Kirsty Lewin
@KirstyLewin
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Porty, Spanish speaker, European, writer, short films, active travel, urban safaris, lorry survivor. @infrasisters
Scotland, United Kingdom
Joined June 2013
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To anyone still doubting the efficacy of cycles as mobility aids, today my knee was so bad I couldn’t walk a few metres without severe pain. But I cycled 18 miles return on the ebike to visit a friend. I couldn’t have walked to the bus stop. Got close-passed x 3 by drivers😡
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I am a disabled cyclist because I was run over by a lorry driver. The latest group in Edinburgh advocating for ‘disabled people’ refuse to acknowledge my existence. They’d be happier if I drove. We need to get the message out that cycles are essential mobility aids for many.
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Imagine if this sign said ‘NHS Lothian would like to thank you for cycling today. Please let us know if we can improve our facilities for you’
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Why is it that many drivers will cross the central white line to avoid a speed hump but won’t do it to pass a cyclist safely? 🤷♀️
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In my own bed tonight but just to add to the general merriment, here’s Giggles, circa 1970, who keeps unwanted guests out of the spare room. She has no eyes, and no pants.
#DuvetKnowItsChristmas
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#r4today
asking ‘what annoys you about cyclists?’ On a segment re updated
#Highwaycode
. Do better
@BBCr4today
- this just encourages dangerous driving behaviour towards cyclists.
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Love that the
@ScotRail
train driver plays dramatic music going over the Glenfinnan Viaduct - we all gave him a round of applause at the end.
#TakeTheTrain
#Scotland
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Look! A delivery lorry which isn’t on the pavement or on
#SpacesForPeople
infra and the world hasn’t stopped turning. 😀
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Over on that thread re ‘cyclist v driver’ there are lots of comments about the male cyclist threatening a lone woman in her car. I have no idea what happened in that incident but I hope these same people also call out the male drivers that threaten women/girls on bikes.
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Nine in hospital as driver crashes car into London bus stop. If this was a train or airplane crash we’d be calling for immediate system changes. We don’t accept deaths from rail travel or air travel - we must stop accepting and normalising
#RoadViolence
.
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Just cycled to Real Foods. Spent £50. Parked bike outside shop, loaded panniers up, cycled back. A car was not required. I couldn’t have parked right outside the shop in a car. Shopping is possible without cars. People without cars eat and spend money. Incredible!
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Just had to thump the side of a van as a delivery driver on the pavement reversed back towards a woman pushing a child in a buggy. Tell me again there’s a ‘war’ on motorists. People should never have to feel/be unsafe on our streets and pavements.
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Struggling to find the words - this bloke, stoned on cannabis, killed James Harrison as he cycled to work in Edinburgh. But not guilty of 'dangerous driving' - just of 'driving without due care and attention'. A completely avoidable death.
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'Cyclists have been given a chance and have blown it' - a comment on Porty People about an incident on the Prom involving someone on a bike injuring a dog. Day in, day out, the same. If we follow the logic, all drivers would be banned from roads. Haven't heard a call for that.
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This is horrific. Thoughts with the woman involved. Another example of the dilemma women face cycling in Edinburgh - aggressive drivers or assaults on the off-road paths? And yet we have cllrs who continue to oppose on-road safe cycling infrastructure.
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Horrible experience cycling through Meadows tonight - large group of teenage boys blocked my path, abused me, one offered to show me his penis then got right up against my front wheel, shouted at me and intimidated me. Another bloke intervened to help.
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Close-passed on single lane roadworks on way to Waverley by woman driver who then stopped, got out, wagged her finger in my face, said I ‘wobbled’ and shouldn’t be on road if I ‘couldn’t go a bike’ - so sick of this dangerous entitlement egged on by commentators and media
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Victoria Street absolutely buzzing- what a transformation from when drivers used to roar up and down one of Edinburgh’s most iconic streets.
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Is it common for male drivers to force pass female cyclists who are in middle of lane, indicating right, and when the female cyclist raises hand in protest, male driver stops in front of her, prevents her from moving on and shouts (red faced) abuse?
