A family whose cycling travels around them the UK have won them thousands of followers on social media and seen them featured on media outlets such as BBC News have appealed to Cornwall’s top police officer to tackle bad driving on the county’s roads following a series of encounters with poor drivers while out riding yesterday.
The Jones family from Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, hit the headlines in June when Rhoda, aged 4, was filmed on a tag-along giving a lorry driver in Jedburgh in the Scottish borders a thumbs-up as he overtook her with plenty of room to spare.
> Video of little girl giving safe overtake lorry driver thumbs-up goes viral
She was riding with parents Tom and Kate – who blog about the family’s adventures at Family ByCycle and brother and sister Thomas Ivor, nine and Ruth, five, and the video quickly went viral.
Yesterday, the family were riding in Cornwall and it proved to be a much less happy experience, summed up by the picture in this tweet.
Because many motorists are dicks. Most of them, on the A39 today. pic.twitter.com/WdQSjdwKPr
— Family ByCycle (@FamilyByCycle) August 12, 2018
A subsequent tweet revealed one particular nasty experience, which was flagged up to Devon & Cornwall Police on Twitter.
A vehicle towing a caravan, which Katie and Ruth could almost touch yesterday on the A392 at Quintrell Downs, is also untaxed. @DC_Police we have video and a reg plate for you. Where do we upload it for you to view, please? Not putting it on here for now because it merits a NIP.
— Family ByCycle (@FamilyByCycle) August 12, 2018
This morning, dad Tom posted a video addressed to the force’s Chief Constable, highlighting the lack of police presence on a road full of holiday traffic and urging Devon & Cornwall Police – which operates its roads policing unit jointly with Dorset Police – to take action.
Our message for Chief Constable Otter of @DC_Police – please RT so we get some traction on this. pic.twitter.com/7Wz4esP2LK
— Family ByCycle (@FamilyByCycle) August 13, 2018
He said: “We’re on the road this morning and we’ve got a quick message for the Chief Constable of Devon & Cornwall Police” [since 2013, Shaun Sawyer, with Stephen Otter having left the previous year – ed].
“We’ve looked back at the video we shot on the A39 and the A392 yesterday coming through your patch.
“We would love to know why on one of the busiest days of the summer coming in and out of Newquay we did not see a single Devon & Cornwall traffic car for the entire length of our journey.
“We’ve got a lovely collection of videos of drivers behaving appallingly towards us tomorrow.
“In particular, a red Ford – untaxed, we checked it – towing a caravan almost took out Katy and Ruth coming through Quintrell Downs.
“We’ve already asked on Twitter but we’ve not had a reply. Please would you get in touch with us.”
He continued: “We don’t want to share the video publicly because that will prejudice the opportunity for you to issue a NIP [Notice of Intended Prosecution] and to charge them and to take the matter to court.
“It’s not fair that a family like ours is being intimidated off Devon & Cornwall’s roads. Please will you do something to restore our confidence.
“We’re going to be riding through the county, or through your patch, for the rest of today.
“So if you’d like to come out and see us on the road, maybe come and have a look at the film with us, come and experience the conditions we’re putting up with.
“Bring an unmarked car and come and come and sit on the road with us for a little while, we’d love to see you because this is a really, really serious matter.”
He added: “Road harm is a significant cause of death and this is just not acceptable.
“Yesterday, a busy day, you’ve got grockles everywhere, poor standards of driving and not a single traffic cop to be seen and we don’t think that’s fair on families like ours.
“Please reach out and get in touch and we look forward to having a positive conversation with you soon. Thank you.”
The family’s experience has seen them receive a lot of messages of support on social media – as well as one on the roadside itself yesterday.
This lady is fellow adventure cyclist @Faye_Shepherd. Faye is a flippin’ legend. Toughest moment of the toughest day on the road we’ve had for ages, and she went and found us. With chocolate. The adventure community at its very best. Bless you, Faye! Have a quiet shift! pic.twitter.com/MUcm3kGyS1
— Family ByCycle (@FamilyByCycle) August 12, 2018
42 thoughts on “Video: Cycling family in plea to top cop on danger on Cornwall’s roads”
Sad to say my 8yo has been
Sad to say my 8yo has been scared off the road for now. One too many near miss to the extent he’s even petrified when he’s in the car.
