Are Car Solutions Ltd sponsoring a bike lane?

just east of the M32, Car Solutions Ltd specialise in "injury claims and replacement vehicles"

Custom must be slow this week, as someone appears forced to park their 4x4 FY07BOU in the bicycle only contraflow and pavement in the hope that a collision with a passing car or pedestrian may result in a good claim or two.

But without insurance, what good is that? This is why we demand that all pedestrians that walk on the pavements our road tax funds to have registration numbers and third party insurance. And that the police roll out ANPR cameras to detect pedestrians whose insurance has expired.

Those people wondering where pedestrians would keep their registration numbers are missing another part of the plan: the compulsory helmets. 

AA in stokes croft

Lovely to see the AA van EU08CMD out rescuing someone whose car had broken down in the stokes croft "bike lane"

We use quotes around "bike lane" as we have never once seen a cyclist using it.

We do not understand why not, or why they are so ungrateful for all that our road tax does for them.

The Stokes Croft Bike Lane! Sponsored by the AA!

Abbeywood week, a discussion

Yesterday we mentioned that one problem with parking on the abbeywood cycle paths was not just the new bollards, it was harassment from cyclists. Here, sadly, we have an example.

This is V134DYC, a lorry minding its own business, parked on one of the Abbeywood cycle/pedestrian paths. By getting almost entirely on the path it is not interfering with any passing traffic.

Yet our cyclist reporter felt that there was some need to criticise the driver, to take a photograph of them, "for the database".

Fortunately, our lorry driver sees their gambit and raises it by pointing out that they too have a camera in their lorry, and the cyclist looked pretty silly -which, coming from a professional hi-viz person, are pretty harsh words.

We aren't convinced that the driver saying that Hitler used to disappear troublemakers like our cyclist report actually wins the argument.

1. Godwin's Law implies that whoever reverts to analogies with Germany's National Socialist government of 1934-1945 automatically loses the argument.
2. It's not clear that that government did persecute cyclists except when their religious or political beliefs were not aligned with that of the government.
3. It's not clear how this possibly incorrect bit of history deals with the problem that now there is nothing to stop cyclists taking videos and photographs of vehicles in their way and sticking it up online.

We look forward to better arguments in future.

Family Cycling vs S Gloucs

Shocking footage of an entire family's collection of bicycles, up in the North Fringe, at a secret (as in "official secret protected by the official secrets act") location.

What's surprising is that they managed to get there, despite the efforts of S Gloucs council, who strategically positioned a lorry over the bike path to stop anyone who wasn't bold enough to cycle along a dual carriageway from getting to the bike racks.

Come on S. gloucs, please try harder!

Slix Week 5

OK, so we know Slix is good (and to avoid any press complaints of bias we'll probably cover the other eateries and massage parlours of Stoke Croft in future editions).

We know that, as a convenient and iconic food outlet, Slix has great parking facilities (courtesy of the bike lane which deters commuters, but welcomes the brave).

We know that Noel Edmunds may or may not have eaten there. In his taxi.

We are impressed, though, that it is being protected by the State.

We found it reassuring that Police vehicle WX09EKU had parked-up in the cycle lane to ensure Stokes Croft was safe from errant taxi drivers, mini-cab deliveries and cyclists. We were just disappointed that it hadn't pulled up on the pavement, as that would have allowed us to complain, in true Daily Mail style, about the sort of low-life that populate this part of Bristol scratching the paintwork as they squeezed by.

Of course, it may be that they're there to arrest Mrs Lovett, but her pie shop (and others) still seem to exist on the Croft, so we doubt it.

Luckily, as can be seen from the photo, Stokes Croft is perfect for a new road widening scheme. Here at Bristol Traffic we reckon we could get at least five lanes of traffic in here, probably six if we narrowed the pavements. We will be lobbying our MPs.

Slix Week 4

Mini-cabs are one thing, but they are nothing in comparison to real cabbies.

A real taxi can use a bus lane, park in a cycle lane, and even go through no-entry signs (if you know the right routes).

Here though we see one visiting Stokes Croft, outside our feature takeaway of the week - Slix.