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Realise that I now think nothing of cycling a 50 + mile return trip to see friends or for a day out on an ordinary bike. It’s not just young fit men that get about on bikes - all sorts of folk do even us irritating white women over 50 😉
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That TfL video reminds me of a meeting around 9 months after I was run over by a lorry driver. I was still on crutches. An official said to me 'Kirsty, you have to understand how upset drivers are when they run over people.' Of course they are, but there's upset and upset.
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15 years today I was run over by an HGV driver when I was cycling to work. It would be 6 months before I was able to work again. It’s so sad that politicians across Edinburgh are still fighting/stopping measures that would make it safer and more comfortable for folk to cycle.
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The driver of this vehicle has parked on the pavement diagonally across the disabled parking bays and is not displaying a blue badge. Woman in passenger seat playing with her phone. If your tank is too big to park legally and safely, leave it at home. Bath St, Porty, Edinburgh.
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What transport related objects, policies and services should be confined to a transport museum? I’ll start. Cyclists Dismount signs.
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Can’t stop thinking about the councillor in Edinburgh who thinks it’s fine for women to cycle on their own on the isolated unlit Water of Leith path rather than providing safe on-road segregated cycle infra on Lanark Rd. I hope that cllr is reconsidering their position.
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Off for a wee tour of Edinburgh’s local high streets to see how welcoming they are for a middle-aged woman with glasses on a bike. The more comfortable I feel, the more I’ll spend. I’ll not stop if I am close-passed/driven at or abused by a driver. Wish me luck!
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My knee is currently so bad that every step counts. So if there is no cycle parking close to the entrance of my destination, I decide not to go because I can't. It's vital that cycle parking for disabled cyclists is prioritised outside public buildings/shops.
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It’s just relentless - woman in SUV beeping and shouting behind me because I won’t cycle into the path of a massive HGV coming towards me as I wait to turn right safely. It’s time for the UK driving test to include putting folk on bikes around HGVs - or on simulators at least 😡
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I have a lovely room at my friend’s place for Christmas this year but back by popular demand for
#duvetknowitschristmas
is Giggles - the doll with dead eyes and no pants.
For those asking, I'll be hopping on board the
#duvetknowitschristmas
train at 7.45pm or so, depending on when Ivor (nearly 2, now) goes to sleep. We'll be raising money for Centrepoint:
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How many of you are giving up air travel (or did years ago) because of the
#ClimateCrisis
?
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@SueJWebber
You are aware Susan that a ‘cyclist’ was killed on Lanark Road? I hope his family and friends don’t see your tweet. You’ll also be aware, as a transport spokesperson, that ‘cyclists’ are not a separate group to those you have listed. ‘Cyclists’ are just ordinary folk on bikes. 🤷
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Cycled from Porty to Slateford and back today in heavy rain for NHS physio. I’m not special - there were lots of other folk on bikes. I used my bike as a mobility aid for a medical appointment. So please - stop the sweeping statements about ‘the disabled’, ‘rain’ and ‘hills’.
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Heh
@DPDgroup_news
- this driver in Edinburgh parked in the bus stop, got out, looked at the oncoming bus, shut the door and left his vehicle - preventing the bus driver using the bus stop effectively. Bus passengers and drivers shouldn’t have to put up with this. Do better.
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Meanwhile in Edinburgh there's a ludicrous squabble being manufactured over how not to carve up scraps of space between 'cyclists' and 'pedestrians'. There's plenty of road space to take - let's focus on getting that back for walking, wheeling and cycling.
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To the people who think there is inherent conflict between ‘cyclists’ and ‘the disabled’ please read this. 31% of people with disabilities who haven’t cycled would like to give it a go. These issues are complex and not solved by polemical headlines.
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The scars on my legs are pretty ugly - but that’s what happens when you get run over by a truck - if you’re lucky enough to survive. This stuff is beyond crass now. Am a proud supporter of
#Spacesforpeople
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We have so little protected space for folk riding bikes - so when that space is blocked it’s really frustrating. The actual roadworks are not in the cycle lane here.
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Many thanks to the man who stopped to help. This sort of intimidation on cycle paths by males is why so many women and girls face a horrible dilemma - dangerous bullying drivers or aggressive bullying thugs on the off-road paths. No wonder some women choose to drive.
