To wish there would be a crackdown on the Deliveroo cyclists riding like maniacs without any consequences

[OptimismvsRealism]

But to be certain there never will be

(As an aside, many of them are completely undocumented in the UK so using them is only marginally safer than hitchhiking imo)

Obviously not a problem limited specifically to Deliveroo, they're just a big example of the sector

They don't even use the pedals on their e-bikes, and don't appear to know how to use brakes either! I am not sure how familiar these drivers are with UK road and cycling rules, I doubt the delivery companies provide any training.

Problem cycling can be difficult to enforce, we already have issues with mopeds in my area that the police have essentially said they are unable to control due to the risks of chasing/stopping people. The delivery companies need to be made accountable if accidents occur as this is probably the only thing that would change this. I don't use these companies because I disagree with how their drivers operate but as long as other people do then it's not likely to stop.

Particularly in pedestrian areas.

Perhaps KS will tax the take away companies instead of going after pensioners and letting prisoners out of jail.

I suggest that there is a bigger issue about employers not properly managing their staff, and while the Couriers are often self employed I suggest that for practical purposes they are not

A lot of them aren't entitled to work in the UK at all and have taken someone else's registration ID.

Agree and think the answer is they don't know or care.

IMHO given the risks they pose to the public the only risks that need to be taken into account when dealing with 'fail to stop' vehicles is the risk, inclosing phycological to those that have to do it and the risk the public are exposed to as a result of the stop operation.

I was staying at a hotel a few months ago.

Sat outside enjoying the evening sun and along came a delivery driver. Wrong hotel. On phone to customer. Had to ask me to speak to them and find out exactly where they were and put it into google maps for him.

Made me wonder what the point of a delivery service was if you employ staff who can't find the destination 🤦‍♀️

Or speak English to find out!

In my experience the Lycra clad cyclists are worse than the deliveroo ones. At least they are doing something productive and not clogging up the roads for no reason. All cyclists need to be better registered and regulated.

Pseudo "self employment" is a massive problem and has been growing for 25 years or so. No surprise when employers have been hit with ever increasing costs (minimum wage, employers NIC, compulsory workplace pension contributions, 100% financing of statutory sick pay, etc etc). Then we've had politicians lauding the new "gig" economy! Not to mention employers only being allowed by law to employ those with genuine right to work, needing sight of passports etc to prove it. Fake self employment is the answer for both the "employer" and the worker, it allows the employer to cut costs, and allows the "employee" to be virtually unregulated, so can subcontract to illegals, tax evaders, benefit fraudsters, and yes, like Just Eat - people using illegally modified bikes and driving unroadworthy cars without valid driving licences.

If Starmer wants to do something useful, he should really tackle this area and come down hard on the ability of "illegals" to work as self employed, tackle the black economy in terms of tax evasion and benefit fraud, tackle dangerous riding/driving on the roads, etc.

We also shouldn't forget that drug dealers are out there now masquerading as Just Eat/Deliveroo driver, or Uber drivers, using it as a "front" to disguise their drug dealing.

It's become like the Wild West out there.

Hm, I thonk these cyclists are a product of supply and demand.

People want takeaways, can't be bothered (or cannot for legitimate reasons - I realise it is both) to go and get them themselves, expect to get the food quickly and complain or take their business elsewhere if it is slow.

Restaurants struggle to fulfil these demands themselves and also lose out on publicity unless they get themselves onto one of these delivery services.

The delivery workers are self-employed theoretically but have to work themselves to the bone and get about very fast in order to make enough money for it to be remotely worth-it. They are tracked and subjected to complaints if slow. They sometimes get verbally abused by customers, messed about by poor delivery instructions that make their jobs impossible and blamed for other people's mistakes.

It is the system that's the problem. Individuals cycling poorly are doing so because this system pushes them to rush.

Yesterday one on a motorcycle came up on the pavement right in front of me and went into the local estate via the pedestrian path - I could see him weaving his way around blind corners. Idiot could easily have hit someone coming the other way.

You are right.

But he won't do any of those.

This is also due to police and councils turning a blind eye to the general cyclist problem.

General issue that ‘pedal assist’ bikes often seem to just be scooters now, and they ride them at speed on the pavement with zero consequences.

You can complain about this if you never get delivery food or if you get delivery food but are prepared to pay the amount it costs to have it delivered by a properly employed staff with workers rights, sick pay, etc.

I never ever use these services and I'd encourage everyone else to do the same. You can arrange delivery directly with a lot of takeaways if you need it (I don't use them but recognise this is a time privilege issue).

1. You have no idea who you are inviting to your house. Very often (nearly half the time) thet will not have a legal footprint in the UK and if they harmed you it would be very difficult to track them down. It blows my mind that some people encourage their kids to use these services when home alone.

1. You are supporting an exploitative below minimum wage arrangement that incentives dangerously driving and cycling to make it in time.

I mean we tell people to take all these precautions about personal safety then it's like sure invite the random guy into your porch. He doesn't know the laws of the road but I'm sure he knows and cares about all the other laws.

I don't agree with you about the legal footprint. I think that people managed for centuries - millennia - without knowing who everybody else was or having images of everywhere they went without getting murdered and that actually that ability to track doesn't stop people offending.

However I agree with your other points.

This is a separate issue to cyclists using roads, the delivery riders put pedestrians at risk as they generally stick to footpaths and shared use paths not roads.

They also use e-bikes on these pedestrian paths, which are essentially just scooters and put pedestrians at risk. These bikes are meant to be regulated and they actually should be registered, but they are not.

Agree with those that have said that the only way to sort this is for the public to put pressure on the companies to provide some sort of training/ standards, but this won't happen because people like a cheap takeaway delivered to home and don't particularly care how it gets there.

This evening we had delivery bikers cycling up the road and passing each other.

Sounds fine I hear you say.

Not when one was in the middle of the road and not the wide cycle but to the side of it.

Oh - and it's a one way street. 🤦‍♀️

Deliveroo cyclists are terrifying.

Well we don't. We have any delivery services like that round here as we're too rural. Over in the next town they bike all over the road, no regard for the rules of road and most of them don't even have lights or hi vis clothing when it's dark. I've no idea how they're not frequently in accidents,

100% OP!!!

I got so angry a few weeks ago I started researching the requirements and seems most drivers only need a provisional license ie. zero lessons. So someone’s whose primary job is driving needs no driving lessons?!

In my area they’re on the road, cycle lane and footpath interchangeably, weaving in and out, paying zero regard to traffic signals or any other road user (car, bike, on foot). So dangerous and regular near misses. Almost all have L plates or no plates.

I have drafted an email to the council.