I’m happy to risk my life and take my chances but how can someone actively decide to endanger a child? It’s beyond me.
You can hear the righteous
You can hear the righteous anger in Tom Jones’ voice – I think he shows a fair bit of restraint in describing the events that many of us experience daily. The lives of all vulerable roads users should be treated with respect but to endager and intimidate children should warrant special punishment.
I’m not on Twitter but I’d encourage people to forward this to Jesse Norman.
jasecd wrote:
I’m fairly mild-mannered but if you endanger my son and then moan about him being in the way and all the usual bollocks you get from close-passers I’m very likely to send you home in an ambulance. It’s another reason I’ve stopped riding with my son – he hates confrontation and I find it very difficult not respond.
Intimidating and bullying
Intimidating and bullying people on public highways should be a criminal offence. The cager scum who use their position of power to terrify children on bikes are lower than vermin.
roadmanshaq wrote:
But are they lower than tories? https://road.cc/content/news/246622-live-blog-conservative-party-continues-be-heavily-criticised-over-now-deleted
Or, more likely, they are tories.
I really wish it were
I really wish it were possible for more families to have a truely sustainable family holiday like this, but the reality is that many people who would consider it are just too scared of the road danger.
Unfortunately I don’t think drivers will start to consider vulnerable road users safety properly until the dangerous driving laws include presumed liability.
I myself would not take my daughter out on her tag-a-along bike on a busy A road.
I know that’s only helping to make cyclists more invisible and I wish it were otherwise, but unfortunately dangerous drivers don’t have any real deterrent.
Juries are loathe to convict drivers who kill cyclists under the current dangerous driving laws.
And now we’re leaving the EU
And now we’re leaving the EU which won’t help either, the car is king in this country
I went through a period when
I went through a period when I thought that I was Tom Jones. I ended up seeing my doctor about it and he told me it’s not unusual.
hawkinspeter wrote:
Why, why, why….
It’s obvious that what we
It’s obvious that what we need are more laws restricting cyclists, which are the real danger
https://road.cc/content/news/246592-government-opens-dangerous-and-careless-cycling-law-consultation
There is a real problem with policing the roads, and whilst there cannot be policeman on every corner, the austerity regime of this government has meant significant cuts to the police. Since traffic police are not a priority, they have seen disproportionate cuts, so fewer traffic cops, more dangerous driving, more cyclists intimidated from their legal right to ride.
It’s all very well having video cameras and lots of online vids showing the problem, but that isn’t actually curing it, and while it would be comforting to have video proof of the guilt of the driver who kills you, I’d rather stay alive.
Instead of investigations into cyclists who kill, an absolutely tiny problem, we need to look at the overwhelming source of the danger: drivers. Cycling UK has called for a wide ranging study of road safety, laws and punishments, which this government ignores in favour of the cyclist killers. At the very least, we need laws which can be enforced, are not easily circumvented by clever lawyers, and we need as a society to keep dangerous people away from motor vehicles. Instead of which we just accept the annual death toll of thousands with a shrug of our shoulders and mutterings about how much safer things are now. Well they damn well aren’t safe enough.
my kids remineded my the
my kids remineded my the other week about the time nearly lost my schnizzle on some stupid bint in south manachester, they were in the trailer ages 4 and 5 and she tried to squeeze past when there was clearly not room. Worrying thing si that it was over 7 years ago and they remember it, I dont, for me it’s just lost amongst all the other stupid things I see drivers doing.
I used have to bribe my kids
I used have to bribe my kids to keep quiet when things got a bit sketchy, so mum – wife would not get alarmed and try to ban our trips out. Many of them they take great relish in recalling and sometimes embellishing even though I don’t recall most as they were so common and frequent and you just become numb to it, a sad indictment of our roads.
my kids remineded my the other week about the time nearly lost my schnizzle on some stupid bint in south manachester, they were in the trailer ages 4 and 5 and she tried to squeeze past when there was clearly not room. Worrying thing si that it was over 7 years ago and they remember it, I dont, for me it’s just lost amongst all the other stupid things I see drivers doing.
