Sussex pop-up cycle lanes: ‘Benefits outweigh nuisance’

A far greater selfishness is the resistance to any change or compromise for the common good if it causes a personal inconvenience.

Read the initial letter here

We face a major crisis of global warming and lethal pollution, and the only way to check it is to reduce our reliance on polluting activities like unnecessary car usage.

The council’s monitoring in Upper Shoreham Road has shown that cycling has doubled since the lanes were introduced – clear proof that they successfully encourage people who can cycle to use their bikes more and their cars less.

Yes, the lanes cause some inconvenience too, but the benefits to the entire society vastly outweigh the nuisance.

No wonder, then, that the Government is pushing ahead with another wave of similar schemes to encourage more walking and cycling. National polls have shown that people favouring them outnumber the opponents four-to-one, and the Government has told councils not to let the schemes be derailed by a minority of noisy opponents.

If you think cycle lane supporters are selfish, try this: “Shame about the environmental crisis and the increasing number of people suffering life-long illness and dying horrible deaths from pollution, but don’t do anything towards addressing that if it takes away my handy parking space.”