Even more cyclists now breaking the law

[DistingusedSocialCommentator]

Most drivers and pedestrians will be aware of this as many have seen or been victims of a cycle rider.

Watching Talktv this morning there was a lady who had lost her mother due to an e-scooter rider on the pavement. The show had a lawyer on talking about what I agree with, IE cyclists are very hard to identify if they get away from an accident.

E-scooters we all know are against the law unless provided for by your local council in central London. Several times over the years, me and the family have had close calls with them on pavements and parks as they zoom down, you cant hear them and they often dress in all black clothing.

Push bike riders are travelling faster and faster as many more have those battery packs on them

With the introduction of 20mph zones in vast areas of London, even more, push bike riders are now breaking the law, EG travelling well over 20mph in a 20mph and passing slower cars travelling at 20mph We are all aware how some push bike riders have ignored the rules for years, EG jump red lights, ignore pedestrians on crossings, cause accidents and walk of or rise off and now, much more able to break the speed limits off 20mph with almost 100% impunity and some that at red lights get o the pavement and cross a red light that way or some just ride on pavements

For the record, note, Its some cyclists not all but we have all seen them more so as going to work, or dropping off children at schools the speed of some of these riders

The Talktv debate also talked about those who kill people while riding a push bike/scooter, I think they said the maximum prison sentence was two years (I may be wrong) but the laws needed vast improvements.

This had been talked about a lot before but nothing happened.

AIBU proposes that all cyclists have number plates/easily identifiable markings, all have insurance, all have a bell and lights, and all wear a helmet and hi-vis jacket (This would in my judgment make many more riders more responsible for their actions and our roads/pavements safer for all)

The police need to be more proactive on e-scooter riders. However, as cyclists are almost impossible to identify, my proposal as above will aid the police and hopefully, modify the dangerous behaviours of those cyclists that are now regularly breaking the law, EG, travelling at more than the speed allowed, jumping red lights, putting pedestrians at risk on crossings and pavements.

Reall!! "Impractical" only becuse they won't get votes, otherwise everything becomes practical if it's going to win votes

If we went by your way of thinking - it was "impractical" to catch drivers uing mobile phones and guess what, friend! Yes, the gov changed the laws and now get special cameras to catch people whilst driving using/holding a mobile phone/device.

The "impractical" is nonsense if there is a will, there is a way.

You have got to be kidding.

I am not Barbara Good.

How would you fit a readable number plate on a bike?

Like this?

If bikes had license plates, the police might have to actually do something about bike theft instead of shrugging their shoulders. Bike theft is so rampant here in London that it would still be impossible to “hold cyclists accountable” as there’d be little chance that the person speeding/jumping lights/ploughing into pedestrians would actually be the person the bike was registered to.

Easy - does not have to go on the bike - wear it on the Hi-Vis, printed on it.

No sane person would be jealous of someone in an Audi or BMW given how cheap and ubiquitous they are.

And if your hi-vis is nicked and worn by an evil selfish person who doesn't obey the rules, you get the points/fine and they get off scot free.

Anything that provides identification that will be relied on for lehal purposes needs to be very secure and not easy to reproduce, like the way you have to prove your ownership of a vehicle before having a numberplate printed. If your innocence or guilt depends on a high vis jacket then that jacket becomes an item that needs to be kept secure at all times. That would be avery onerous burden on cyclists.

You clearly haven't actually thought this through!

There are idiot drivers in every make of car, i guess BMW/Audi ones get more stick as these cars are usually more distinctive than other brands plus a bit of jealousy too

If people are jealous, they are jealous of the wrong brands! BMW and Audi cars are much less reliable than others!

If a driver is a twit, you can be pretty sure the car is an Audi.

Can pedestrians been banned from using their phones so they stop stepping out into the road without looking! Csn pedestrians be forced to always cross at a proper crossing and not jaywalking

I agree with your first sentence.

But there is no such thing as "jaywalking" in the UK, and it would actually be nice if drivers would let pedestrians cross roads more easily rather than putting their foot down on the gas when they see them.

Definitely not jealous of Audi/ BMW drivers, I'm jealous of the people in their 40s who can easily cycle 50km of an evening, I'd love to be fit enough to do that one day!

my dh ad a row wit a man on a cycle on te pavement even thou tere was a cycle lane(central london) he insisted he could ride anywere he wants to until a policeman stopped and fined him

theyre a menace and dont give a shit

Me too! I’d much rather have excellent cardio vascular health and thighs of steel than a fancy car. I do cycle to work and back, but it’s only 10km a day and my thighs are wobblier than I’d like.

