections.
Duncan Blinkhorn, of Brighton Bike Hub, said: “It’s great that a good number of our local representatives pedalled along, as well as two hoping to get elected to Westminster.
“They’ll have seen that we need a joined up network of many more cycle lanes if people are going to feel safe getting around the city on two wheels.”
Sussex Police supported the event, providing officers and a vehicle to accompany the ride.
Daren Callow, of Old Shoreham Road Bike Train, said: “We’re really grateful to them and to all the lovely drivers who gave way to the riders, young and old.
“We hope today’s considerate attitudes among motorists will blossom so that cycling on the roads in Hove and Brighton is always as joyful as it’s been on the Kidical Mass ride.”
More than a hundred children and adults began at each of three feeder rides at Wish Park, Hove Park and The Level, with two dozen more starting at Black Rock.
They all came together at the Peace Statue on Hove seafront and then did a compete circuit of the city centre.
The final tally won’t be known until the painstaking process of counting heads on slow-motion video has been completed.
The ride was organised by Bricycles, Brighton Bike Hub, OSR Bike Train, Brighton Multicultural Women’s Cycle Club and Clean Air for Brighton and Hove, with funding from Cycling UK’s Big Bike Revival.
Whilst it is interesting to see people expressing their wishes at gatherings such as this, the fact that only a few hundred attended, (out of a local population of around 300k), confirms this is an activity of the minority. Public expenditure should be proportional to demand.
Correct, public expenditure should be proportional to demand, and that INCLUDES the needs of the minority.
Ordinarily I might think, ‘oh no, not another cycle lane’, and argue the lack of numbers and even suggest that cycling is the only mode BHCC are interested in, but having read the whole article I agree in part with some of the comments.
I’m going to start with a real positive, often, we get these very same cycling groups complaining about the standard of driving and how dangerous roads are and it’s always the motorists fault when incidents happen, so a thumbs up with the following comment, “We hope today’s considerate attitudes among motorists will blossom so that cycling on the roads in Hove and Brighton is always as joyful as it’s been on the Kidical Mass ride.”
The following comment, “(It) only goes to show more and more people want Brighton and Hove to be more accessible for cycling.”
A negative.
Well actually no it doesn’t, 400 isn’t in my opinion a significant number, with the numbers that are allegedly thrown down by Sustrains at times there should be thousands.
Numbers provided by BHCC show a decrease in people cycling, said groups claim that people don’t feel safe and that was the reason, when, in fact, people were still in various stages of lockdown and had more time, not commuting to work or working from home. I know in my household, my furloughed boys both took up cycling for a while but reverted to Bus or car as required. BHCC have published that there’s been a 85% increase on a cycle lane along the seafront and quote a grand total of 4k. The numbers only work out at 13 users a day, and proves beyond any reasonable doubt, the second cycle lane was wrong and waste of funding. That funding could and should have been used for lanes where they were wanted, where cyclist said they wanted them.
Back to a positive and I agree entirely with the statement, “They’ll have seen that we need a joined up network of many more cycle lanes if people are going to feel safe getting around the city on two wheels.”
We have a very poor network of bits of lanes here there and over there and there’s no logic to them, Lewes Road just ends at Elm Grove, you have to get over to the level and rejoin there, go through VG then where doers it go, nobody knows… So yes i 100% agree, they do need to be joined up and be more cyclist friendly.
Perhaps next time they should all bring their cars to the demonstration (with signs in the window saying ‘could’ve come by bike’ and see how insignificant 400 cars look when they are paraded around Central Hove, bringing the entire area to a standstill. Alternative travel infrastructure for others users such as cyclists will end up solving a lot of congestion issues and drivers need to wake up and realise that in the long term, two lanes and a cycle lane is likely to actually shorten their journey time than 3 lanes with more traffic.
Whilst it it is interesting to see someone expressing their prejudices in comments such as the above, the fact that it’s authored by only one person (out of a global internet population of two billion) confirms it is the opinion of a minority.
