Bristol police stop 689 drivers & cyclists - campaign group says infrastructure is the real answer

Wonder where they've been? I cycle commute through Bristol every day and I haven't seen any sign of a copper.

conditional tickets sound great

but can these be issued to motorists in ASL on the condition they they actually attend an education seminar and basic ASL test at a training centre on a Saturday morning when they'd rather be out shopping?

rather than just receiving "words of advise" from an overworked Police officer

it seems skewed that the cyclist's conditional ticket involves cyclists making a purchase of lights (which they should have), and then making a trip to the local Police station to prove this purchase has been made and fitted to bicycle

when the motorists just receive some words of advise at the time, with no further costs or inconvenience

surely if ignorance of the law can be used as some sort of excuse about ASL by motorists who hold a valid driving licence; a cyclist who has not had to legally take any proficiency or cycling test to ride a bicycle on the highway is in a much stronger legal position to claim ignorance about RLJ or pavement,etc.

I keep reading this special word: Infrastructure.

While I agree infrastructure has become important its road users; car drivers, van drivers, lorry drivers, motorcycle riders and cyclists that have, over the last few years, become complacent with their safety, the safety consideration to other road users and a respect for the highway code and traffic law that to me seems to be the number one problem.

Why has it come to this? Well, consider that your county's Police force has whittled away its traffic officers for one. For another consider that other Police patrol officers are either too damn busy to go out traffic policing, or there are not enough officers to make a difference like they used to.

Road users dont give a flying toss anymore. The amount of deliberate RLJ's I see in cars is ridiculous. Im not talking amber gamblers here, I am talking deliberate, speed up, dont give a toss its red, I'm going through jumpers. The speeding in the towns and outside schools is ridiculous (taxi drivers take note here, you are all speeders, doing 45mph in 30 zones because you need to pick up that next fare and time is money and you come past me at that speed in a 30 zone so close my elbow can taste your paintwork.)

Road users have stopped caring and its all because there is very little traffic law enforcement these days. Road users perceive they can get away with loads of stuff now and they do because there is no longer any deterrent or penalty for them to worry about.

I've seen Police officers in cars see other drivers go through red lights and just shake their heads, exchange a couple of words and calmly drive off the other way. All these operations through the year jsut make people think about about road safety and respecting the rules of the road for about.... all of 5 minutes.

None of it has anything to do with infrastructure.

"how great the need is to educate cyclists and motorists on proper, safe use of the road”

Given all motorists (and the 80% or so of cyclists who drive) ought already to be educated on 'proper, safe use of the road' (I may be wrong but isn't that one of the aims behind the requirement of having a driver's licence?), what good are more education campaigns likely to do?

Most motorists already also know it's an offence to speed, park in restricted areas and do lots of other things while driving, but it doesn't stop them doing it, so I don't really think education is the answer.

If licences are being dished out to people who still can't or won't drive safely, then surely it's time to totally review the current system.

Very good idea about the conditional ticket. This was mentioned before by someone who commented on the lad being arrested having been stopped without lights.

It's a shame something similar cant be constructed for the ASL's.
We do use a letter of caution for very minor traffic offences which means the driver is recorded on our system and it states that offence he was stopped for so should he / she be stopped again they cant claim ignorance. I dont know if this is just in our force or nationwide.

This is good. The drivers in ASLs, and the light jumping cyclists got a ticking off.

Unlike in Manchester where the ASL drivers got a leaflet and the cyclists got a fine.

*yawns*

Lots of comments on the bad bad car drivers, I'm more annoyed by idiot cyclists who don't have lights and run red lights, running a red light or riding without lights is far more dangerous than driving into ASL, although I accept that it puts cyclists in danger, but nowhere near as running a red light !

Dare I suggest that it's easier to claim ignorance than confess?

And that some cyclists jump red because their stop box is blocked? After all, if you commit the offence of crossing the line to get ahead of a blocked box, you're not committing another offence by continuing.

the comment that sticks in my mind, drivers don't know the law regarding ASLs. If they don't know, rather than claiming ignorance (not really a defence though)

Should we be retesting drivers? The roads change, signs come and go.

On the cyclists on the pavement, do we know why, are these people concerned about using the road? are they taking shortcuts and hoping to get away with it?

It is a pity the police can't get a bit more detail in these campaigns, try and find out what drives people to do what they do.

Or they could just re-design the public highways, oh wait no money in that it seems.

I feel like we're at a bit of a tipping point for cycling in Bristol. One the one hand we've seen healthy growth in cycling over the past few years, and now there's a plan for a comprehensive network of high-quality cycling infrastructure, much better than the piecemeal stuff we have at the moment, which the Mayor and the council are making all the right noises about.

On the other hand, we've got vast areas (especially on the outskirts) where the number of people cycling remains miserably low, a virulently anti-cycling local media, and residents who scream blue murder at anything that impinges on their right to drive and park where they like (even if driving in Bristol is almost as dire as London).

If you haven't yet, chuck your signature on this, and give the council and the Mayor the mandate they need to improve things for cyclists even further: http://bristolcyclingmanifesto.org.uk/

Good initiative, interesting that some motorists drive into ASZ's because of ignorance rather than impatience or laziness. Ignorance is much easier to address.

I do wonder how many of the bike lights purchased as a result of conditional tickets are BS approved. Not many I guess as they are pretty hard to find. In which case the police are endorsing use of non-BS lights. Hmm.

As a cyclist in Bristol, I think this is fantastic. Especially the conditional tickets. Theres definate lack of education, and awareness about both motorists and cyclists responsibilities on the road. All too often I see cyclist running red lights, which I feel ashamed to be a cyclist. Then again, all to often I see drivers in box junctions and on their phones yet again.

I hope everyone takes on their responsibilities and learn to respect each other and be patient. Most of all, we all enjoy the roads!

I do like the idea of the 'conditional' ticket for the lights, and £50 will get you something 1/2 decent