#BikeIsBest Advocacy Digest - Edition No.28

#BikeIsBest Digest Edition No. 28 | Wednesday, August 24th 2022 | View in browser

Hello and as the weather starts to cool, and thoughts turn to back-to-school preparations, we’ve got your weekly digest of cycling news, and a good deal of positivity to boot.
CYCLING ON PRESCRIPTION
While certain corners of the internet are still going wild over supposed proposals for cycling speed limits and number plates, the rest of us know just how positive cycling and walking are for our health and environment - and adverse road conditions aside, we know what a positive impact it has on our lives.
BIG STORIES FOR CYCLING ADVOCACY
FRENCH €4,000 EBIKE GRANT
The French government has upped the ebike ante by offering up to €4,000 to trade in a motor vehicle for an ebike. As Ebiketips reports, Olivier Schneider of the French Federation of Bicycle Users (FUB), commented: “For the first time it is recognised that the solution is not to make cars greener, but simply to reduce their number.” There’s also €300 subsidies available even without a trade-in.
CYCLING ON PRESCRIPTION
In England the government has announced a £12.7m pilot of cycling and walking on prescription. Social prescribing as it’s known involves GPs enabling patients to reap the benefits of gentle outdoor activities with free access to cycles and cycle training. Active travel can have huge health benefits, particularly if you’re not exercising at all, and the pilot will help establish the impact on health, and things like reliance on medicine.
TONNES OF CYCLING BENEFITS
A new Danish study has found if everyone cycled like the Dutch we could save 686 million metric tonnes of carbon each year. Dutch people on average cycle 2.6km a day. If replicated the world over we’d cut the equivalent emissions of a country like the UK, the University of Southern Denmark has found. This study, published in the journal Communications, Earth & Environment, is apparently the first to quantify cycle ownership going back to the 60s.
ON THE ROAD WITH JEREMY VINE
The Guardian’s Peter Walker went on a bike ride with presenter Jeremy Vine, to discuss his motivations and experiences cycling around London with a helmet camera. Vine often posts footage of road user behaviour on social media, and often makes headlines for doing so. Vine talks about his desire to feel safe on the roads, and the highs and lows of cycling in London.
LICENCE TO MAKE UP FACTS
After the cycling speed limits/number plates debacle, a follow-up poll by Fair Fuel UK, an opaque alliance of motoring lobbyists, was reported by the Daily Mail as evidence of 91% support for cycling registration. Fact checkers Full Fact found this survey was not representative of all drivers, and that contrary to the Mail piece the poll didn’t ask if cyclists should be ‘forced’ to have number plates.
OTHER HEADLINES
HAPPIER, HEALTHIER, SMARTER
That’s what cycling can do for us, according to this Momentum Magazine article. The piece goes through some of the good stuff getting on a bike can offer us - in case we didn’t know it already. It ranges from healthy brain growth to improving our mood and boosting sleep quality.
SIGNS OF THE TIMES?
Cyclist Dismount signs are commonplace for road works, events and sometimes just because. There are many people who cycle who cannot simply dismount and the ease in which it’s demanded needs to be seriously reconsidered. I’ve witnessed first hand how deeply entrenched it is in the system.
INTERESTING GRAPHIC OF THE WEEK

Production of global cycles compared with motor vehicles since the 1960s. From a study by the University of South Denmark.
Source:
ACTIVE TRAVEL PHRASE OF THE WEEK; INTELLIGENT SPEED ASSISTANT (ISA)
A vehicle safety feature that informs drivers of relevant speed limits and can reduce speed by limiting engine power. The technology is estimated to reduce collisions by 30% and deaths by 20%, according to TomTom. We do this for e-scooters and e-cycles, why not vehicles capable of exceeding 100mph?
Until next time,

Founder, #BikeIsBest
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