Safety for road users should prioritise the most vulnerable.
Yes it’s a shame to see cyclists just running through red lights especially with pedestrians waiting to cross-which I thought was a shame on you moment, I must say in your defence this time-maybe as you were acting in a pack that nobody cycled on the pavement-which is a huge improvement.
It it is interesting to see someone challenging someone expressing their prejudices (Rightly in my opinion) in the comments such as the above, I agree safety for road users should prioritise the most vulnerable, however the food chain dictates pedestrians as the no 1. Just a minor point, your post hinted it was cyclist.
People don’t just use one mode of transport.
Safety for road users should indeed prioritise the most vulnerable, but it doesn’t. Along much of the seafront in Brighton and Hove there is a bike lane in between disabled parking bays and the pavement. It’s dangerous. Many people have raised concerns about this since its introduction and been flat out ignored. We need to stop butchering accessibility in this city first and foremost. I’m all for less cars in this city, there are a LOT of people here who could easily swap their car for public transport or cycle, but us disabled people seem to be the only ones really hurt by such changes as the ones on the seafront.
Correct – the Green administration said they had consulted disabled groups about this.
They hadn’t – they lied!
There should be a class action of disabled drivers suing BHCC for being in breach of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 and the Equality Act 2010, which they blatantly are. Both Labour and the Green BHCC have significantly reduced disabled parking by reducing access to central city areas, and make both driving and parking more hazardous for the disabled.
I’m going to go on a whim here, and say you probably haven’t thought this through.
Haha well played
A great number of cyclists will not have shown up for the ride. I wasn’t aware it was happening!
I support more cycle lanes, not to protect cyclists from drivers but to protect cyclist from the dreadful road conditions in brighton, pot holes and damaged roads always make my cycling around a nightmare here. Can’t believe they haven’t mentioned that.
So much propagand and a lot of time and public money wasted in a poor result already known meanwhile the city robery and violence increase for this creepy woke governance
I have no objections to cycle lanes but, cyclists need to use them & stay off the roads, it’s a case of use them or lose them. Also I would like to take this opportunity to say when a road states ONE WAY that’s what it means for everyone including cyclists, take Vale Road in Portslade for example, the top half is a one way going away from the town & the amount of cyclists & I must admit I have seen a few vehicles going the wrong way, this is an example of an accident waiting to happen & whose fault would it be, the cyclists, the odd vehicle, one way means just that.
As an elderly pedestrian at the bottom of the chain I get a bit fed up with, apparently, being the target of phone-gazing pedestrians, buggy pushing parents, joggers, cyclists, eBikes, eScooters, mopeds, motorcycles, cars, vans, lorries and buses – in other words all other road and pavement users. Maybe an airhorn, a suit of armour or a mobility scooter with Boudica-type scythes on the wheels is the answer as very little consideration seems to be shown by anyone to anyone nowadays.
Many cyclist, like myself I expect, did not know this event was happening. If I had, I would have been there to support this . I am 56 and have never learnt to drive. My bike is my only means of transport. I cannot afford buses . I have had a hip replacement operation and my bike is my lifeline. Not only for exercise and rehab but is less painful than walking but the state of the roads where we don’t have cycle paths are downright dangerous for cyclists and I feel very vulnerable in parts of this town. Some roads do not allow enough space for cars to overtake us at a safe distance. I think more people would cycle if it was safer leading also to less car fumes for us to inhale !!!!!
A car free Sunday once a month similar to Paris would be a good thing . If they can do it for the marathon , why not ?
A car free Sunday so Blue Badge residents not welcome? Able bodied commentators always forget the elderly and those with disabilities. One day you or one of your family may require the use of a blue badge to work, shop, socialise – be a part of society lets not exclude anyone. Cars are not the problem, it is those who do not drive considerately, or cycle comsiderately etc.
