Live blog: Highways England ‘Get on your bike’ tweet backfires, drivers ignorant of mobile phone penalties, Toronto police overkill, Sagan spotted on new Venge? + more
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Mon, Jun 25, 2018 14:20
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Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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Latest Comments
chrisonabike 5 minutes ago
"But isn't this just the same as if people used their own bikes?" No, not just because it's a company dumping them in public space as opposed to people storing them at home much of the time. People are much more motivated to care about their own property. I also suspect that people owning bikes involves less moving them around via motorised transport than cycle hire schemes (though a study would help!) How to fix the "public space problem"? In NL where they have problems of success they've planning rules that require provision of cycle parking in new- builds. They build giant bicycle-stables in city centres and at public transport hubs. And there is a national "last mile" non-dockless rental scheme that's well integrated with that public transport (OV Fiets).
chrisonabike 29 minutes ago
OTOH "less harm" because bikes - but wouldn't it be better not to have the issue at all?
chrisonabike 30 minutes ago
It's almost as if a company intent on sucking up money at the expense of some public good was being given a pass on account of the mode of transport they were involved with... Now I'm wondering if we've seen this before?
Rendel Harris 39 minutes ago
Sorry to go against your tone of "it's just annoying a few SUV owners" Ryan, but that sort of Lime bike parking is incredibly antisocial and selfish. It's not just blocking "a few SUVs", it's blocking other cyclists and making roads impassable for people with mobility problems. Imagine if you walk with a frame and need to use your car to get to work and you come out of your house to find you can't get to your car and if you could you wouldn't be able to get it out anyway. There's no excuse for it. Sure, it wouldn't do any harm to have more spaces for parking, that doesn't make it OK to just park where you want because there aren't enough. If there are no litter bins, is it OK just to throw your litter on the floor or should you hang on to it until you find one? We really do need to get away from the concept of defending Lime bikes and the way they are frequently incredibly badly parked and ridden just because they're bikes.
kingleo 50 minutes ago
Cars have number plates, but it does not stop drivers from killing and injuring thousands of people every year.
Jack Sexty 1 hour ago
Indeed, we had it confirmed by the CPS that it was death by careless driving.
lemonenema 2 hours ago
"they can restore a heavily used Monarch to its former glory." Yes until parts are no Ionger available because it will have been 'updated' or discontinued in a couple of years time. Would have been good to have a few specs in the article, weight, width, length, profile, colours. I've had many saddles and can't say I've ever had a creaking one, it might turn out to be a very good saddle, but the replacement parts is a bit of a fad imo.
OnYerBike 2 hours ago
@Rendel Harris It's worth pointing out that we don't know when those other offences were committed, other than the earliest was in 1997. 1997 is almost 30 years ago now. I do think there is a reasonable argument that people can turn their lives around, and so a misspent youth could be excused if he has kept his nose clean (literally and figuratively) for potentially 20+ years since.
Bezzard74 3 hours ago
@mctrials23 Oh I could go on for days about irresponsible dog owners! Long/extendable leads, no recall! Sorry to hear your boy was scared! I love dogs, even though i've been bitten a few times (first time was as a postman, yes, it really does happen haha!) The last time was a yappy little thing called pickles, not on the lead, snapping around my ankles, zero attempt to recall by the owners - obviously i was known as Pickles for the rest of the ride (the bite didn't break skin, so no attention needed).
mctrials23 3 hours ago
@Bezzard74 Berry Yeah, I don't want a hoof to the face and I appreciate that horse riding accidents aren't entirely uncommon and the injuries from them can easily be life changing hence the reason I am very careful around them. I was stuck behind a couple of riders for a few minutes the other night and they didn't realise I was there. I eventually made myself known and they immediately moved over and we had a nice exchange of thanks and pleasantries and went on our way. I can't imagine thinking that they were slowing me down so fuck their safety which is precisely the attitude too many drivers have towards us. And yes, utterly baffling when people ride horses in public that aren't able to do it safely. Same as dogs that can't respond to commands when they are off the lead. One of my boys was scared horribly by a dog that wouldn't leave him alone. Hes three and the dog was almost the same size as him. The owners weren't apologetic. He didn't hurt my child but he scared him and he completely ignored all commands from his owner. Some people just have no self awareness and dog owners especially don't seem to be able to fathom the idea that their dog is not wonderful and well behaved and scares people.
