Live blog: Aussie cyclists call for mobile phones to be blocked in cars, London paper runs licensing of cyclists poll, drive-thrus in Portland now have to serve cyclists and more

@andystow yeah, apparently four needed, two for each pedal: one visible from rear, one from front. (Road Vehicles Lighting Regulations I believe). For several reasons I'm technically stuffed on the recumbent. Although I guess I could strap an extra pair of pedals with them to the sides (they'd be like epaulettes). I'm guessing amputees who opt not to bother with one of the pedals also don't legally have a leg to stand on...

@andystow Illegal if sold without a bell, but quite legal to use without said bell, I understand.

I would assume Starbucks have video cameras. Although it will just show someone in a grey hoodie.

@flowboy just keep cycling! And if you're not cycling and still have time, online there are the blogs / videos of bicycledutch, notjustbikes (also "urbanism" and general transport), "a view from the cycle path" (David Hembrow), or more locally to you hedgehogcycling (from Harrogate, posts here)... oh, and road.cc! If you prefer a book, check out Peter Waker's "Bike nation - how cycling can save the world", Carlton Reid's ouvre (dives into particular cycle-related points in history eg. "Bike boom", "Roads Were Not Built for Cars" etc), or there's Laura Laker's "Potholes and Pavements" about the UK's NCN. If you want to be social IRL your city / region may well have a local cycling campaign group...

@chrisonabike only illegal at night without them, right?

I work in the city and go home from Paddington, east to west. I used to go through Oxford street years ago but it was a nightmare of buses and oblivious pedestrians. Then I found the cycle superhighway and never went that way again. It’s really easy not to use Oxford street. Why are the council being such twats?

@andystow and was it sold with pedal reflectors?

@Mr Blackbird ah, but you've no idea how badly decapitated they would have been if they hadn't been wearing a helmet!

@mark1212123 "you’ll have to dispense with thinking your small thing is a massive thing while cycling to work in the winter?’" I find things tend naturally to shrink in the cold... Having "the big debate" with any given person is almost always pointless. We've all got our to-do list for that day/week/year that we're struggling to get through, using the familiar transport tools we spent time and money to acquire. And if we could really introspect we might find out that a shocking amount of life is delegated to autopilots or essentially reacting to external prompts. But - *given* that someone is at a point to actually discuss (rare!) - I think the Chris-Boardman-style works eg. "are you happy with (the congestion / your kids not being able to get themselves to school / all the cars parked all over your road and the pavement / hearing that the local authority can't afford to fix stuff)?" And "if you are, fine - your area, you own the consequences, good or bad (but ... it likely won't get better). If you're not, tell us about one of those pain points and let's work together to explore some solutions". (And no, those aren't going to be a personal bypass which takes you in your car past all the other traffic and yet doesn't cause your nice street to become a motorway. Because everyone else wants that *their* way not yours and anyway we can't afford it).

One definite conclusion to be drawn from the lab tests is that no cycle helmet can protect against decapitation.