The problem with “Minimal Car Use Sunday” is that while it clearly communicates that disabled drivers and ambulances are OK, the problem drivers will immediately think it applies to them too. So you end up with Regular Sunday.
People struggle severely with hours of operation with bus lanes. My confidence in them understanding a carefree day would be low.
Where it mostly goes wrong is when millions are spent on cycle lanes, and it’s either a total waste of money, or it interferes with the normal lives of everyone else.
Takes Ditchling Road to Carden Avenue for instance, ‘Scene Cyclists’ refusing to use the the cycle lane and causing danger on a road that is a 60mph main artery, and had bends, dips and crests. They do it to intentionally cause accidents because they have some perverted political point to make, like some sort of extremist-lite.
Cyclists on the seafront have absolutely no regard for the markings in their lanes that tell them to give way to pedestrians, and just plough through at speed not giving a damn that someone might get killed.
The problem appears to be that we have an explosion in cycling but with no laws or accountability, and to cap it all, county-lines runners on black e-bikes, in black balaclavas, black clothing, looking threatening and anonymous, on pavements, who appear untouchable.
We need new laws, because people will die on our roads and pavements because of the cyclists that have cycle lanes, but decide that they don’t want to use them.
I think there are three issues here. Firstly since the peak of the pandemic cycling has now fallen to below pre pandemic level despite hundreds of millions spent on it nationally. Secondly not every road can have a cycle lane it is impossible and will never happen so cyclists will have to cycle with traffic. Ultimately needs to be better awarness by drivers and cyclists when using the roads of each other, (drivers need to give space and go slower, cyclists need to be visible). Thirdly the biggest benefit for all road users would be to fic the potholes – some of them are lethal as a cyclist.
The only way to be safe on the roads is to teach youngsters to respect the roads and the dangers they may face on them and enrol them in a cycling proficiency course. Anything less is lunacy and putting your own children at risk. The Highway Code has already been changed to prioritise cyclists. We don’t need multimillion pound road carve ups to make our groceries and electricians twice the price and impede people getting to work and emergency vehicles from saving lives, possibly the same lives put at risk by silly parents pretending that roads should be playgrounds.
So if a driver hits a kid on a bike that’s the child’s parents’ fault?
If that same child were sexually assaulted by a predatory man, by your twisted logic that would be the fault of the parents for not teaching ‘stranger danger’.
In the vast majority of cases of death and injury to cyclists it is the motor vehicle at fault.
And if a decent cycling infrastructure is so damaging, can you explain why Holland’s roads aren’t littered with corpses and statuonary ambulances stuck in gridlock trying to get to them?
In the event of a RTC involving a child on a bike, there would be lots of questions that would need to be addressed and you have raised a can of worms here. You ask if a driver hits a kid on a bike that’s the child’s parents’ fault?
The answer could be ‘yes’, if that parent has allowed their child to venture onto the roads without proper training or supervision.
And yes, if that same child were sexually assaulted by a predatory (Person) (not men as women also commit these crimes) that would be the fault of the parents for not teaching ‘stranger danger’.
In the vast majority of cases of death and injury to cyclists it is the motor vehicle at fault. Not factually correct, the data indicates the numbers of cyclist killed on our roads up to 2020 that averaged around 100 per year. The data does not show who was at FAULT or responsible for the collision. I’ve done some research that shows in a number of incidents, the cyclist was the only road user involved, indicating self inflicted, ie hit a stationary object etc etc.
Why people point to Holland as some sort of example is unbelievable, Holland last time I looked was half under water and flat. But they have a decent, well thought out cycle infrastructure and transport system.
This city, if you hadn’t noticed, is very hilly with poor Transport networks. We have a double cycle lane, one placed dangerously next to parking bays where vulnerable children, disabled and adults are at risk from being hit by a cyclist. In the event of an incident, it would be difficult for emergency services to attend due to lack of road space being there’s posts along part of the route.