20 thoughts on “Live blog: Highways England ‘Get on your bike’ tweet backfires, drivers ignorant of mobile phone penalties, Toronto police overkill, Sagan spotted on new Venge? + more”
Toronto cyclist was a bit of
Toronto cyclist was a bit of a dick, wasn’t he? Why couldn’t he be polite: “I think you’re wrong officer” rather than immediately going on the offensive? Politeness costs nothing.
FrankH wrote:
Yes, he was impolite but you must know that’s besides the point? Whether he was polite, or rude, you have five police officers misunderstanding the law at his expense. This isn’t an uncommon situation, and in many “developed” countries we are seeing cyclists treated as second-class citizens for no reason other than ignorance. It’s common from motorists to hear “get in the cycle lane” and cyclists battle punishment passes on a daily basis for merely minding their own business. When police officers are propogating this attitude it’s scary and alarming.
I have bigger concerns with the officers’ ignorance rather than the cyclists’ attitude.
FrankH wrote:
Absolutely right. What a world we live in.
simonmb wrote:
,
Yeah. Fuck you, you polite, little, diseased scrotum.
Ush wrote:
— UshCongratulations! You are the winner.
Only the fifth comment and you managed to drag the discussion into the gutter. Give yourself a pat on the back.
Simon E wrote:
Congratulations, you are officially a thick-as-fuck cunt. Give yourself a kick up the arse, Ms. Manners.
I think the cop was being a
I think the cop was being a bit of a dick. To detain him (i.e hold him under threat of assault and imprisonment) for no reason.
I supect the real crime he was stopped for was “cycling whilst black”.
Deeferdonk wrote:
Police officer was no WASP either. Stop playing the victimization card all the time as it may lose its purchase.
On a lighter note, it was
On a lighter note, it was good to see the support that the Toronto cyclist had. Big thumbs up to the members of the public that ensure that they were not merely passive bystanders. I think that probably had a big outcome on the result of this, which would otherwise plausibly have resulted in this man being beaten up and framed.
$127,000 salary for being a
$127,000 salary for being a traffic cop? Good gig when you can get it. You’d think there’d be a requirement to know the law for that sort of money…
jestriding wrote:
I can’t think of any other jobs where you can get away without even knowing the basics of your own job, let alone wasting time and resources on doing the wrong thing. Excepting politicians, of course.
I wonder if HE are ever going
I wonder if HE are ever going to learn? I mean, they’ve just had a new cycling strategy, including making sure that they consult, and that all new infrastructure is actually fit for purpose, but they still don’t consult and their infrastructure is a joke.
Obviously the police officer
Obviously the police officer hadn’t done his cycling rules homework but the cyclist got a chip on his shoulder and was pretty much begging for a confrontation in order to prove that he was the victim of police brutality (which, unfortunately, happens all too often but *not* in this case).
Boss Hogg wrote:
Because when you’re harrassed for no good reason, assaulted with the cop driving within 18″ and on top of that cops ignore you when people on bikes are mown down THAT is the result, you’ve had enough and it’s time to stand up for what is right.
Or maybe you think allowing those who supposed to keep the peace keep on doing the same old shit time after time with a pass through go and collect £200?
Get lost snowflake.
LA cyclist need to give out
LA cyclist need to give out some free ‘I parked in the cycle lane’ bumper stickers… er wait, what are the guns laws like in CA?
The cyclist was a complete
The cyclist was a complete dick, he was loving the whole process playing it up for his you tube audience thinking about all the likes and views he was going to get, he even made sure to get his own face included in the video on a few occasions for his big 15 minutes.
MaxiW wrote:
One comment, eh? Well, hello there, officer!
MaxiW wrote:
No he wasn’t. He would have been perfectly happy to go about his business if it wasn’t for the dickhead of a cop trying to unlawfully detain him. He had every right to call out the cop’s bullshit and if he wants to post it on YouTube, then why not? It’s about time incompetent police were named and shamed so they can go learn the actual rules that they are supposed to be enforcing. They have literally one job to do.
Love how all the police cars
Love how all the police cars end up parking in the cycle lane to “clear the road”, thus forcing the other cyclists that come along into the road.
Should have given themselves tickets for blocking the bike lane!
That Highways England ‘Get on
That Highways England ‘Get on your bike’ tweet is appalling – does nobody there look or even think before they send off their soshul meeja stuff?