To think that cyclists should no longer be treated as ‘exempt’ from the law?

[Amch]

I’m in no way trying to be difficult, but this is a situation that I find is getting rather problematic, dangerous and very unfair.

In my opinion, ALL road users should be identifiable and able to be held accountable for any wrongdoing.

I am in complete support of cyclists, but the fact that it is lawless for them is very unfair. Sometimes, like all road users, cyclists decision making and actions are unjust, these actions can cause and has caused serious harm.

I’ve had various personal experiences where on multiple occasions cyclists have completely ignored red lights, they’ve narrowly missed pedestrians whilst crossing roads. Just recently a cyclist knocked on the rear window of a car in front of me (the car had stopped due to traffic) in order to try to get the car to move over for them to squeeze through.

This particular cyclist had a camera on their helmet, as a lot of them now do and I do believe it’s a great move for them to wear cameras on their helmets. Of course other road users can also cause harm, drive aggressively, competitively and can cause harm to cyclists who are clearly more vulnerable in the sense that their mode of transport offers nil protection.

However, it seems very one sided that cyclists cameras are able to identify and report other road users, yet cyclists themselves cannot be in any way be held accountable for any wrongdoing on their part.

I’m interested in hearing other opinions, from all points of view.

Yes because cyclists are the problem.

How do you suggest putting a number plate on a bicycle?

In Holland and Germany, children cycle to school and the elderly cycle to the shops.

Cycling needs to be encouraged. It's a good way for people of all ages to keep fit, keep pollution down and reduce congestion on the roads.

I'm a pedestrian. I regularly experience motorists running red lights. I do experience this with cyclists, too, but they make up a tiny fraction of the offenders. What I do notice is that somehow it feels more frightening when I have a narrow miss with a cyclist. Even though I know, rationally, that a car is likely to do far more damage than a bike, a cyclist travelling at 15-20 mph feels really fast, while a car at the same speed doesn't, and the relative silence of a bicycle makes the whole thing scarier.

The fact that basically no countries other than North Korea make bikes have licence plates or cyclists hold licenses should tell you something about what a stupid idea this is.

People will never stop suggesting it and thinking they are terribly sensible, but the cost/benefits/drawbacks mean that this will never, ever happen.

Enjoy yourselves.

I’m in London and cycle regularly and always obey the lights. Not all cyclists do. I really think a register is likely unworkable but have 2 suggestions…

1. The worst offenders are delivery drivers. Deliveroo, Just Eat should be made to provide lights and ensure the riders understand Highway Code. There sound be consequences if the forms/riders don’t comply. NB many of these have illegal e-bikes that go too fast. Again the companies should be regulated.
2. more policing. If a policeman stood at elephant & castle (or 10001 other spots) they’d clean up fining people.

Round our way, a couple who were involved in incidents were identified from their Strava.

I think he’s awesome actually. If people are on their phones and driving dangerously I want them stopped.

OP still ignoring this request. I wonder why.

I'm an everyday cyclist for work. I work all over the city I'm resident in.I get to most sites quicker than using a car. I've got a fab gravel bike that caters for the green spaces and canals that I cycle down, and also is good on roads. It's really enjoyable and I never jump red lights.

I'm in a minority, 52 yo f and this makes me sad.

I'm entitled to use the roads and I shall.

I've been involved in precisly three accidents. The first I hit a pedestrian teenager who stepped out into the road (Two of them, swerved the first but the second actually stepped into me) - I had a broken nose and black eye and a broken bike that was covered by my insurance. The teens ran off, the ambulance service refused to attend despite my nose bleeding profusely because they were overwhelmed (Feb 2022) Last October a car backed off a drive without checking and knocked me over as I cycled down the street and finally in December a car emerged off a side road and side swiped me - this time an ambulance did attend as well as the police and I ended up with a dislocated shoulder that the hospital re-set - I wasn't on my bike again until March

I will still cycle - because I want to live a healthy life - and cyclists on average get 10 extra healthy years compard to the average.

