r/Glasgow Tools

let me give some back story here. i took up cycling last year during the lockdown as it was an easier way of me getting around that didn't involve me having to drive or rely on public transport. i noticed a lot of issues with cycling infrastructure in glasgow that i wanted to complain about. so i made a list of area's that were really bad for cycling and why. this included some of the new bits of cycling infrastructure they'd put in because often it required cyclists to take a worse route than cars and pedestrians.

i want to repeat throughout this post i don't think all motorists are bad, just like not all cyclists are lycra clad maniacs. i also don't want to start a "cyclists vs. cars" war because although i've encountered bad people in both camps, most people are just trying to get to their destination in an easy and safe way. i've seen both run red lights, i've seen both act dangerously on the road, i've seen both driving where they don't belong.

after a while, i noticed that no one had replied to my complaints after nearly a year. i'd ended up making a complaint to my MP about the situation. i'd tried complaining to their twitter and got told "fill out the complaints form on our website" and when i finally got them to reply with something else, they said "make a complaint to the spso" but the spso said they can't accept my complaint until i get a reply for my complaint. so back to square one.

during this time, there was one road i really was having a lot of trouble with. it's a road near mine which is a busy road for cyclists. it has a cycle lane..... but you can never use them because there's always cars parked in them and the few bits of cycle lane you can use is usually filled with broken glass and all the detritus that fills up over time. it's also covered in potholes. like in the space of 100 metres, there's at least 10+ potholes. i'd logged the issues with this street multiple times and never seen it get better. some of the potholes were pretty bad and eventually, it happened.

hit one of the potholes. it was one of the long and skinny ones which was the perfect size to catch my bike's wheel and came head over handlebars landed on my arms. luckily for me a police car was passing by as it happened. later that day i went to the hospital because i was in so much pain. basically i'd fractured a few bones in my left arm and one in my right arm. the x-ray looked a bit like a pringle sandwich when you open it up to see the chaos. got put in 2 casts. during this time i couldn't ride my bike OR drive. which meant i had to rely on friend's giving me lifts, taxi's and public transport for the next 8 or so weeks.

immediately my first thought was "i HAVE to make a claim" so even in a lot of pain typing caused me, i typed up my claim, i even saved a copy of it just to be on the safe side. i'd taken lot's of pictures of the damage to my bike (about £60) i'd taken pictures of my injuries, i'd taken pictures of the pothole that caused it along with the road leading up to it so they can't say "you weren't using the cycle lane, no money for you" for the record, through all this, my MP was an absolute dear. he was trying to chase things up for me and trying to get me answers. 5 weeks later, i got a reply from my MP. i'd given him my claim number so he could chase it up....... glasgow city council claimed never to receive it....... in these moments, the only thing i could do was scream. it was in my email's sent folder, i'd got a claim number (which only happens AFTER the claim is sent) but they claimed they never got it. i immediately sent a copy of my claim to my MP and ANOTHER copy of my claim to the council.

i want to say, during the last few weeks, i've not really been able to do all my usual hobbies. no playing guitar, no cycling