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I worry that one day someone
I worry that one day someone will do something stupid and I’ll end up dragging them out of their car and beating them half to death. The closest I’ve come is screaming my head off at some middle aged lady who drove into my back wheel while I was waiting at a roundabout and I screamed blue murder at her. Pedestrians were staring. Fun times.
vonhelmet wrote:
My logical brain tells me to let it go, the trouble is that adrenaline floods my reptile brain and I start yelling. It’s not a sensible or logical course of action, I almost got a kicking off three lads in a BMW a few years back, really lucky to avoid them trying to grab my rucksack and haul me off the bike. Strava PB on that segment still stands 🙂
vonhelmet wrote:
There was that guy last year who launched his bike into the windscreen of a car whose driver was very likely driving like a prick, it might have seemed like OTT reaction but it’s down to the continual driving like a prick and being on the end of it for the 100th time that week, 1000th time that year and he’s cracked and lost it.
That’s what is being allowed to happen by police, by government, by CPS and by judges. They are all complicit in these assaults, a close pass that makes you feel fear of harm/alarm is exactly that.
But then it’d be you getting the charge. I was threatened with breach of the peace (I told plod exactly what happened) for punching the side (thoughened glass) window of a bus after knobjockey almost wiped me out as he was doing 50mph. He denied even seeing me when I caught him up at the queue. Police did fuck-all despite his threats to put me (back) in hospital, despite video, oh wait, police said that the bus company told them there was no video and they beleived them ffs!
I felt like lamping the fucker, I was so angry.
Personally, I would rather
Personally, I would rather see “reduce your speed when approaching and overtaking cyclists” highlighted to re-educate drivers, mainly because, this also in the HC.
This is more practical on narrow roads and can be used alongside giving space. I always appreciate it when drivers slow down, those who do, I wave them through if the road is wide enough with oncoming traffic. They nearly always give me a wave of thanks after!
Hard to avoid the rage
Hard to avoid the rage sometimes.
I had one of those try to turn right across you types at the junction the other day. I could see him mouthing off as I went straight across the junction and he tried to force me to give way to him.
I ended up swerving around the front of his car and shouting “you fat fC@£%ng c£nt” at his bald head. Half expected to hear the roar of an engine turning around afterwards.
I ride in Spain for nearly
I ride in Spain for nearly 6 months every year.The routes around my house become busy with cyclists every weekend and i never hear of confrontations between cyclists and motorists. The local council has put up signs along these routes advising motorists of the safe passing distance of 1.5 metres. This is overwhelmingly respected.In fact,the cyclists ride in groups virtually blocking the road and the only people i hear complaining about that are British drivers. Is this cultural as the Spanish just seem calm and relaxed in their vehicles compared to the ” angry ” brigade we have here.
joeegg wrote:
I lived in France for over 20 years and you are right, it is a cultural thing and in the UK there is culture of the car owning the road. The recent initiative by the governement only highlights arnd encourages it!
iandusud wrote:
I was riding in the Pyranees recently and was on a main road that, in the UK, would have felt pretty dangerous. I didn’t feel vulnerable at all; the French just seem more relaxed with cyclists.
iandusud wrote:
The reason I don’t tour in this country is because of all the shit drivers. I won’t even ride to and from the ferry port because I don’t want the first and last things I remember about the holiday to be stress and anger from crap driving.
I intend to retire for France for various reasons but a significant one is the infinitely better cycling experience over there.
joeegg wrote:
Similar experience cycling in France, just far more respect for other humans and a relaxed live-and-let-live approach to getting around. Far better dedicated infrastructure and the more visible presence of – and enforcement by – the gendarmerie probably helps.
Which is why I could never, ever use a GoPro while cycling…
joeegg wrote:
And yet the Spanish cycling deaths per billion miles is worse than the UK, the 1.5m passing rule has not changed a thing in terms of cycling injuries and people are still harassed in Spanish cities where cycling injuries have been on the rise for some time. Helmets and hi-vis compulsary on roads outside cities even during the day.
Anecdote does not equal data, sorry but the facts speak for themselves, you should check them out, France is also equally not as great as some people think, Germany same.
Yes there are in many instancs more respect but the overall picture is no better than the UK for cycling deaths.
BehindTheBikesheds wrote:
As far as I can see the stats you quote only go up to 2015 and close passing laws are more recent than that (Spain 2016?). I think we need a few years of data to see if there has been any real effect. Unless you have more recent data…
BehindTheBikesheds wrote:
A link to the facts would be useful.
