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Justice (Lonpicman, Wikimedia Commons)Man fined for dangerous cycling after riding bike with child perched on shoulders
A man in Carlisle has been fined for £55 dangerous cycling – after being spotted by a police officer riding his bike with his young daughter perched on his shoulders.
Carlisle Magistrates’ Court was told that the man, who cannot be named for legal reasons due to a court order preventing his child from being identified, was seen cycling “at high speed” on a path adjacent to Wigton Road at around 4.30pm on 7 August this year.
According to the News and Star, the court was told that the man seemed to be unsteady on his bike as he used his left hand to steer while his right hand held onto his daughter’s leg, and that neither he nor his child, described as pre-school age, was wearing a cycle helmet.
The man, aged in his 20s, pleaded not guilty and insisted that he did not believe his actions to be dangerous, but his defence was rejected.
Besides the fine imposed by magistrates, the defendant also has to pay a £20 victim surcharge as well as £100 in prosecution costs.
Under section 28 of the Road Traffic Act 1991, "a person is to be regarded as riding dangerously if (and only if) (a) the way he rides falls far below what would be expected of a competent and careful cyclist, and (b) it would be obvious to a competent and careful cyclist that riding in that way would be dangerous."
The offence carries a maximum penalty of a £2,500 fine.
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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22 comments
I wonder if the Police checks in London picked up the florist's van crossing Blackfriars Bridge some mornings with the dog sat in driver's lap? Dogs in cars especially are a real potential hazard.
My Dad ramped over my mates with me on the stunt nuts when I was a kid. It was ruddy ace.
Is that what you meant to write?
I have no idea what you are talking about. Is it possible to have this post translated into a standard European language?
I'll try:
My father used a ramp to jump over a group of my friends with me standing on the pegs of the bicycle.
Pegs = those sticky out bits attached to the axles of many freestlye BMXs
Dunnoh - your Dad sounds like a top bloke. More '2 on a bike' stunts please!
This site is becoming the mumsnet of cycling where a bunch of (apparently) exemplary and faultless bike riders gather together like a gaggle of stay at home middle class women and collectively tut tut whatever might be today's example of the moral decline of the nation. This guy was giving his kid a lift on a pushbike for crissakes, not putting hard drugs on her fish fingers or sending her up chimnies. Chill out people.
Yeah. A bit of "mind yer own" seems in order.
Just deserves, however motorists seem to get away with just as dangerous occurrences pretty much all the time, high street racing with a car full of mates.
How in gods name can you even put any mention as to motorists and their behaviour?
If they race with multiple occupants they don't stack themselves onto one seat do they?
For once can we comment on what has to be a complete and utter f@&£tard for his abject stupidity and not feel the need to include a mention of motorists?
I'll stick up for him a bit.
I used to take one of my daughters to school on my MTB her sitting on my knee me holding her with one hand, couple of miles mostly down hill but with a bit of up. Did it most days for getting on for three years until she got too heavy with no bother at all. Certainly wasn't the only one. I wouldn't have put her on my shoulders though. And it is true as was said at the top that in other countries where bikes are transport people carry kids on bikes in all sorts of way with no apparent mishaps or high viz involved.
Must have made giving hand signals to other road users a bit of a challenge?
Mmm. The childhood mortality rate in many of those countries also tends to be a lot higher than we poor unfortunate Brits burdened with our appalling risk averse, health and safety culture.
Wait a minute, that can't be right .......
really?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8696690.stm
or are you talking about bikes-as-transport areas such as sub-saharan africa? i'm not sure carrying kids around on bikes without helmets and hi-viz is the major issue there
Einstein was right about human stupidity. Was this guy a relative of Emma Way?
Seems like a fair cop to me.
What a bell end
totally agree with this fine, of course it's a stupid thing to do ..
A buffoon of the highest order, no-one should stick up for this bloke...
It ought to be possible to ban absolute asshat clowns like this from ever riding a bike again.
Adults can do what they want within reason but people who expose their children to unnecessary risks because it is convenient .......
But was he wearing Hi-Viz?
Not very aero
He may not have been wearing a helmet, but he was wearing a child...an altogether different form of safety attire.....
Only using one hand to steer, heaven forbid any manual gear changing motorist that removes his hands from the " 10 to 2" position...or uses an in car stereo, or indicates etc...
..yes I am being a plonker....the man deserves to be brought to book for endangering the child...
That lovely phrase again.
In this case i assume that the magistrates were cyclists? I mean how can a non cyclist correctly judge if a cyclists actions were or were not safe?
What i see in my head resembles what seems quite common in parts of the world where the bike is TRANSPORT not a toy.
edit, and WTF has wearing a helmet got to do with it!!!!!
If i install a roll cage, wear overalls and helmet does that mean i can go out and do 200mph on the M1?
edit edit, is taking off a gilet or jacket dangerous? I can imagine a non cyclist might think it dangerous, yet many cyclists do it without thinking.