Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Andrew Critchlow, Great Britain, Road.cc, Stevenson, twitter threats, UK
Stevenson freaks out this other fellow Critchlow, who then decides to make an even bigger stink.
Mr Stevenson, who has worked for a wide range of cycling publications during a lengthy career in journalism, objected to suggestions in the piece that some cyclists were as much to blame for problems on the roads as motorists.Taking to his Twitter account, Mr Stevenson wrote: “Can someone please just have Andrew Critchlow taken out and shot? Thx.”
Within hours of the comment being posted, Mr Critchlow, a business journalist, who has represented Great Britain in cycling road races, had been bombarded with hundreds of threatening messages.
via Police investigate alleged death threat from cycling journalist – Telegraph.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: accident rates, casualties, casualty rates, cycling, drivers, London, pedestrians, road users, transportation, Twitter, UK, urban cycling
Casualty rate and total number of casualties in London by road user type and age from http://t.co/U57gv7Hm8G pic.twitter.com/yf4vz2fXzG
— Jim (@geographyjim) March 20, 2014
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: bicycle helmet laws, bicycle helmets, bicycling, Chris Boardman, cycling, helmet, London, mandatory helmet laws, UK, urban cycling
British Cycling policy advisor Chris Boardman says it’s time for the cycling community to put the debate about mandatory cycle helmets to bed and get across the message that helmet use is one of the least important cycling safety measures.
Even talking about making helmets mandatory “massively puts people off” cycling, Boardman said, and likened the culture of helmet use among keen cyclists to people wearing body armour because they have got used to being shot at.
Talking to road.cc at the London Bike Show, Boardman said, “I think the helmet issue is a massive red herring. It’s not even in the top 10 of things you need to do to keep cycling safe or more widely, save the most lives.”
via Chris Boardman: "Helmets not even in top 10 of things that keep cycling safe" | road.cc.
More Boardman goodness:
We could use some straight talk like this in the US.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Brent crude, energy, North Sea, offshore oil production, oil production, peak oil, UK
Long peaked, declining rapidly and getting really expensive.
The sharp decline in production of oil and gas from under British waters is “worrying” industry leaders.
Trade body Oil and Gas UK says there is record investment this year of £13.5bn.
But its annual report on the industry’s economic impact highlights the sharp fall in output of 19% during 2011 and 14% in 2012.
It says the industry’s latest estimates of the continuing decline suggest a further fall of at least 8.5% during this year, with no recovery next year.
[…]
Because of challenging geology and unplanned shutdowns on offshore platforms, the unit cost per barrel for extracting oil from British waters, known as the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS), has gone up four-fold over the past decade.
via BBC News – 'Worrying' decline in oil and gas production.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Belgium, CDC, distracted driving, EuroPNStyles, France, HeathStyles, little screens, mobile device use while driving, Portugal, Spain, texting while driving, twiddlin your screen, UK, urban cycling, watch the road
USA! USA!
click to enlarge
To assess the prevalence of mobile device use while driving in Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, the United Kingdom (UK), and the United States, CDC analyzed data from the 2011 EuroPNStyles and HealthStyles surveys. Prevalence estimates for self-reported talking on a cell phone while driving and reading or sending text or e-mail messages while driving were calculated. This report describes the results of that analysis, which indicated that, among drivers ages 18–64 years, the prevalence of talking on a cell phone while driving at least once in the past 30 days ranged from 21% in the UK to 69% in the United States, and the prevalence of drivers who had read or sent text or e-mail messages while driving at least once in the past 30 days ranged from 15% in Spain to 31% in Portugal and the United States.
via Mobile Device Use While Driving — United States and Seven European Countries, 2011.
DO NOT LOOK AT THIS POST WHILE DRIVING
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: fracking, fracking ban, it's about water, shale gas, tight gas, UK
Poor blokes have been snowed. Quite.
Not only has the UK green-lighted fracking, it is also using tax breaks to promote shale exploration and development. Indeed, the UK hopes to see a shale gas revolution of its own.
So what are the new rules for fracking? Right now it’s still a bit vague, but overall it involves a strengthening of oversight and an automated seismic activity detection system designed to halt operations in time.
via UK Lifts Fracking Ban, Now What?.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: depletion, energy, England, North Sea, oil depletion, oil production, oil production declines, oil supply, peak oil, UK, UK oil production
For any modern nation, a 22% decline in oil production would be significant over the course of a decade. A 22% drop over a mere 12 months ought to be front-page news, yet this radical decline has passed relatively unnoticed.
via UK Oil: Plummeting production vs media inattention | Energy Bulletin.
Industrialized Cyclist Notepad 