This taxi - T332MOA - is a frequent visitor to Stokes Croft, but we do wonder whether it's for real. We know of a famous and important person who lives locally and drives a taxi to get around bus-lane restrictions.

Slix Week 3

We're covering Slix in Stokes Croft this week, and we've noticed that it attracts some interesting clientele. It also sells burgers and chicken.

Yesterday we looked at the corporate appeal of the area, with cars such as WP06XTR using the cycle lane as a convenient stop-off to do a bit of business in the area, or pick up a burger and chips.

These parked cars, though, are actually an inconvenience, as they restrict the ability of mini-cab drivers to pick-up, drop-off and park-up to re-fuel.

Slix is an essential part of a central Bristol taxi driver's life-style, and, we hear, a destination of choice for many of their passengers, as YY05WEF and FB57KDF illustrate.

Slix Week 2

Documenting Stokes Croft is a full-time job.

Which is why we have a company car, just like anybody with a proper job. And we like to park-up on the pavement outside Bank to monitor the competition.

Not all cars are company cars, though.

There's no way to tell if T31DYA is parked in the cycle lane to grab a legitimate and corporately funded bite to eat in Slix (or Mrs Lovett's), or if it just belongs to a local from City Road picking up a few extra copies of the Big Issue to sell in Clifton.

The same is true for other cycle lane users, J44NUG, T364VCF and R790EDV.

One thing is certain: these cars are not there now, which at least proves that none of the drivers, even if they had their hair cut in 'Anointed Touch', ended up as take-aways from Mrs Lovett's. These drivers are safe.

Slix Week 1

We know that Stokes Croft is the centre of the universe.

And at the centre of Stokes Croft is that most favourite eatery, Slix.

Ignore the fact that it's next to Mrs Lovett's meat pie outlet, ignore any references to Sweeny Todd, or the fact that the Stoke's Croft is full of barber's shops. Probably more barbers than massage parlours. Even the venerable Croft features Harry Blades in the front room once a month at their heady "Barrymore's Pool Party" Nights - buzz cut for a tenner, anyone?

No, the interesting thing about this stretch of inner city Bristol is the way in which users of the Bike Lane here generally form a parked string of pearls on an otherwise unused piece of road.

Also interesting is the wide variety of patrons Slix appears to attract. So this week, in the spirit of a minor contribution to documenting the urban fabric of Bristol in 2010, we'll be celebrating a small selection of the trades that frequent the area.

Cotham Hill update: Fredwood Forestry takes our side

We went back to Cotham Hill to see if the bike racks had been taken away, or whether we, the citizens of the city, were forced to discourage walking or cycling ourselves.

A van with the Del Monte man hat was out this morning, but the camera was playing up, so no photo.

What we do have is Monday's van, AG07DVK. Together with VF55GYX and another van with the Del-Monte hat in it, it ensures the uphill bike lane is unusable every weekday morning, and even pedestrians have a hard time getting down here.

What you can't appreciate from these photos is the van is parked just up on the rise of the east-facing hill, so all cars coming up the hill will be forced to swerve into the oncoming bicycle lane precisely when the sun is directly in their eyes. This ensures that when they run over a cyclist they can say "The sun was in my eyes", so downgrading the event to an accident. We like it.

Subtle.

Congratulations, then, to Fredwood Forestry, for their contribution to our city.

Bristol Traffic and your privacy rights

A while back, we documented how selfish pedestrians trying to squeeze past Hampton House hospital staff cars parked on the pavement forced the BRI hospital van WR58UMS to drive down a bicycle only contraflow and then park half on the pavement, half on the yellow lines, and keep the door open to reduce the risk of any bicycle damaging their paintwork.

Our reporter also says that the driver warned "if a photo of them appeared on the web site, they would be prosecuted".

This raised an interesting question, one we raised with the Information Commissioners Office,  namely what are the data protection rules surrounding photographs of vehicles in public places.

We now have a response

From:  casework at ico.gsi.gov.uk

Date: Thu, Aug 19, 2010 at 11:22 AM
Subject: Data Protection Query[Ref. ENQ0341761]
To: bristol.traffic at gmail.com

19th August 2010

Case Reference Number ENQ0341761

Dear Sir/Madam

Thank you for your email.