#MVAW
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Am fascinated by how much energy is being spent in the city by a small group of people desperate to stop people having safe and practical 🚲infrastructure. On 19th Nov 2008 I was run over by driver of Leyland DAF Tipper on Seafield Rd at a notorious (then) uncontrolled junction.
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We have a winner! Don’t worry everyone - we’re all as bad as each other and if children just got 🚲 badges it would all be fine.
#VisionZero
#Space4Cycling
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So life on crutches. Can’t get out much yet but when I do, the shortest route to my GP surgery requires walking with crutches in middle of the road because
#PavementParking
blocks pavements on both sides of the street. Welcome to Scotland in 2022.
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Cycled 30 miles on the ebike today to get to 2 physio appts. Faster, cleaner, and more reliable than any other form of transport for those locations in Edinburgh. It’s time to sort out storage/financing and 🚲 infra so that everyone who can benefit from an ebike can access one.
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Was telling a friend who doesn’t cycle about the people killed on their bikes in Edinburgh. She was amazed I knew their names - ‘like it’s personal’, she said. Yes, it’s personal because most of us who cycle in Edinburgh have so many near misses we fear it could be us next time.
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One of life's great mysteries - why so many people believe that car parking everywhere/anywhere should be free. WPL a classic case in point. Why should non car owners subsidise car owners for storage? Why should precious urban space be used to store vehicles that barely move?
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20mph - ‘only where they make sense’. That will be all residential areas, shopping areas, areas with workplaces, health centres, leisure facilities, galleries, theatres, sports facilities - streets/roads with people walking, wheeling and cycling on ordinary everyday trips.
We’re getting on with delivering our Plan for Drivers, helping people travel in the way that works best for them.
More on the latest measures delivered from our plan:
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I never thought I’d be someone who pinned flowers to the fence of a site where someone I didn’t know had lost their life. Now it’s been three times in 20 months - all people just getting about on bikes. Every death devastating for families and friends. It’s time for
#visionzero
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Just came through Holyrood Park (traffic free wkd) onto Duddingston Rd West (
#spacesforpeople
🚲infra going in and 20mph signs 🎉🥳) and onto the
#spacesforpeople
protected 🚲 lanes on Duddingston Rd & almost cried. This is progress - thank you
@lmacinnessnp
🙏🏼
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Been out learning about life in a cycle lane building crew (Duddingston Rd). Apparently it takes 5 minutes to install a defender. Lovely guys - super friendly - was horrified to hear about the abuse they’ve been getting from people opposed to safe 🚲 infrastructure.
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Today I stopped at a junction on my bike to let two elderly pedestrians cross. Driver drove straight through. I stopped him and had a word about the Highway Code. He apologised, said he thought he only had to give way at zebra crossings, and that he wouldn't do it again.
#Winning
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@arwaib
Sitting in a quiet park in Edinburgh reading this and my heart is breaking. Devastating.
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So illuminating to come out of paid climate change work to unpaid. The amount of energy, effort and time volunteers have to put in at local level just get the smallest of improvements (dropped kerbs, cycle parking, a temporary cycle lane) is beyond belief.
#ClimateEmergency
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We have a winner - parked across the pedestrian crossing on Clerk St. 🤬
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As I cycled off, same 'penis' boy ran after me threatening me. I stopped, got my phone out and they all ran away. As soon as I set off again, 'penis' boy ran after me again roaring. Completely unacceptable behaviour. Fathers in Edinburgh - do you know where your sons are?
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Two Heat Factors Ltd vehicles parked in the protected cycle lane on Duddingston Rd West today, and another works vehicle between them. These protected cycle lanes are not perfect but they’re essential for those of us nervous of speeding close passing drivers.
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'Car insurance is their biggest household bill after council tax and energy'. We have to reduce car dependency for those who can least afford it by providing better affordable public transport and safe comfortable active travel infrastructure.
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And we wonder why the pavements in Edinburgh are broken/cracked/trip hazards?
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Hi Miles, I don’t have a car and Spaces for People schemes have helped me travel round the city by bike with a lot less fear. I’ve been under the wheels of a tipper lorry in an area that had no protected cycle infra. No resident wants more people killed/injured on their bikes.
