Normal traffic density is going to take some getting used to again.

[Banjo]

Clearly we all desperately want this virus under some sort of control and everyone back to work ASAP but Im really not looking forward to the usual amount of traffic on the roads.

 

[T.M.H.N.E.T]

Every day feels like Christmas Day 🎅 just warmer with less presents

 

[slowmotion]

I saw a family of five, ranging in age from about eight to forty eight, riding gently down Cromwell Road, West London yesterday afternoon. You don't see that very often. Personally, I don't mind riding in busy traffic, simply because I'm used to it, but it's certainly novel to be on quite empty roads. I just feel lucky that I can continue to get my daily cycling ration during this lockdown.

 

[HLaB]

I'm hoping it will be dense enough to stop the current speeding/ close passing numpties with people who have developed an empathy to their fellow humans on bikes having been on bikes their self during this period.

 

[derrick]

It seems to be getting busier as the days go by down this way.

 

[hoopdriver]

I've noticed a slight uptick in traffic as well.

I am hoping that employers will see the benefits of having people working from home and that this might become the new normal for a lot of industries - as it really should be. I do think there will be a lot more doing so after this is over, although were that will be enough to have a noticeable effect on traffic remains to be seen.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

It seems to be getting busier as the days go by down this way.

Sunday was significantly busier than recently, especially at dusk when you would expect it to get quieter. I think the explanation is very simple; people have had enough of the disruption to their routine caused by the lockdown, so are starting to ignore it. This is only going to get worse as more and more people decide enough is enough.
The politicians had better start getting things opened up and back to normal ASAP, before the public decide to end it for them, in a chaotic manner not an orderly one.

 

[Globalti]

I'm hoping that for the last 3 months of my working and commuting life traffic levels won't return to the awful levels of the dark winter days when everybody is at work and the weather makes drivers more cautious. With luck it will take time for everybody to go back, lots of people will go away for a holiday taking advantage of cheap prices (and fuel) and then summer holidays will begin.

 

[Drago]

I live 3 miles from the real life home of Q branch, and its business as usual for them so rush hours are still moderately busy. Aside from that the roads of rural Poshshire remain devoid of motor vehicles, which are comfortably outnumbered by cyclists.

 

[mudsticks]

I'm hoping that for the last 3 months of my working and commuting life traffic levels won't return to the awful levels of the dark winter days when everybody is at work and the weather makes drivers more cautious. With luck it will take time for everybody to go back, lots of people will go away for a holiday taking advantage of cheap prices (and fuel) and then summer holidays will begin.

There is a study linking greater number fatalities from corona virus, to higher concentrations of N02 in the locale.

Of course the correlation is not yet proven, but it would make sense if ppls lungs are already damaged / challenged by this poisoning then they are going to struggle to recover.

Again its only anecdotal, and the figures are by no means solidified but its interesting how relatively few CV19 deaths there are down here in the relatively unpolluted southwest of the UK, despite our having a large population of more elderly people.

It should be commonsense really, that the less we pollute, the healthier we, and our planet will be, but much of the world only seems to be waking up to that reality round about now.

I would really hope that people will think about the pollution consequences of any holidays they rush off on, post lock down, and take the train, bike or walk, instead of jumping on a cheap flight.

 

[DSK]

During this period, motorists are much calmer and driving sensibly with the odd idiot tearing it up just because the roads are quiet.

The low volume of traffic does help but for me, its been the general better road manners I have seen, with people just being more patient, not pulling out, drivers patiently waiting and going past safely etc that's just made riding a pleasure. Its a been nice to just get out and try and build up some cycling fitness/stamina to attempt to ride to work at a reasonable swift pace when this is over.

 

[Alex H]

I live 3 miles from the real life home of Q branch, and its business as usual for them so rush hours are still moderately busy. Aside from that the roads of rural Poshshire remain devoid of motor vehicles, which are comfortably outnumbered by cyclists.

|Didn't realise you were an expert on Rotational–vibrational spectroscopy?


( I had to search for Q branch to know what the heck you were talking about)

 

[Globalti]

There is a study linking greater number fatalities from corona virus, to higher concentrations of N02 in the locale.

Of course the correlation is not yet proven, but it would make sense if ppls lungs are already damaged / challenged by this poisoning then they are going to struggle to recover.

Again its only anecdotal, and the figures are by no means solidified but its interesting how relatively few CV19 deaths there are down here in the relatively unpolluted southwest of the UK, despite our having a large population of more elderly people.

It should be commonsense really, that the less we pollute, the healthier we, and our planet will be, but much of the world only seems to be waking up to that reality round about now.

I would really hope that people will think about the pollution consequences of any holidays they rush off on, post lock down, and take the train, bike or walk, instead of jumping on a cheap flight.

It's an interesting idea but the other major variable at work is lower population density in rural areas, with fewer people gathering at churches, temples, mosques and sports events.

But yes, I must admit that during the really bad times when I'm sitting in traffic a lot and not cycling much my lungs do get a bit congested thanks to pollution, especially in times of anticyclonic weather when there's no wind to blow away the fumes.

Actually with most of the posters on CC being fit and relatively healthy I think few of us appreciate just how unfit and unwell the majority of people really are. We have a family living oposite who we call The Troglodytes, who we never see even in good times. They are all overweight and the mother is spectacularly obese, they never go out except by car, they never maintain their garden or house, the windows are always closed and the curtains can stay drawn for days, and on the few occasions when I've kocked to collect parcels a wave of damp smelly air comes out of their front door. They must be pretty unhealthy and good candidates for an infection - if they ever went out!

 

[welsh dragon]

I count myself lucky that I live in an area that doesn't get a huge amount of traffic. It's mostly locals and farmers. The only time it gets more than that is when the tourists arrive and even then it isn't too bad accept for the dummies who think they need to drive here like they do in the cities.

I don't expect to see a lot of differance when the lockdown ends.

 

[Drago]

A good chum of mine is the head of our local Safer Roads Team, or Save The Roads team as I like to call them to wind him up. Despite the vast drop in traffic numbers he reckons that not only are speeding detections up numerically, but the number of utter tear-arse nutters doing warp speeds has risen dramatically, which justifies our chief freemason's decision to keep speed enforcement running as usual (ie, one camera van parking up for a snooze here and there throughout the day).