Has this blog got it wrong?

I'm sure there are those that read this blog and think I talk a load of rubbish. But, leaving modesty aside, most that read this blog agree with 'most' of the points I make. I get my fair share of virtual head nodding. When that happens it makes me feel good.

That is exactly what is wrong with this blog. Like I suggested in my previous blog about bike week, I too am most often preaching to the converted. I've never researched it, but I can safely say that the vast majority of the demographic that reads this blog are cyclists.

That's great. Together we can formulate ideas, agree on the risks and benefits, and generally pat each others backs. But in the grand scheme of things, what does that achieve?

Absolutely nothing. It's a bit like a tree falling in a forest hundreds of miles from anyone. It will have made a lot of noise, but no-one who can clear up the mess will ever hear it.  

Unless of course, we go out and spread the good news to those that don't cycle, and have never even considered it as an option.

This is where the thinking for my last few posts has come from. To make cycling safe, we need to do two simple things:

1) Convert more drivers to cyclists. The more cyclists there are the safer we all are.

2) Ensure that those drivers who don't cycle or who never want to cycle, like us. If drivers like us, i.e. realise that one more cyclist is one less car holding them up, then maybe they would treat us better.

So what do we need to do to achieve these goals? I'll be exploring that over the next few blog posts, hopefully with your help. Converting drivers to cyclists is probably the easiest to achieve. Perhaps my Critical Pass idea is one way of converting a few drivers, although knowing that some drivers don't like cyclists filtering, and are inexplicably fearful of it, that could backfire. I don't think it would enamour us to many drivers.  

Another idea that has been suggested in the comments of my previous post is setting up Celebration Stations on bike/car commuter routes. These stations would provide goodies, food and vouchers etc for the cyclists using the route, all in clear view of the drivers stuck in the queue next to the station. That is a very interesting idea and might help with conversion. Would they like us more though?

Maybe to get them to like us we need to..... yes we need to keep to the rules, but more than that, we need to show them that more cyclists on the road is a good thing for them. One less car in the queue. How do we do that?

I'm also trying to think of ways of getting leaflets or something similar to drivers stuck in the jams? How do you do that without annoying the drivers or getting on the wrong side of the law? What would the leaflets say? It is suggested that safety is the number 1 concern stopping people taking up cycling. Perhaps it would provide detail on the risks of not cycling!

So, go on my cycling readers (and any non-cycling readers!), what do you think of these ideas, and do you have any of your own?