road.cc live blog: a perfectly reasonable last-minute present idea, reaction to Alex Dowsett’s near miss statement and more

I appreciate the investigations are in the early stages but... "Cleveland Police had received reports linking the car, which was believed to be using cloned registration plates that activated an ANPR camera, to "numerous incidents", the watchdog said." "A video posted on a TikTok account believed to belong to Makai Saddington in March 2025 showed him and four other young people involved in what appears to be a police pursuit. The video has since been deleted. BBC Verify analysed the one minute 34 second-long clip, which showed the car driving on footpaths and parkland in Ormesby, Middlesbrough, with Saddington a rear-seat passenger. Another video posted by the same account, also since deleted, appears to show a joyride where a passenger is smoking, with the speedometer showing 100mph. Then, later in the video, a different car is set on fire. The passengers in this video are not identifiable." So there is previous evidence of exceptionally dangerous driving which is evidently not accidental but there was presumably insufficient action taken? https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4gvgy3de37o "But cyclists..." What is also interesting is calls to ban videos of dangerous driving from social media to prevent it encouraging others. This is worrying as many of us who post such footage do so to show the outcomes when the incidents are reported to police, rather than to glorify them.

@Rendel Harris Respectfully, I disagree. Anti-cycling prejudice can be equivalent to casual racism. I agree with you that it doesn't seem to be the matter in this case, but the thoughtless "othering" and subsequent mass petty discrimination of any out-group as perceived by the cultural majority is equally problematic, regardless of the basis of the "othering"; race, religion, gender, lifestyle, etc. I don't think the level of prejudice most typically experienced by cyclists from the likes of gobshite white van men is equivalent to some of the acts of hate-crime perpetrated by extremist racists, but that's not within the scope of casual racism.

@Samtheeagle Former teacher married to a current one. The man made a stupid comment that may, in fact, have not even been anti-cyclist per se, he might have been trying a "dispose of the witness" joke, and he was ill-advisedly trying to lighten the mood for an upset student. Anyway, it was tasteless, foolish and unprofessional. Worthy of a reprimand or additional training to make him realise he has to mend his ways? Sure. Worthy of dismissal? No.

Dunno how much weight was given to this but there was the initial issue with showing students CCTV they shouldn't have. That could be seen as an attempt to engage with student's fears in a less authoritative, or being inappropriately friendly (breaking rules and making off-colour jokes) while in a position of responsibility. There could be more here in terms of management "beef" - but equally this individual could have more on the record.

@Rendel Harris I'm not aware of your role in a professional capacity so it is difficult to judge your context on this. I wonder how this would have played out had the students revisited the comments to the cyclist they injured or their parents? My view is that these things are about context and setting. I didn't find Rob Liddle's encouragement in the Times to string piano wire across cycling trails particularly funny, particularly as those things happen in the real world and (at best) the article condoned such behaviour on a national platform. Satire is a weapon best used by the powerless to mock the powerful. When this is reversed it is bullying.

Lovely bike, with a distinctive French fit. Brave having chrome on a winter bike. Chris must be fastidious with cleaning.

@mjc2669 No. Anti-cyclist prejudice is not "like casual racism" and it's absurd to say it is - go and ask anyone who's actually experienced racism what it's like. It was a stupid attempt at humour and yes these remarks are tiresome and to an extent damaging to cyclists. Enough to lose one's job over? No.

I disagree.. it's like casual racism, little comments all the time dehumanising cyclists. It's the cumulative effect that causes the problems we've all experienced on the roads. You see this 'should have finished him off ' and 'extra points for knocking off a cyclist' type comment every single day on social media and it does set an underlying tone that many people copy.

Right on! Transcontinental Races are continental races!

@ChrisA the surface make up of a path bears zero relationship to it being a footpath/suitable. I once got lectured on why I shouldn't be riding a footpath by a driver of a Range Rover on a lovely tarmacked road. Another time I was lectured by someone blocking my way on a singletrack path that was built by cyclists, who said I should only be on large wide paths. The parallel wide path was a footpath. But these are very rare exceptions. I ride sensibly and most folk are usually entertained by my polite presence. Also most footpaths would have been paths used by horses in ye olde days, they often conveniently got mislabeled/demoted by rich landowners who failed to get path denied altogether when rights of way were being drawn up.