In order to fall under the provisions of the Data Protection Act 1998 the data concerned must be personal data; that is data from which a living individual can be identified.  Vehicles and their registration numbers in isolation from any other information are not considered to be personal data.

As such its seems unlikely that the Data Protection Act 1998 will apply to the situation you outline.  You may need to ensure that you do not include images of the drivers when these pictures are taken as this could lead you into the area of data protection.

Obviously there may be other legal issues you will need to consider but these are not matters that this office could give you advice on.

I hope this clarifies the matter for you

Yours sincerely

Louise MacDonald

Lead Case Officer

 ____________________________________________________________________


The ICO’s mission is to uphold information rights in the public interest, promoting openness by public bodies and data privacy for individuals.

If you are not the intended recipient of this email (and any attachment), please inform the sender by return email and destroy all copies. Unauthorised access, use, disclosure, storage or copying is not permitted.
Communication by internet email is not secure as messages can be intercepted and read by someone else. Therefore we strongly advise you not to email any information, which if disclosed to unrelated third parties would be likely to cause you distress. If you have an enquiry of this nature please provide a postal address to allow us to communicate with you in a more secure way. If you want us to respond by email you must realise that there can be no guarantee of privacy.
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Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF
Tel: 0303 123 1113 Fax: 01625 524 510 Web: www.ico.gov.uk

So there you have it. Cars with registration numbers yes, people on their own, OK, but photographs of the drivers with the reg nos, maybe. Interesting. We shall have to consider this. Good email signature.

Sita, continuing their sponsorship

On the day that the Barclays Bike Hire scheme starts in London, we are pleased to see that Sita Van WX51HBF is busy showing how the outsourced waste collection team of Bristol are proud to support the cycle lanes of the city, here at the end of the St Werburgh's to North Fringe route. If the connection to Dovercourt Road goes through -note how we say if- then this will be the premier route between the two main employment hubs in the city.

The placement of the van at the end of the cycle lane will ensure that everyone travelling between either destination will see the van and appreciate what Sita and their staff do for the city.

We think everyone should visit this Sita van, which is usually parked here between 09:00 and 10:00 every Friday, and congratulate them for their contribution. That is, we should all drive there and thank them for making this part of town more miserable to the cyclists. As for the cyclists, well, they should be grateful for this work crew reminding everyone coming into town on the forthcoming North Fringe route that they are in fact not welcome in the city. Better to get the hint in a controlled, safe, manner than to discover the harsh truth in a near-death incident.

Sita: proud sponsors of cycle city

Every friday, to celebrate their continued sponsorship of the key North Fringe to City Centre route, Sita Van WX51HBF are again proud to park across the bike path where it goes through the St Werburgh's tunnel.

We congratulate this council-funded service for embracing the Cycling City program! And for not parking in a way which interferes with us drivers!

Problems in Stokes Croft 2

Yesterday we covered the lack of Cycle Lane sponsorship in Stokes Croft.

Today we can report it is almost as bad just up the road in Cheltenham Road, outside the proposed Tescos.

Normally both the cycle lane, and the pavement would be full of cars at this time of day, but only pavement hugging cyclists can be seen.

Hopefully this is not an indication of a double dip recession. No, hopefully this is just a hiatus before Tescos opens and reinvigorates the proper use of the cycle lane and pavement for our cars and vans.

After all, with a Tescos comes a "hole in the wall", which will be really useful when the Stokes Croft Post Office is not open.

Problems in Stokes Croft

Can anyone see what is wrong with this photograph of Stoke's Croft on a weekday morning?

Exactly. Nobody is parked on the bike lane. Despite the post office advertising zero commission currency exchange in big signs right by the road- and the pound to euro rate being so excellent, nobody is shopping there. The furniture shop's van is round the corner, and all is quiet, all the way back to Jamaica street. Two cyclists are actually using the path.

We think this is dangerous as it will lull them into an unrealistic complacency. It is like doing your driving test in Stoke Bishop on a Sunday afternoon, rather than, say, along Gloucester road at 8:30 on a weekday morning. It also hints of problems with the local economy.

We need sponsors for this stretch of bike lane!