You have scored an own goal in using the words, ‘Not Teaching’, that is part of the problem, lack of education and training. A Child cycling straight out from the pavement into the path of a motor vehicle because they’ve not been taught to look is down to the parent.
A child that is abused or worse because they’ve not been taught stranger danger is also down to the parent.
There, that didn’t go well for you did it.
Keeping kids in the dark about road danger or stranger danger is foolish and bad parenting in the extreme.
Of course it’s not their fault if something bad happens to them. But if it were avoidable and they were not warned/trained in how to minimise the risk, I would blame the parents. Either you care about your kids or your don’t. If you think think the world is going to adapt around them, or predators are suddenly going to become nice people because you don’t think/believe they should hurt your child, that is dangerous naivety.
Agreed.
I get what Barry is saying, he’s just articulating himself in a way that comes across as no other method for road safety is important. Knowing Barry for a while, I’m sure he’s just speaking to this point, whilst other aspects are also important.
What is needed and would cost nothing is for motorists to slow down and for cyclists to actually learn and obey the rules of the road.
Very good point, I’ll say it again, but the standard of driving I’ve observed on a regular basis is very poor.
0.1448% of the population of 276,300* demand that they receive priority over everyone else…
*based on 2021 figures it’s probably a lot higher now.
I love mathematics. When used properly it really does show up some nonsense. And they have bikes so there is no excuse for not turning up.
Maybe cyclists should learn the highway code and stop at things like red lights perhaps 🤔
Cycling is not safe. Data from the world’s premier cycling nation, the Netherlands, show that in 2022 the number of people who died in cycling accidents was 291.This in a country roughly a quarter the population of the UK. Accident rates are high based on reports to the police. But following further research using hospital and ambulance returns in two states, it is estimated (2022) that there are as many as 80,000 bicycle accidents a year 50,000 of them serious. Given the number of cycle lanes, straight roads, lack of hills and cycle friendly laws it is worrying to note that the majority of accidents do not involve motor vehicles only cyclists and pedestrians.
To put some perspective on this a quarter of all road trips are undertaken by bicycle and these are generally short. Journeys to work and school average 3km (2 miles) and for days out 5km(3 miles). Accidents are higher among the elderly, among electric assisted bike users and those who do not use helmets. It is therefore the cyclists who have most control over their own safety not government or indeed motorists.
Do you want this in Brighton? As a regular visitor to family in central Brighton, a pensioner and pedestrian, I am concerned how much more dangerous it has become along the seafront. This is especially so in the summer when visitors on hire bike join locals weaving in and out of the unprotected cycle paths. It is of course your decision but it should be informed by the experiences of our near neighbour and their concern over the rising death and injury rate.
Loads of leftie trustafarions shouting come on moonbeam and willow whilst heading off from their massive houses in hove. I missed a hospital appointment as couldn’t get a bus. Bell ends !
Saw loads of parents with no helmets. Made me lol.
I cycled along the seafront on Sunday and they had blocked off the whole cycle path. What a bunch of idiots.
We need to ban cars in Brighton. Cycle to the sea. Be mindful of mindfulness. It time folk stood up against the system
I like driving. I also like cycling. Occasionally bussing.
Me too Benjamin – and I even walk ! – and I use taxis as well where the bus does not go. All methods of transport are valued by the majority.
I’m all for road safety in whichever mode of transport is used, but the need for a percentage
of cyclists to obey the highway code is overlooked, cyclists are not allowed to cycle on a pavement, go through red lights, go the wrong way up a one way street, stop at zebra crossings when people are on them to mention a few and maybe in winter months and evenings don’t wear black and buy some flipping lights!!!!
Perhaps if there was a cycle MOT, registration and insurance introduced then it could raise revenue for extra cycle lanes rather than taking it out of council budgets and also put a stop to endless amounts of rusty abandoned bikes strapped to various places around the town as they’d be traceable to the person who left them there!