Cyclist prosecuted for being towed down the road by his German Shepherd

espressodan wrote:

I'm surprised to see so many people defending this guy. He's not a cyclist in the context of the problems we deal with on the roads on a daily basis, just a moron being pulled by his dog down a public road and worsening the reputation of all of us who get around on two wheels in the eyes of the general public.
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Is that the 'giving us a bad name' rubbish rearing its head again? Wish people would give that a rest.

Also, a lot of strong opinons being expressed given no-one was there or knows the guy in question (perhaps some actually know the road at least?).

He sounds rather 'eccentric' to me, but mainly it just seems daft such a minor issue escalated to the point it did, and without knowing any of the participants I can't relaly judge how much the blame for that lies with an oddball obstreporous member of the public vs what might have been an overly officious police officer.

Not knowing the road either I don't even know how dangerous or unusual the dog-walking was.

Flying Scot wrote:

He is being done for FAILING TO STOP as directed by a uniformed police officer, the offence reads like that as they first establish that he was travelling on a public highway, then that he failed to stop.

This. Always good to remember that the police have a statutory power to stop any person on/in any vehicle including pedal cycles when driving or riding on the public highway, and it's an offence if you fail to stop. And you don't get an FPN - you end up in court. Query whether you still have to stop if the stop order is unlawful.. but just stop.

Paul J wrote:

He needs to appeal this. There is no law that makes it illegal to make progress on a road as a pedestrian, as a cyclist or in an animal led carriage. We have long standing rights of way to the highway, and it doesn't matter if we're slower than those behind us! Unlawful cdonviction - hope he gets a good lawyer!

You are joking aren't you? A few years ago there was a bloke who used to drive the stretch between Hebden Bridge and Mytholmroyd very very slowly because he thought the traffic was too fast (which it was - it's now got a lower speed limit on it). He got done for not driving fast enough.
If a cyclist is being pulled by a dog, he must be in full control of the dog, That means keeping the animal on a straight consistant path that doesn't impede other road users.
How often have you cycled down a trail and come across a dog walker on one side linked to his animal on the other side by one of those infernal invisible infinite leads? Nutters come in all forms and dog-walking cyclists are amongst them.

Wasn't there a post the other day that showed being towed on a bike by your dog(s) is a recognised sport?

The fine is ludicrous. If he'd run over a pedestrian in a car he'd be fined less - as long as there was sun in his eye/he does charity work/it happens on a weekday ending in y.

tuber wrote:

Terrible really, he should have been on one of them shared use cycling / dog exercising paths.

That'll be the Sustrans NCN (national canine network) then, or as I call the stretch I use daily, dogshit alley.

I have seen people do similar through car windows. Whilst I wouldn't recommend it anywhere, I do wonder what risk he presented to others, or was it just that the car drivers were delayed.

Drink driving, phone use and reck/feckless driving all present much more risk to others