Kickstarter launches for Stingray smart bike light with security alarm

@markvr Won't somebody please think of the children! If you think about it without pearl clutching histrionics, you are much more likely to be crashed into by someone on a standard bike riding irresponsibly fast or weaving in and out on a cycle path. Because of the nature of cargo bikes and their loads they will be ridden slowly and will not be zipping in and out of the other traffic on a path. My area of London is cargo bike central both for people carrying kids et cetera and for delivery riders and I've yet to have a single incident with a cargo bike, whereas it's an unusual 25 km commute where I won't have to take evasive action against somebody riding a standard bike foolishly or inappropriately for the conditions or cirumstances. I've never even heard of somebody being hit by a cargo bike, I'm sure it must've happened somewhere but seems to be a very rare event. Your kids are far more likely to be in danger from cars and other motor vehicles, even when they are pedestrians on the pavement, than they are from cargo bikes, sensible concern is one thing but baseless paranoia is another.

@EK Spinner they are often used to carry children, which is easier when they are in front.

I don't want people carrying heavy cargo on bikes around me and my kids when we are on cycle paths! There should be a maximum weight allowed for an ebike. All these photos of people showing off about how much they can carry on a cargo bike scare me. What happens if they crash into me or my kids with hundreds of kilos of paint or whatever? At some point it's safer for everyone else for you to be on the roads in an electric van. Bikes are bikes. They shouldn't be used to carry heavy equipment around other cyclists. Your ability to steer and stop is massively reduced when carrying heavy loads and at the point you should be on the roads, not on bike paths.

Moving away from the politics of this, I have asked a question a few times about cargo bikes and never really had an answer. I should highlight I have never used a cargo bike and I am unlikely to ever have a need to either. My question is this, Why do so many cargo bikes but the cargo at the front and the rider at the back, the riders view can be restricted by the load and the long front introduces avoidable visibility restrictions when emerging from junctions. Is there another advantage to this layout that I am not seeing other than being able to see the cargo load.

I don't know what others think but I thought it was a mistake to cancel the event. I live in one of the areas they cycle though and it didn't seem to bad. Even the few accounts I have watched didn't show cancelling weather, waiting under a tree maybe.

@chrisonabike exactly, words are cheap. They can safely bang the drum knowing that little will or can be done. OK, some things could be done, but the chance of nobody cocking something up . . ? Realist or pessimist, take your pick; but still optimistic enough to hope that things will work out :-)

@ChrisA isn't this story more along the lines of "tobacco company is demanding government crackdown on nasty rolling papers and dangerous pipes?" Silly of me! How could there be any conflict between and "improving things for their ... definitely not employees ... and the public at large" and these companies' entire business model...?

"Deliveroo has announced a crackdown on modified and ‘dangerous’ e-bikes . . . . . company is calling on the Government to prohibit the sale of unsafe e-bike conversion kits." Really? Do they not know how difficult it is to legislate for such things, the politicians inability to understand details, the competence of the DoJ in drafting such legislation and what seems to be a widespread disregard of those rules; not to mention the total lack of enforcement. Just saying.

@Nigel Garage The Mercedes driver drove through the light three seconds after it turned amber. Official government text: "AMBER means STOP. You may go on only if the amber appears after you have crossed the stop line or are so close to it that to pull up might cause an accident." Three seconds is more than enough time to stop safely at the speed the Mercedes was going so the driver was breaking the law and therefore committing a prosecutable offence. Deliberately putting others at risk and breaking the law is not "acceptable" and if you saw a cyclist running a red in those circumstances you would rightly condemn it. Is there anything you can't be completely wrong about?

I see quite a few MAAP items out in the Surrey Hills. The new shop has a cafe and they're from Melbourne so the coffee should be good: I'm looking forward to visiting.