1934 Where did it all go wrong?

Interesting article and discussion following.

It seems we have moved on very little since then, in contrast to the other north European countries which seem to solve with ease the bike/car interaction problems that are beyond UK planners and politicians.

I agree with the analysis presented, in some respects the problem has always been the reactionary attitudes of British cycling organisations, which have tended to see an anti-cyclist conspiracy in every attempt to engineer specifically for cyclists, and to make the wrong generalisation that because cycle facilities are often done badly, they cannot be done right at all.

The main thing we have got wrong, as some of the respondents to the article mention, and which has struck me very forcibly when cycling on the continent, is we we don't have the rule of absolute priority of the straight-on traffic at junctions. That is the rule that allows cycle tracks to work on the continent. They have priority over the side-roads, and turning traffic must give way even if it has a green signal. This works, and it's not "rocket science".