Live blog: Study says 20 mph limits work, W Mids Police say golden age of the motor vehicle is coming to an end, pancakes and more

@andystow not so helpful for current US cyclists or some UK ones * but I suspect the greatest safety benefits would come from a (conceptually) simple "separate modes where the speed / mass difference is significant, only allow mixing where the more dangerous is significantly slowed and not numerous compared to others". Note no references to skill or careful use in that formulation. That's certainly needed for best results but the system better not *depend* on humans being on their best behavior... * lots of people "have to drive" in the US, even more so than the UK (major generalisation but while public transport is fairly rubbish in much of the UK it *exists* to a greater degree than in much of the US).

@andystow as you subtly didn't spell out ... ... the best bit about the second is that cycling (and walking) also looks safer if you remove those drivers. The opposite doesn't make much difference to drivers.

I have cycled in many countries and found the Spanish to be the most considerate road users to cyclists, whatever their laws say.

If I'm reading this article correctly, this new law only applies to cyclists under 16 years old. Is that correct ? If so, then it makes perfect sense.

@mitsky I used to get a good 70-80% of my reports resulting in more than a warning letter I'm afraid these statistics are based on a highly unreliable police source: them saying they have 'sent a NIP'. You're not alone - Cycling Mikey is also now quoting 'NIPs sent' as evidence the police took real action. The infamous and essentially useless Met outcome spreadsheet only claims to provide 'intended outcome', and the reason they refuse to provide the actual outcomes is that they don't want victims to know how few of these punishments result in any penalty at all. There's a reason I'm still, 4 1/2 years after the event, battling Lancashire Constabulary and their assistants at the Information Commissioner for information about what they actually did about this: ttps://upride.cc/incident/4148vz_travellerschoicecoach_closepass/ The reason is that they did either nothing at all, or sent out the worthless advice letter. I'm now using the routinely ignored Victim's Code, and there has been no progress for years.

Cycling looks a lot safer per mile or per hour if you can remove from the statistics all the people riding on the wrong side of the road at night with no lights after a few drinks. Driving also looks a lot safer if you can remove the same sort of people from the statistics.

@Paul J Spanish police seem to be relatively lenient when the only potential harm from a dangerous behaviour could happen to yourself. What you're describing might be similar to how they react to crossing the street while there's a red light. While (AFAIK) technically it's illegal, usually nobody will bother you - unless something happens. In fact, I've even seen police officers doing that!

@KentRider how did you get Kent Police to request the video? ...how did you find out the consequences for the drivers? Very important questions! The last thing the police want is indisputable evidence, and their most valuable and most often wielded weapons are refusal to respond to reports and refusal to look at evidence- often disguised as 'we're so busy, we don't have the time'. Police inaction has far-reaching consequences: the NW Traffic Commissioner is supposed to supervise Lancashire Stagecoach and other bus companies, but as far as he's concerned if there was no police action, there was no problem and he follows the 'head in the sand' solution. Police officers really are the main enemies of cyclists. ttps://upride.cc/incident/sk19evw_stagecoach42_closepass/ ttps://upride.cc/incident/4148vz_travellerschoicecoach_closepass/

@wtjs I appreciate You've faced a depressingly unco-operative police force. The Met police, untill recently, were relatively good at taking action. I used to get a good 70-80% of my reports resulting in more than a warning letter. But now that they are getting more reports than they can cope with the hit rate is about 10% if not less.

@I love my bike An answer to the increasing number of EVs and the drivers also doing this with their plates is for someone smarter than me. Which is pretty much everyone. But I'm thinking that in the future, when an EV owner goes shopping and parks in the car park, the CCTV can catch the vehicle if it is illegal and call security and the staff can refuse to serve them. I'm also thinking larger shopping centres might offer free charging to customers so again, this can be denied for any dodgy plates.