Live blog: Driver on Cycle Superhighway, Lord Sugar causes Thames congestion, Business Insider tweet scary close pass compilation, + more

@open_roads can't disagree that some more road policing would be welcome, but a) I don't think "police it better" fixes the roads and ... *sigh*... are "hurty words" (threats to kill?) and "progressive" things (do you mean "domestic abuse" / "racist abuse") not "low level offending" then? Or can we not afford to police such minor things? There are issues with police per head of population and no doubt the growth of the law and creeping "legal professionalism" (clever lawyering means that standards of evidence are higher). And I'm sure i don't agree with all their priorities. But ... are you sure you're not daydreaming of an imaginary former age when the village bobby dealt with yobbos with a swift clip round the ear? (Or occasionally slammed their genitals in the door down the station until they confessed, because obviously the suspects "were the type")?

The Police continually whinge about lack of resources but steadfastly refuse to tackle low level offending even though research shows this can reduce the likelihood of more serious offending. So whilst the police spend their time on politically “progressive” training courses, policing hurty word ane “non crime hate incidents” (which they’ve already been ordered to stop) , low level offending is ignored. We only have to look at the enormous number of reactive emergency services vehicles / staff deployed to small incidents to see that the resources are there. Deploying more proactive resource to effectively police the road would change driver behaviour and help to reduce the incidence of more serious / fatal road traffic offences. It would also likely surface other offending e.g. drugs, robbery etc which are often identified in traffic stops.

@wtjs I hope they've also budgeted for the cost of removing wedged vehicles from them several times per year, plus legal costs of those motorists who try to claim for damage to their vehicles, then numbers of pedestrians who trip over them, plus an action by sight-impaired / disabilities rights groups who say they're "trapped on one side of the road"... (Depending on design, I might have a modicum of sympathy for the latter - only they never complain or at least never get a hearing when it's motor vehicles and associated kit blocking their way. And of course in the UK currently nothing short of tank-deterring obstacles will keep the motorists out).

Shurely (given the next para) this should read *not* the "most proportionate..."

Lots of lovely new boulders in Camden, London If they aren't equipped with steel anchor rods and cemented in, they're going to be nicked/ moved!

These are the links to my incidents above https://upride.cc/incident/px12dmy_stagecoach40_closepass/ https://upride.cc/incident/sk19evu_stagecoach42_closepass/ https://upride.cc/incident/4148vz_travellerschoicecoach_closepass/ https://upride.cc/incident/kn21axh_lancspolice_closepass/ https://upride.cc/incident/px12dnv_stagecoach41_closepass/

@wtjs If you think this is just me placing items you've all seen before in a convenient and relevant topic handy for future quotation, you're right. This is Stagecoach following the police example at the same spot. The Stagecoach excuse for these 'alleged close-passing incidents' is that the driver 'had to pull in because of oncoming traffic'.

officers investigating submitted video “must not undertake forensic analysis of footage, but should carry out a triage function using investigative, non-analytical viewing of the footage alongside the evidence supplied by the person reporting the incident” Classic police Bollocks-Speak. What they mean is: we have made sure that we have no officers who have completed the 3 Year Police Course on Tape Measuring. This is Lancashire Constabulary overtaking me in a 2021 Peugeot 308 (width to mirrors 186 cms) while staying within the 370 cm left lane

Ward says he has been unable to obtain any documents from that meeting and is considering a complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office Good luck to him, but they have numerous dodges on standby to stop him. The problem with such an FoI request is that the police and other authorities determined to 'Sod the Cyclists' are not at all concerned by that threat, as they are well aware that the Information Commissioner is really the Restriction of Information Commissioner and is very successful in that aim. The first dodge from the police is that the cyclist is a witness, not a Victim. Then it's invariably 'it's personal information about the driver' etc. etc. I have been trying since the incident below occurred to find what actually happened when they claimed they were taking action. On 1.9.26 ICO declared that it's taking 7 months from the receipt of a new complaint before it's even allocated to a case officer. Even for long established complaints they're on a really determined go-slow: just like the police, it's 'whinge, whinge, we're so terribly busy'. This is how they're killing off the FOIA. The last letter from ICO was really an incitement for me to drop the complaint: (direct quotation) "If you can’t wait, we understand. You can withdraw this complaint at any time, just let us know". The police know this and refuse any information about anything. My concern was 'what can I do if the police just lie about what they did?' I have no doubt that they would if they thought they could get away with it.

"Exceptional circumstances" - presumably after the devil is observed buying snow chains, or Ryanair investing in a new fleet of pigs ...?