A man has been left with a £351 bill after flouting Bedford’s controversial town centre cycling ban. The Bedfordshire News reports that Dominic Smith was fined £145 and ordered to pay costs of £166 and a £40 victim surcharge after pleading guilty to cycling in the pedestrian area of Midland Road at Luton Magistrate’s Court last week.
In April, Bedford introduced a Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) that criminalised cycling in the town centre. Cycling is not permitted through the main pedestrian area between 9am and 6pm and anybody riding a bike between those times can be given a Fixed Penalty Notice of up to £75.
Cycling UK has referred to PSPOs as geographically defined ASBOs and doesn’t believe they should criminalise behaviour not normally regarded as illegal – like cycling. In September, it announced that it would be supporting six cyclists in a High Court challenge of Mansfield District Council’s imposition of a similar PSPO.
Smith was issued with a Fixed Penalty Notice in June and after failing to pay, the matter was referred to the court.
Councillor Colleen Atkins, Portfolio Holder for Community Safety and Regulatory Services, said: “The Public Space Protection Order was introduced in May this year for the safety of pedestrians in Bedford town centre and those in contravention of the PSPO will face a hefty fine for their anti-social behaviour.”
17 thoughts on “Man faces £351 bill after being caught illegally riding through Bedford town centre”
Disproportionate outcome even
Disproportionate outcome even though the cyclist elected for court.
Number of vehicle owners
Number of vehicle owners fined for driving on the pavement, Bedford? Oh let me guess. Zero.
Pathetic.
Woow you could kill a cyclist
Woow you could kill a cyclist for that much!
may be we don’t have all the facts, perhaps he killed 8 pedestrians in the process, in which case the fine would be about the going rate…….if he’d been driving a car.
https://mobile.twitter.com/beztweets/status/664786617945743360
What is this [strike]Iran[
When did Bedford become an outpost of the Totalitarian Cyclohateocracy of Australia?
About time the authorities
About time the authorities got tough with cyclists riding where they shouldn’t. Cycling is spaces reserved for pedestrians is irresponsible and dangerous.
Those cyclists who clamour for better enforcement of road traffic regulations but who at the same time criticize the introduction of cyclings bans aimed at increasing the safety of pedestrians make themselves look stupid.
Valbrona wrote:
Oh piss off. When there are five people a day killed by bikes, then come to me and say there should be some crackdown.
Generally, Bedford is fairly
Generally, Bedford is fairly cycle-friendly. We have cycle lanes and a lot of shared-use paths (and a great lbs and lively cycling community!). The town centre is pedestrianised and I agree that people shouldn’t be cycling through there. Buy that’s an excessive punishment in relation to what bad drivers get.
Good. All selfish w*nkers
Good. All selfish w*nkers that endanger people by breaking traffic laws should pay the price.
Kadinkski wrote:
Spot-on.
And and the top of this story, perhaps a cyclist riding through a pedestrian area with a least some pedestrians might have been more appropriate. Oh … you haven’t got any of those in your picture library?
Kadinkski wrote:
If only it was a traffic law.
Kadinkski wrote:
Not really sure how he endangered anyone.
Would have been less if he’d
Would have been less if he’d drive a car through there
Government should get tough
Government should get tough on those road users who kill the most and cause the most damage to society by speed, pollution, and not looking where they are going because they are on their mobile phones.
That’s motorists. Go. Get. Them.
I do want to ride at
I do want to ride at pedestrian areas when it is a part of my commute, but I would want a child inf front of a speeding cyclist. I believe a 10 km/h speed limit (the speed of an average runner) should be set at pedestrian areas, but there would be a problem about how to enforce it, given the lack of speedometers at bikes. If there was common sense from cyclists and police, it would work great though.
Until this country starts
Until this country starts working for the common good, cut back on all spending. It’s the nearest thing to a general strike. The Tory ‘economic miracle’ will crumble.
Man paces £351 bill after
Man paces £351 bill after failing to pay £75 bill. That’s better.
It seems he turned up at Court, though even that’s unclear. And it’s not clear what defence, if any, he put forward.
Non story really. This happens to motorists every day. That others are fined less because of circumstance is galling but fixed penalty offences often lack parity with means tested ones.
There’s one of these proposed
There’s one of these proposed for coventry. Totally unsuitable city roads for cycling due to essentially being a large bus station and taxi rank. The pedestrianised areas of the city can be perfectly safely, and considerately, cycled through. The annoyance is chavs on bikes riding no handed and looking at their phones and not all people on bikes. It’s been bundled in with other ‘annoyances’. Why not create safe shared spaces and crack down on behaviours rather than activities?