Sorry to see that constructive attempts by local
@ScotTories
in Edinburgh to have the Spaces for People schemes which are not popular with local residents in communities removed have not been supported in Council by other parties on
@Edinburgh_CC
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Porty Prom is pedestrianised. Disabled parking close to entrances. No parking outside the cafes. The cafes are doing a roaring trade. Bike parking is full. Lots of people using mobility aids. Make of this what you will.
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Road rules? What road rules? Welcome to driver dominated Porty where you can stash your tank wherever whenever you want.
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Seriously
@BrittanyFerries
? I have to wear a helmet and hi-vis to take my bike on your ferry? So I'll have to take two things I don't own (and don't need) on holiday to comply with this? I'm assuming that I don't have to wear a helmet when pushing my bike??
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I never buy the EEN but a friend just brought this round for me to see. Crikey - this is industrial scale othering of folk who just get around Edinburgh on bikes for ordinary everyday trips 🙈
#cycling
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Out and about with
@Cyclesouthedin
looking at
#SpacesForPeople
infrastructure. Drum Brae North a game changer (although the gradient is still the same 😳).
#cycling
#protectedcyclelanes
#magicwands
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Edinburgh - we’ve been on the radio! If you see a big group of people cycling in the city tonight, give us a wave from the street/bus, or a friendly toot toot with your horn. We’re riding for night time cycling infra that’s safe for women and girls.
#16Days
#LightUpTheNight
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I know this is a tricky area but many disabled cyclists cannot easily get off their cycles and push. Disappointing to see this
#CyclistsDismount
sign.
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So saddened to see tweets trying to sow division between ‘pedestrians/bus users and ‘cyclists’. This week I have walked, cycled and used buses - and been obstructed/held up/close-passed by drivers (incl illegal parking,
#pavementparking
etc) 🐘🐘
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11 years ago today I was run over by a lorry on my way to work. It wouldnt have happened if there’d been cycle-specific infrastructure. NHS still picking up costs. Sending love to everyone who has been injured, and to families of those who’ve been killed, just for riding a bike.
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Crikey this is some take - a new low by anyone's standards.
WATCH: LTNs create dead zones, areas with low traffic & footfall, perfect for crime to flourish.
As the winter nights begin, don’t let your street become a dead zone den of crime.
#scrapltns
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This guy told me the dropped kerb with tactile paving is a ‘loading ramp for drivers’ - give me strength.
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The absolute state of this from the AA on
#PavementParking
- blaming everyone but drivers. For accessible text see
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Desperately sad day in Edinburgh today. We have to do better than this.
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Thought experiment. Split city in half. A side has no parking restrictions, no speed limits, a free for all. B side has 20mph, LTNs, vision zero fully implemented, school and play streets, bus priority, 20 min neighbourhoods etc. How long before folk in A desperate to live in B?
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Remember
#SpacesForPeople
here? The widened pavement? Aye - good to see the valuable public space now being used by people to store their private property for free. This pavement is too narrow and a permanent widening is needed. Will we get it via
#20minuteneighbourhoods
?
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Time for my regular reminder that many disabled people cycle (and more could and would if we had
#inclusive
safe practical cycling infrastructure). These stats are from a 2019 survey by
@Wheels4Well
(well worth following!). Cycles are essential mobility aids for many people.
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Seeing British tourists tweeting their rescue from Rhodes fires in fishing trawlers and can’t help but think of the refugees fleeing war, climate disasters etc to the UK and the way they are treated by the UKG and much of the MSM media.
#ClimateEmergency
#ClimateRefugees
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So reported to the police. Very helpful. If anyone else runs into them, do let the police know.
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Cycling is a fantastic way of getting around and most people who drive are considerate but I and most of the women I know have been threatened and or abused by male drivers. It needs to be called out for what it is.
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Should people driving vehicles stop killing and maiming folk who are just getting around on bikes?
Should cyclists have to wear a HI VIS uniform to ride a bike? 🚴♂️
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More of this please! Cycle parking reserved for non standard cycles at Stirling station. Look at all that space between the stands. Great to see.
@WeAreMACS
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Noticed scrapping on Twitter again on the pedestrians v cycling thing. Come on folks, lets agree that the problem is: too many cars/too much space given to cars/too much space taken by drivers. By working together we can take space back for people walking, wheeling & cycling.