While wearing a helmet might be compulsory, I only had the Guardia Civil once tell me to put my helmet on, they didn’t hang around long enough to see whether I did or not.
I’d love to know where this harrassment in cities comes from too (this has to be 100% anecdotal). The only road I wouldn’t ride on was Paseo de la Castellana in Madrid, Cibeles was an absolute hoot though and generally people were accommodating of cyclists. The Spanish style of driving, I think, is best summed up in the fact that everyone drives quickly but no one is in a rush. Do you think the rise of accidents in Spanish cities runs in line with the increase in popularity? I’ll admit that there were very, very, very, very few riders in Madrid when I was riding there some 10 years ago, I’ll admit that my Facebook has a significant number of rants about poor driving in Spain/Madrid now than I ever experienced
Just watch out for the coked up kids on a Sunday morning.
In defence of our police –
In defence of our police – Devon has more road miles than most counties in England. Couple this with chronic underfunding by the government and you will not see traffic cops out on the roads. No, I am not a policeman.
thehairs1970 wrote:
The lack of traffic cops is because it was decided to police the roads using number plate recognition cameras and yellow boxes on poles instead of having actual police on the roads, it’s not a funding issue that they aren’t there anymore,it’s one of deciding those force numbers are better used elsewhere. That Devon & Cornwall are a combined force to begin with, is an issue that’s been rumbling on for 50years,and their focus has always been on the A30 to the virtual exclusion of any other road.
D&C police took the publicity
D&C police took the publicity of taikng up operation safe pass from W Midlands police, one half day unpublicised “event” is the sum of their effort in 2 years I believe.
I’ve asked for feedback a few times, given up after no response.
You’re on your own in D&C area.
The problem in cornwall is
The problem in cornwall is that the road infrastruture is fairly limited (hence why you find cyclists on A roads) and traffic levels vary greatly depending on the season. also, holiday makers when on holiday tend to behave appallingly when behind the wheel.
Possibly frustration, possibly just down to being on holiday… like they are also on holiday from respecting laws.
On a wider level, I’ve said this several times before, increased crime levels will not stimulate additional investment in police resources. The only thing that will cause a change is an increase in vigiliante activity. The more members of the public take it upon themselves to exact personal justice, the greater the need for a more effective police force.
So basically I am saying for all our safety, it is up to us to take control and force the hand of those holding the purse strings.
To stress how bad it is out there… a little while ago, someone from within the forces, once admitted to me that on one Friday night, there was a single, solitary mobile police unit patrolling the highways of Devon. Devon the largest county, with one of the most comprehensive road networks. One unit. And people wonder why folk do not respect the law.
Jimmy Ray Will wrote:
Limited infrastructure and traffic levels aren’t the problem. Lack of consideration for others is the problem.
What we need is to change the
What we need is to change the balance of harm between cyclists and drivers, as self preservation is easily the most controlling factor in our lives, so we have to make the drivers worried about their lives.
Currently a driver can inflict injury and death on a cyclist with absolutely no danger to themselves, so they are callously indifferent to their safety. Cyclists should be allowed, no, made, to carry guns, and to use them in cases of dangerous driving, so that the risks are balanced; you hurt me and I’ll hurt you.
This might sound absurd, and maybe it is, but I remember about thirty years ago in the USA, when there was a spate of road rage shootings, and suddenly all the drivers became very, very polite.
Britain needs a strict
Britain needs a strict liability law (motorist is automatically presumed to be at fault in accident with a cyclist) as used in the Netherlands, Denmark and Switzerland (where I live). Good luck getting the Daily Mail to approve that, though…
https://www.cycling-embassy.org.uk/wiki/dutch-cycle-because-strict-liability-made-everybody-drive-safely-and-play-nice
slappop wrote:
Absolutely.
Also, it’d make a lot of sense if we looked at the European cities that have low rates of traffic incidents/KSIs and copy what they do.
It’s really simple, but instead our so-called government pisses around with consultations on things that affect the smallest demographics and ignores the larger issues. If only there was some way we could vote them out and not get someone else equally useless.
BTBS has a point. You can wax
BTBS has a point. You can wax on about aggro brit drivers all you want but loads of European roads are statistically worse for fatalities.
