Infographic: Cyclist safety in Bike Week

Hi Guy's 

As it's Bike Week 2014, I'll be posting a few posts through the week to celebrate all things two wheeled, and today's post is aimed at road safety, with thanks to fellow cyclists and London solicitors, Osbornes we've teamed up together to share some statistics about cyclist safety in a neat infographic. If you are a road user some of these may be of surprise to you. And I promise you now it's not just motorists to blame here too, both motorists and cyclists can be both as bad and need to take more responsibility for their actions. With huge props to the motorists who look out for other road users even if they can be morons at times. 

 Personally some of these figures are no surprise to me they highlight one important thing. Both motorists and cyclists need to be educated on how to handle the roads themselves and how to interact around traffic, educating in this way could reduce accidents and reduce tensions on the roads between all users and above all else if you muck up, or worse cause an accident, apologise, try and work out who's to blame and pass details over, if the victim of a hit and run please speak to the police. 

I'm currently building the foundations on a new local cycle group in my local area with Sustrans for those who want to ride but are not as confident but the main hurdle I've got to beat is the sheer amount of people who are worried to cycle alone on the roads due to the risks, and CTC statistics back this up. In instances like this I hope we can broaden the LCC's Space For Cycling campaign to a nationwide initiative, bringing key changed whilst making infrastructure easier to use for all. C'mon LCC spread out the space for cycling love around the UK, there's plenty of cyclists and motorists alike willing to work together with you. After all, this is not just for us, it's for the future road users too, including your children and my children too. 

If you'd like more information on the infographic above, take a click here to Osbornes website, a group who are keen cyclists and want to help push changes through for all to share the roads together.  

Tomorrow we'll be talking about doing the school run with a bike an trailer,

How would you like to see infrastructure changed for the better, be it better roads, separation for cyclists or even more disability friendly pathways, anything? Let us know and we'll be happy to add these. 

Paul 

Disclosure: This post has been published in collaboration with Osbornes Solicitors LLP, 

The Hornit Review - Part one

Hi all. This is part one of a two part review on The Hornit. A seriously loud horn for cyclists.

If you would like your own Hornit. Click the link above and order direct and use the code "confused" on checkout and it'll enable you  a 20% discount!

I received a package last week containing a little something for the bike. The package contained The Hornit, dubbed as "seriously loud cycle horns".

I'd seen them in the past and was keen on getting my hands on one. When it arrived I was just as keen to install it and get on the school run, with time running out for a quiet unboxing video while the kids were at school, I pounced on it quickly.



The hornit closely resembles a light or action camera, with one exception. It makes a bit more impact than a light in certain situations. The horn comes with a trigger to set off the horn, They've been clever here and made it removable, replaceable and hackable by using a similar type connector as the smaller round nokia charger ports, meaning you could in theory extend your Hornit to sit somewhere discrete off the bars and still fire it off on the bars easily, something I will be experimenting with in the future with a replacement fire button I've ordered.

Installation is a breeze, as they provide a tiny, cute allen key, but can become a bit of a chore with larger allen keys as you'll see in the video I'm editing at the moment. Installing the trigger is easy, mine sits on the current bell clip, looped around the bell leaving it in a perfect position for using both the horn or bell where needed. Battery installation is easy too, and comes with AAA's included. We REALLY like that.



The only issue I have is unlatching, it's difficult on larger handlebars when you have fatter fingers. But that's a minor wobble in my mind

The hornit is loud, in fact I'd say it's stupidly loud. It has two different settings, a single tone alert and a multi tone alert, selectable by a button on the rear of the hornit just above the trigger jack. It does get attention from road users, even if you're calling them a bloody moron. Luckily I've only had to use it in those situations twice.  Due to the loudness of the hornit I also used it during the Midnight walk I was marshalling as an assistance alarm, luckily it was not needed.

I'm extremely happy with it, especially with it's water resistance. It's had a darned good soaking over the last two weeks and held up well. For the size and price it's not a bad option for the cyclist who rides daily and would like a bit more protection out there.

In part two I'll be uploading more videos and images, including a Horn off, The Traffic Droid's Droid Horn Vs the Hornit, demonstrating the Hornit's loudness on the Sewell Greenway, (Due to the volume of the Hornit I'll be filming out of town as it's out of the way and away from disturbing people unnecessarily) and if my new camera mount turns up, some footage of the hornit in use on the roads of Dunstable.

My full verdict on the Hornit will come in part two next week.

What do you think of the Hornit so far?
Paul

Again If you would like your own Hornit. Click here and order direct. If you use the code "confused" on checkout and it'll enable you  a 20% discount!