As to the state of people using the roads - it's like drugs - we need to focus on harm reduction - and that means cars because they are the ones that are killing the most number of people - including kids. Simples

The fuckwittery of unsafe cycling is a nusance, but it's not killing as many people as cars.

Been thinking about this post a lot the last few days, came on to reread it and I do think you've laid it out fairly. Would be great if there was a way that all road users were accountable, though I'm not sure what that would be. Unfortunately my main conclusion is that some people are entitled idiots. It's not just cyclists, it's people.

I cycle a lot. I consider myself a considerate cyclist. I dismount when I am meant to, obey traffic signals, wait in traffic if there isn't a cycle path etc. I usually have children on the back of my bike so I'm also rather cautious when I cycle. In the few days since I last checked this thread I have:

• been verbally abused by a pedestrian for using a shared cycle path. I was doing about 6mph (I have a speedo on my bike, but it's in kph) on a very wide path. I wasn't anywhere near the woman and there were no other pedestrians in my path but she got cross I was on the pavement. I pointed out the sign saying it was a shared path and she got snarky
• Had multiple instances of pedestrians in the designated cycle path who do not want to move (in a place where there's a bit for people and then a bit for bikes right next to it)
• Had cars overtaking me unsafely.
• Had a car reverse from a parking space without checking and almost hit me
• Had cars so close to my back wheel in traffic that my child on the back was scared they were going to run us over
• Have almost been run over myself (on the bike) by a bike cycling the wrong way up a one way street (again if I wasn't so cautious I wouldn't have even checked both ways but I'm always expecting someone to be an idiot!)
• Witnessed cyclists ignoring 'please dismount' signs, one way street signs and other traffic signals

Then as a non-cycling point also, I live on a 20mph cul-de-sac, the number of motorists who zoom up here like they're practicing for the Monaco grand prix is ridiculous.

So thats cyclists, motorists and pedestrians all acting like the rules don't apply to them, all being inconsiderate/downright rude, and all getting away with it. It's a people issue.

I have thought this for years. Road bikes need registration plates and cyclists have compulsory 3rd party insurance

Only if they stop, which many do not and surely facial identification has been shown by enough criminal cases to be a very doubtful form of recognition.

A license plate is perfectly feasible. If it can be done for small motor cycles it can be done for bikes.

I am sorry but your comment is as example of the entitled attitude that gets cyclists such a bad name with pedestrians.

I cycled to work today, as I do every day. It's a 10 minute ride. I witnessed:

• Car ignoring give way markings and driving across cycle lane without looking
• Parked van in the middle of dedicated cycle path, requiring me to pull out into a busy 3-lane road full of moving traffic - and nearly hitting a pedestrian because the van blocked the visibility of the pedestrian crossing.
• Cars ignoring cycle lanes clearly marked on a roundabout, forcing me into the inside lane and nearly knocking me off my bike - twice.

This is par for the course. I cycle very carefully, always stopping at red lights, using dedicated lanes, etc. And every day I experience some variation of the above.

I'll start listening to motorists about cyclings when they are all insured, have a license and obey the highway code.

In Holland the police will stop and fine you if you don’t have lights on your bike. Also a lot of adult cyclist have bike liability insurance. I had it about 20 years ago it wasn’t expensive as it’d be rare to use it so 40 euros for the year. I cycled everywhere as infrastructure was so good but you are expected to behave responsibly as a cyclist.

And you can report each of them using their reg as ID.

Otoh, the cyclist that came flying round the corner on a shared path and almost hit me recently when I was walking my dog can't be reported and instead gave me a mouthful of abuse when I dared to tell him to slow down.

Yep I’d agree with that. The other offenders around here are teenage boys, also on modded e-bikes, whizzing down the pavements in groups looking for people to mug (I’ve been mugged by them, practically every adult I know has had a phone or bag nicked by them over the past year).

I’d be more than happy to just ban e-bikes, as the police don’t seem to be able to enforce removal of the illegal ones.

No. The statistical differences between pedestrian vs car and pedestrian vs bike are utterly different.

Cars kill. Bikes are generally just too small.