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Hurrah! Barriers gone, replaced with bollards. These small fixes make big differences. Still barriers at other end of bridge, but in front of steep steps (there is a ramp) and any solution there needs to prevent cyclists and others falling down the steps.
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It’s relentless isn’t it? 3 times in last few years men have got out of their vehicles and threatened me on my 🚲- once when I shook my head at a close-pass, once because bloke fully parked on shared use path didn’t ‘like my look’ and once (HGV!) because I raised arm in fear.
💥 "GET OFF THE ROAD, BITCH!" 9/10 women cycling in London face abuse says new LCC survey. CW: swearing, abuse descriptions
Sign the
#FreedomToRide
petition & share to add your voice >>
Full report:
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2023 in Scotland and folk are still being told to get off their bikes and walk. If the Forth Road Bridge management team is concerned about potential conflict in these areas then it should use signs saying ‘give way to pedestrians’. Why can we never have nice things?
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Just cycled back from cinema on Innocent Path - alone except for a cyclist way ahead without lights who then vanished. Caught up with him as he emerged from bushes. I was afraid. No way of getting off the path in the middle. Chose the path as didn't fancy the traffic.
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Two separate planes for a Prime Ministerial handover? In a climate crisis?
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In the last weeks I've been wondering about 'retiring' from cycle campaigning. It's so much effort for so little on-the-ground progress never mind the heartbreak of seeing good safe schemes being voted out. And then along comes the joy and camaraderie of the InfraSisters 💪🚲
Brilliant array of cycles tonight and lovely to have folk from
@vie_velo
along on our
#InternationalWomensDay
#OurStreetsOurNights
campaign ride. Tandems, cargo bikes, Bromptons - you name it - we rode it! A wee snapshot below of just a few of them.
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Infuriated by this. No lessons learned from last time, no signed diversion in place, and no protected infra for cyclists on very busy roads with HGVs. Bloke in the car is ‘security’ to stop folk going through.
#InnocentPath
closed - again.
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Hi
@sainsburys
- only 3 bike stands at your Meadowbank Edinburgh shop - now full and a bloke waiting. Your car park is massive! More bike stands please - people on bikes are shoppers too.
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Be a wonderful gift to the people of Edinburgh if
@welovehistory
could now close Holyrood Park to through traffic (car parks open -especially for blue badge holders). No valid reason to keep 🚙🚙 on roads. We need expansive green space for safe exercise.
#mentalhealth
#lockdown
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Have rescued my 20 year old Cannondale from the shed up north to resurrect for post knee surgery in Nov. Hoping to get back on it in Feb rehab permitting. It’s very pink!
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We live in a beautiful relatively small city. It should be easy to move around safely and actively for everyone. But for some reason, people who want to or need to cycle are vilified, othered, scape-coated, and dismissed. For what? Parking?
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@EdinReporter
'Crippling' the city is an interesting word - I was 'crippled' when I was run over by a twenty two tonne tipper lorry - in a place that now has safe cycling infrastructure. The city will be 'crippled' by congestion if the majority of people drive.
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Heh
@Olleco_UK
- I couldn’t get through the protected cycle lane on George IV Bridge, Edinburgh this afternoon because of this. Forced off bike, and had to push bike around through several people. It was lashing with rain.
#spacesforpeople
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Unfortunate argument with a driver yesterday who drove up onto the pavement outside my flat to get round an oncoming car. When challenged, he got out of his car and told me he was 'forced to'. Back in the day, folk knew how to reverse....
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Lovely to see so many people enjoying
#trafficfree
Holyrood Park today. It’s just baffling that for the majority of the time the park is open to traffic, even in the worst public health crisis of our times.
#lockdown
#essentialexercise
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Sickened to read this and was horrified when I saw the threatening comments about the tipper truck aimed at Jo. Earlier, some of the
#LightUpTheNight
riders were exchanging stories about male violence against women on our streets and paths. This misogynist bullying has to stop.
1. Hi everyone. The wonderful woman who is Jo Rigby is leaving Twitter for a bit. She sent me a note which she asked me to share with you. I’ve spoken to her on the phone and she’s doing okay-ish. But it’s still with a heavy heart that I post this, because no-one should feel
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Not one of those boys intervened. I guess the
#DontBeABystander
message hasn't got through to them yet.
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