I’m Spartacus

@bathcycleguy whether you think walkridebath is led "by a man who apparently knows best on women’s safety" or not, the issue remains that the proposed location of the path doesn't meet Active Travel England's, or the Government's, or even the council's own, criteria for a route that meets safety and equality guidelines. The reason we have this codified guidance is so it isn't the decision of one person, whoever that might be, as to what's safe, or not. The fact that the project is led by a woman doesn't override the fact that it doesn't meet the standards.

After 2 weeks of use I am not very impressed. Yes it’s beautifully built but the beam pattern and spread of light is not good for road riding. It doesn’t reach for enough but spread LOADS of light wide and right infront of the bike. On the road with speeds over 30km/h I want a light that reaches far and not spreads a carpet of light to the left and right. Some cheaper options with cut off beams throw the light further while still having a wide enough beam to see everything. Aktiv works but in constant traffic the beam just stays permanently dipped. I think the future is a cut off beam rather than a generic wide spread. At this price not recommended, even though it’s beautifully built. The GoPro style mount is nice but doesn’t work for all cockpits upaide down (too short so the release button blocks angling it up high enough) - eg black inc and cervelo need the reverse mount to ensure you can use it properly and that costs another 25£

@grOg That's not why it wouldn't work. It wouldn't work because it would involve government agencies and a big tech/data sharing project. It would be bound to go tits up within a couple of weeks.

@grOg I suppose this idiotic trope about "vigilantes" ought to be confronted whenever it arises: a vigilante is someone who acts outside the law in trying to prevent crime and/or to punish it. Legitimately recording criminal behaviour and then passing said recording on to the appropriate authorities for action is not vigilantism.

I wonder what proportion of large council project consultations have responses missed. I suspect the answer is very, very high because you get 100s of very similar claims (a good chunk of which are probably mixed in with rants that have nothing to do with the consultation process). See article implying the main issue is safety at night. Which they have considered given changes (additional lighting), so regardless of whether they responded to a specific submission, they have responded to the issue...

@grOg this one's an outlier for several reasons. But if you look at his previous criminal career (folks have dug that up now) in part it's motornormativity writ large (the other themes being drugs and alcohol, plus some violent behaviour IIRC). ... and "motornormativity" - and the sliding scale of acceptance of "it's not really crime ... everyone does it" certainly does help explain eg. endemic illegal phone use while driving (yeah, of course people only do that when they're stationary...) and the lack of interest in sanctioning it. And why we read many stories about... er ... "vigilantes" harassing people for "minor" or "purely technical offenses".

@slc Stolen licences would be cancelled and replaced just as you do with stolen bankcards. We have a wealth of means of identification that could be employed, e.g. fingerprint recognition. Of course it wouldn't be foolproof but the more awkward and complex you make it for banned drivers to obtain the means of driving the less likely they are to bother.

@grOg Or just know how to obtain borrowed/stolen driving license cards. Many years ago, when bank card theft was a cause celebre, a banking official was asked on UK TV if photo cards would help. He thought not, because scrutiny of photographs at tills is tricky.

@grOg Cycling does not "lead to bone loss", lack of any other type of weight-bearing exercise in conjunction leads to bone loss. Blaming cycling for osteoporosis is like blaming sausages for getting scurvy, it wasn't the sausages that gave you scurvy but the fact that you didn't eat any vegetables with them. If you drive everywhere instead of walking and spend all your time at home sitting in front of the TV that will significantly contribute to osteoporosis, does that mean that driving and watching TV leads to osteoporosis as well?

@grOg So if nothing else it would make it much more awkward and time consuming for the banned driver and probably more expensive as one can't imagine his "plenty of mates" being prepared to make constant trips to the garage for him without recompense. He wouldn't be able to refill on the move therefore his ability to travel distances would be severely limited. Most petrol stations have a limit on the amount of petrol that can be purchased in jerry cans, further constraining his activities, and this could be lowered. Just as it's an offence knowingly to lend your car to someone who is banned it could be made an offence to procure petrol for a banned driver. So there's no "of course it wouldn't work" about it, with your attitude we shouldn't have any ban on selling alcohol, cigarettes or knives to children because if they are determined enough they will be able to obtain them anyway. Of course if someone is absolutely set on disobeying the law it's almost impossible to stop them but the more awkward you make it for them the less likely they are to try.