I remember driving in Italy and it was horrendous. Nobody had the slightest bit of patience at all, even the women seemed aggressive beyond belief just to get onto a roundabout or try and force you onto one, blasting on the horn in crappy Fiats. Can’t imagine them suddenly calmy down because 2 wheels were blocking the path.
Yorkshire wallet wrote:
And into this mayhem go grannies doing their shopping by bike. I can’t 8magine how they do it.
The Irish government looked
The Irish government looked at all previous distance passing laws or countries that were going to undertake such this year.
Minnesota which implemented the 3Fl passing law years ago has on average cited THREE motorists per year, Florida is somwhat better at 300, oh hang on that’s 300 since 2006!! (so actually not that much better), policing in the 20 US states that has a passing law is pretty much zero as mentioned in the Irish study.
The study found that between 1990 and 2014 there was no positive impact on cycling safety due to mandatory passing laws. The authors go on to state that at best a minimum passing law MIGHT save 1 cyclist death per 20.4 months, at worst this could actually have a negative effect of 2.67 more deaths over the same timescale.
NSW has seen no improvement in injuries and millions of dollars of fines for no helmets, minimum passing infractions, less than half a dozen over the same period.
Have a look at the cycling injury rate rises in Spanish cities in the last few years, the info is there if you look.
Here’s the irish study http://www.rsa.ie/Documents/Consultations/Cycling%20MPD/Examining%20the%20International%20Research%20Evidence%20in%20relation%20to%20Minimum%20Passing%20Distances%20for%20Cyclists.pdf
BehindTheBikesheds wrote:
No it’s not.
don simon wrote:
Hahahaha, ok, let’s see you worm your way around these stats then. No, didn’t think so. Since the 1.5m passing laws and increases in helmet wearing cycling injuries have gone UP.
Let’s see you counter that then ya mug!
BehindTheBikesheds wrote:
1. Source.
2. That isn’t in the article you linked to in your previous post (so no worming needed).
3. I’ve already stated that there has been a huge increase in cycling in Madrid and probably throughout Spain, so no real surprise there that there is an increase in accidents. When I was riding Madrid, I’d maybe see two other cyclists in the city on a good day.
4 What it doesn’t show is that it’s more dangerous than the UK, as is your rather ridiculous claim.
5. It doesn’t state anything about the type of accident, so no relationship between MPD and those numbers.
6. It says nothing about Spanish cyclists being harrassed in cities, as you clearly believe is true. Experience says the opposite is true. I’m sure mis-reading trumps experience.
7. When will you thick cunts learn to stop putting little insults at the end of an otherwise sensible post (apart from the bollocksy bits listed above)? It’ll just end in tears. Leave it out, OK?
8. Want more?
Provide the full document and source or stop making yourself look silly.
After riding in Spain,year
After riding in Spain,year in year out for the past 18 years,i feel far safer than riding in the UK. British friends who ride out there as well would be in total agreement. How on earth can you work out the total number of miles covered by cyclists in a country,especially a large one like Spain. No one has ever asked me how much distance i’ve covered in a year.
I have to agree about the mention of Italy. Actually felt worse than the UK to me.
There were 76 cycling deaths
There were 76 cycling deaths in Spain from 1810 fatalities in 2016 (a 10& increase on 2015)
KevJJ, close passing laws were before 2015 in Spain, France and Germany
http://www.dgt.es/Galerias/seguridad-vial/estadisticas-e-indicadores/publicaciones/principales-cifras-siniestralidad/2017-2799_Summary_Main_figures_on_road_safety_data_Spain_2016_ACCESIBLE.pdf they have a similar rule to what is a road death as in up to 30 days after the incident it is counted as a road death. The last figures I can find state that per million inhabitant UK cycles twice as far than Spain (this was 2010), there will obviously be some variances from this but it won’t be much either way.
This is clear evidence that per cycling miles spain is more deadly for cyclists, the equivalent would be nearer the 150 mark per billion miles travelled.
Britain is shit. The weather
Britain is shit. The weather is shit, the roads are shit, the police are understaffed and underfunded and most motorists are racist, biggoted, daily mail reading, tory voting fascists who think that cyclists should be run off the road. And then there’s Brexit. Move to Europe.