To ask how we stop dangerous cyclists

Yes, cyclists need to be identifiable so that they can be prosecuted when they break the law, as motorists are. Insurance and licence plates would be good. Cyclists need to take responsibility for what they do, just as motorists have to.

Last year, waiting at a red traffic light in front of a junction, for some reason I mistakenly thought the lights had gone green and started moving forward. I moved slowly across the pedestrian crossing (there was no-one on it) but just as I was about to enter the junction itself I realised in horror that the lights were still red and I stopped.

No-one was ever in danger from what I had done, but I had broken the law and could rightfully have been punished for it (as it happens, I wasn't - maybe the cameras weren't working).

A few minutes later, I was turning right across a box junction. Traffic waiting to go onto the junction was held at a red light, so it was safe for me to go onto the junction. The front vehicle in the waiting queue of traffic was a double decker bus. Suddenly, a cyclist appeared from behind the bus, jumped the red light and came onto the junction right in front of me. I had to brake sharply to avoid hitting him.

What he did was dangerous. I could have hit him, or the car behind me could have hit me. Yet there was never any chance that he would be punished for doing this. The cameras on that junction would have spotted it, but he couldn't have been contacted or fined.

(As it happens, there is a police station on that corner. It would have been good if a police officer had been walking past and caught the cyclist!)

They are A problem, even if they aren't as big a problem as motorists. They are both problems that need to be addressed.

Many years ago, I heard a discussion on Radio 4 between a cycling advocate and a man whose wife had been knocked down and injured by a cyclist. The cycling advocate said smugly that cars killed lots of people and cyclists weren't a problem because they only rarely killed anyone. The other man pointed out that his wife's hip had been broken, and that she had never been able to walk confidently again. It had ruined her life.

Just because a cyclist probably won't kill you, it doesn't mean they can't do serious damage to you.

YANBU, and I say that as a cyclist, motorcyclist, car driver and pedestrian! My parents made me/my siblings cycle and then have motorbikes before going for our car licenses. They said it would give us a better appreciation of the road and safety. They were strict with ensuring we checked our bikes before cycling and wore good high vis protective gear. We weren’t allowed on our bikes if we didn’t check our bikes or have our gear on. My Dad was quite high up in the BMF and the FIM (motorcycle organisations), and did a lot of campaigning for safer motorbike riding etc. Crash helmets only became compulsory in 1973!

The other evening, I was driving home from work: on a dark road, there was a young chap on a bicycle, doing wheelies all the way along the road. Dressed in black, no lights, no protective gear, no reflectors. Insane. I’m a very cautious driver, and spotted him. Had someone been speeding, they may not have spotted him.

I get cross when I see people on illegally modded electric bikes, and when I see people on bicycles go through red lights or don’t observe crossings etc, and when I see kids using their headphones and phones when cycling. Also I get cross when people don’t make sure their bicycles/motorbikes/cars etc are road safe.

On the other hand, I get cross when I see drivers and motorcyclists doing dangerous things on the road. You get idiots in charge of all different vehicles.

But it was the (unsafe) car drivers that caused me/my family the most problems: I’ve been knocked off my bicycle twice - both times I was on the road (this was before cycle lanes were a thing in my town), I was obeying Highway Code, and wearing high vis protective gear. And it was a car driver who caused my XH to sustain a life changing brain injury when he pulled his car out in front of XH’s motorbike. Another car driver, whilst I was stationary in traffic on my motorbike, opened his door on me, to try and knock me off!!

I’m unsure how this could all be addressed really. We depend on people following the law, but not all do. Goes without saying that my car and motorbike are fully insured, taxed, MOTd and serviced. I also have insurance for my bicycles (including cover for accidents, injuries etc). My bicycles get serviced every year and I check them over before I ride them. I wear high vis protective gear every single time without fail. I make my kids do the same. If I’m on the road (and no cycle lanes available), I do pull over regularly, at safe spots, to allow cars to pass me. But I know not everyone does this.

I wish there was a simple way of addressing and enforcing things, to make it safer for everyone!

Motorists get away with far worse behaviour than any cyclist does. Posters seem to be blinkered to the drivers that go through red lights, mount pavements to park, double park, drive too close to horses and cyclists so can pass as their journey is more important than the other person’s safety, fail to give precedence to pedestrians at zebra crossings, park inconsiderately around every school in the country. Motorists killed 400 times the number that were killed by cyclists in 2023. Yet cyclists are apparently the problem.

@FrippEnos Where did you get riding on the road is 13 from? 😆

My 11yo has been riding on the road since he was 6. I can assure you that pedestrians would be rightly pissed off if he cycled on the pavement now.

Whose goal?
Not sure where you have got this from at all?

So more kids cycling to school is not a goal?

There are loads of un roadworthy bikes out there.

I used to run an afterschool club for bike maintenance and repair and the state at which some parents allow their children's bikes to get to is appalling.

As per posts at the start of the thread there are people out there that are riding bikes that are not legal road bikes (and I am not talking about the e-bikes), this doesn't take into account those without lights etc.

Not every cyclist is a member of a club and not every cyclist regularly checks their bike for wear.

And the main damage that happens to a cyclist is to themselves.

As a trainer once taught me, The first safety check happens before you get on the bike.

How many unroadworthy bikes are on the road? How much damage have they done?

The age of criminal responsibility is 10
riding on the road is 13
the age where they can ride a moped is 16 but they need to pass a test
The age that they can drive a car is 17
take your pick.

I would like to see something like the old cycling proficiency test come back which was about at 10/11 so they would at least have some road awareness and some spatial awareness.

More importantly I would like the parents to be made legally responsible for the bikes being road worthy.

So what? Threads move on, conversations change. Plenty of threads stray from the original issue.

Be honest. You haven’t answered because you can’t. There’s nothing to stop you even if it isn’t the original issue, nothing will happen to you if you do so.

There have been threads on our local Nextdoor chat saying that children shouldn’t cycle at all and that adults cycling with children in bike trailers or similar should be banned. Basically roads should just be for cars. I do despair sometimes

@FrippEnos at what age do you think children cycling should be held to the same standards as adults driving cars?

you might want to go away and think about that. If your tiny mind can take it.

because they have nothing to do with the thread.

You haven’t answered my question.

Wait til Fripp finds out car drivers aren’t held to the same standards as those who drive HGVs or drive blue light vehicles. That little mind is gonna blow!

Who said that they were the same?

I said that they should have the same standards.
Both should be fit to be on the road.
Both should follow the rules of the road
Both users should be fit to use their vehicle.
Why is that hard to understand?

I’ve never conversed with anyone so very determined to think that cyclists and motorists are the same.

Do you believe that they have the same impact in roads, on the environment, in people and in safety?

I'm not finding anything "so hard".
I have a different view to you, It can't be the first time that this has happened.

Not all vehicle users have the same impact - on the roads, in the environment, on people.
Why on earth do you find this so hard?

And I still believe that they should be held to the same standards as other road users and vehicle owners.

Although a drunk cyclist is really only a danger to themselves, statistically speaking, whereas drunk drivers....carnage

And yet it would ensure all vehicle users would be held to the same standards.