Catastrophic floods could hit Europe far more often, study finds | The Guardian
Damian Carrington
Slow-moving storms such as recent deluge in Germany could become 14 times more frequent by 2100
Catastrophic floods such as those that struck Europe recently could become much more frequent as a result of global heating, researchers say.
High-resolution computer models suggest that slow-moving storms could become 14 times more common over land by the end of the century in a worst-case scenario. The slower a storm moves, the more rain it dumps on a small area and the greater the risk of serious flooding.
London council to step up security as vandals target low-traffic zones | The Guardian
A London council is to install extra CCTV cameras and step up security patrols following a spate of vandalism connected to low-traffic neighbourhood schemes (LTNs), after oil was poured over planters and on the street in the latest incident.
Lambeth authority said it would seek to prosecute anyone targeting the infrastructure, after other incidents in which plants have been pulled up, signs sprayed over and enforcement cameras damaged.
Shoppers’ Mobility Habits: Retailers Overestimate Car Use | Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies
The researchers surveyed around 2,000 customers and 145 retailers on Kottbusser Damm (Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg district) and Hermannstraße (Neukölln district). The vast majority of shoppers – 93% – had not travelled to their destination by car. 91 per cent of the revenue generated by these businesses came out of the wallets of customers who walked, cycled or used public transport to reach them. Customers that drive to the shops accounted for just 9 per cent of sales.
Just 7% of customers travel to businesses by car
Bikepacking and gravel bikes: new concepts in off-road cycling, or marketing fad? | The Guardian
Peter Walker
A four-day loop around the King Alfred’s Way gave ample time to test the claims of faster speeds and greater off-road ease
The world of leisure cycling is nothing if not inventive when it comes to ways to sell bikes and associated bits of kit, and two of the most popular new – or theoretically new – concepts are bikepacking and gravel bikes.
As with all such ideas there is the inevitable marketing guff, but both are nonetheless interesting, if sometimes misunderstood. Earlier this week, on trend as ever, I managed both, with a four-day ride around the King Alfred’s Way, a 218-mile primarily off-road loop through the lanes, tracks, woods and ridges of Hampshire, Wiltshire, Berkshire, Surrey and West Sussex.
Cyclists are safer car drivers says insurance specialist – Ci4C
Posted on March 3, 2020
A UK car insurance provider has finally proved what we all suspected – that road cyclists are safer car drivers than non-cyclists.
Specialist broker, carinsurance4cyclists.com (Ci4C), is the first in the UK to observe the relationship between road cycling and a clean driving record, rewarding cyclists with significant savings as a result.
Cycling car drivers are safer, claiming half as often as non-cyclists
What’s Wrong With Free Parking at Work? – Bloomberg
Subsidising employer-paid parking clogs streets, boosts emissions and isn’t fair to commuters who can’t use this perk. But there’s an easy way to fix it.
“The DfT will soon be issuing ‘statutory guidance’ – Chris Heaton-Harris Minister of State (DfTresponse to question from Andrew Slaughter Labour, Hammersmith)
“The DfT will soon be issuing ‘statutory guidance’ which will mean that cycling and walking schemes will not be able to be removed until they have been in place long enough for their impacts to have been “properly assessed”.
Chris Heaton-Harris Minister of State (Department for Transport) responding to a question from Andrew Slaughter Labour, Hammersmith
Natural predator of the car? Turns out it’s the car – transportxtra
Richard Dilks 13 July 2021
What little experience I have gleaned has taught me that far too much of the discussion and decision-making about cars in the UK falls into one of these camps:
1. Camp Dalek: Exterminate! Cars are bad. We must price them off and design them out. There are nearly 40 mn cars and vans so we’d better get cracking.
2. Camp Ostrich: Cars are bad. That’s why we are doing so much on cycle lanes, bus subsidy, lowered kerbs (delete/add to list as appropriate).
3. Camp Fatalist: Cars are bad. But we have nearly 40 mn of them. If we make it harder, more expensive, asocial even for people to use them then they just will not like us.
4. Camp Vroom: Cars are good. They enable us to do all sorts of useful things, they give us freedom, protection and pride and they play our favourite music.
That’s why we have nearly 40 million of them. Anyway, aren’t they all going to be electric soon?
Climate scientists shocked by scale of floods in Germany | The Guardian
Deluge raises fears human-caused disruption is making extreme weather even worse than predicted
The intensity and scale of the floods in Germany this week have shocked climate scientists, who did not expect records to be broken this much, over such a wide area or this soon.
After the deadly heatwave in the US and Canada, where temperatures rose above 49.6C two weeks ago, the deluge in central Europe has raised fears that human-caused climate disruption is making extreme weather even worse than predicted.
Girl, 7, dies after bike crash with lorry in Wiltshire – BBC News
14 July 2021
A “beautiful and kind” seven-year-old girl has died after a crash with a lorry while riding her bike.
The girl, named only as Eloise, was taken to Salisbury District Hospital but died a short time later.
It happened on the A338 Church Street in Collingbourne Ducis in Wiltshire shortly before 18:30 BST on Tuesday.
She attended Collingbourne Primary School and headteacher Dan Crossman said the school sent her family “our sincerest sympathy and support.”