It’s also overlooked too much that cars have liberated the world. Women especially in many ways. Going back to the 19th century is not an attractive prospect.

Cars have just enslaved us. You're forced to spend a couple of months' wages just fueling and maintaining the thing that gets you to work in the first place. Streets where kids used to play safely have been taken over. Every time you fill up the tank your hard-earned cash is buying some dodgy dictator some new gold taps. 1960s motorway viaducts are wearing out and will require expensive repairs. People unable to drive for whatever reason (epilepsy/too young/too old/fancy a drink) no longer had independence because cars made the roads too dangerous to walk/cycle down and pro-car policies have removed public transport options.

Thank god that public policy is changing to restore the balance and let people walk/cycle safely, and they should have access to public transport too.

It wasn't cars that liberated women. It was white goods. With washing machines the laundry was no longer a task that took up most of the week. Fridges meant no daily trips to the shops.

(Though I do like Tesco, Ocada, Sainsbury’s etc deliveries as a modern update on the Edwardian shopkeeper’s van.)

Edwardian shopkeepers wouldn't generally have had vans, the few motor vehicles on the road in 1910 were the preserve of the wealthy. Do you know how small deliveries (too small to bother with a horse & cart) were made? Pedal power:
https://triporteurs.files.wordpress.com/2007/06/all1480.jpg?w=584

😂

OP what about the number of people killed by reckless drivers every year?

I hate these cycling bashing threads when more people are killed on the road by cars not bikes and e scooters.

Yes there are some cases where cyclists and e scooters have been in the wrong but your statement is tarring everyone with the same brush which I don’t like.

Can I just say not all cyclists are like this. I live in a rural area, I drive or cycle on narrow, windy country lanes. If I'm driving, I'm aware of vehicles ahead and behind me (as far as I can see), and I'm aware of where the passing places are, if I see a vehicle (or cyclist) ahead as I approach a passing place I'll pull to the side and wait for them to pass. If there's a cyclist in front of me then I slow down, leave a good distance between us and hope they'll pull in to the next passing place.
When cycling I'll do the same, but if I see a car behind me then I'll pull in to the next passing place as soon as possible.
BTW with these lanes, passing places are the only places where 2 vehicles are able to pass each other, be that car,.motorbike, van or cycle. And the cyclists are the least of my problems, the worst are people that don't know the roads, the ones that think because its a national speed limit road they can go at 60mph (on the windier parts you really can't go above 30mph average, and it's best to drop to 20 on the blind bends, you never know when you're going to hit flooding). Oh and people driving huge cars that think they can bully me in to reversing for 1/4mile when they have literally just passed a passing place, or worse think I'll go up a muddy verge, risking the ditch so they can squeeze past.

So having lost the argument on making Doctors have a no strike "agreement" imposed on them, you now turn your attention to cyclists, whilst at the same time confusing E-Scooters with Cyclists, two entirely different groups of "road user"

@Absolutely45 I missed the doctors thread but the OP also had a rant yesterday about cars having to give way to pedestrians.

It's easy. I tend to get my shopping little-and often (on my lunchbreak or on the way home from work). It just goes in the panniers. At the moment 25kg sacks of spuds are a bit difficult to balance but I'll have invested in a trailer by the time that I next need to buy one (full sacks last months).

The greengrocer offers free delivery anyway, if I found it too much.

Not driving me an absolute fortune.

I had a take away cyclist scare the crap out of me recently. No looking, just going where he wants at speed. Luckily I've decent reflexes.

At least turn your head a little bit to see what's around you.

The police wouldn't do anything anyway. You can use trackers or look out on Ebay to find the thief, but the police apparently aren’t interested in an easy collar.

That's a hilariously daft idea. I only where a jacket when it's cold/wet. Otherwise I just wear my work uniform.

I was thinking more generally and globally, TBH.

s

They'd be exactly the type of cyclist that everyone hates! Ignoring red traffic signals, riding on the pavement at full pelt, etc.

I fill up the boot.

No fucking way am I pedalling a tricycle or a trailer to Aldi.

Jealous??!! They're common as muck! One thing they are not is 'distinctive', they just blend in with the multitude of all the other BMWs/Audis/Mercs on the roads. 😂