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Live blog: ‘make cyclists wear numbered bibs’, says former West Ham footballer, Belfast university gets a (timely?) EU award for being a cycle friendly employer, end of the road for Velothon Wales +more
All the news from the site and beyond as we start a new week
Mon, Nov 26, 2018 16:08
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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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-300x199.jpg "“He wants bikes in traffic lanes. Give him what he wants”: Cyclists urged to “slow every street down to bicycle speed” and ride in middle of lane amid premier’s war on cycle paths + more on the live blog")
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Latest Comments
polainm 8 minutes ago
Yet more of the public being arrested because of politicians' stupidity. It's shocking how mega corps buy these public servants and implement them. I miss democracy.
chrisonabike 15 minutes ago
@Mr Blackbird if you're going after looks, then I recommend political dating. Who can forget the distinctive "badger meets Communist bureaucrat" look of (now Baron) Norman Lamont? Or Mr. (now Baron) "something of the night" Michael Howard? Or the merely remarkably egg-shaped (now Baron) Eric Pickles? (Is the Egremont Crab Fair allowed to confer Baronetcies?) But I believe Rory Stewart would outclass all as a gurner.
polainm 17 minutes ago
While average and peak cyclist speeds have gone up, it's marginal. Compared to speeding drivers for example. IMO the problem is widespread fuckwittery and entitlement accelerated by two key social devolutions; the mobile phone and the garbage consumed on it. Attention spans now almost nonexistent for most and 'I can do what hell I like' brainwashing by Meta and the gutter media. THIS is the issue, not 20kmh faster.
Velovoyeur 1 hour ago
Undeniably, there is a problem with safety that has blighted the sport. This was highlighted and presented well by the peloton and, particularly, by Evanepoel. What's the solution? That's the tricky conundrum when the sporting arena is public roads that are populated by the public, some of whom like the racing, some who don't. This is true of all cycle racing on the roads. Some of the changes to ensure safety for high profile races will increase costs that could, ultimately, be hugely detrimental (terminal) to grass roots road racing which is already struggling to survive.
Mr Blackbird 2 hours ago
One thing Farage deserves recognition for is his ability to always look like a total wally in photographs. His face seems to have extra rubbery properties, allowing extreme gurning. This allows expressions ranging from the idiotic smirk of someone who has loudly farted during a church eulogy reading for a person they dislike (as pictured here), to a stupid wide grin resembling that of the monster on packets of Roast Beef Monster Munch.
mitsky 2 hours ago
"Cyclists urged to “slow every street down to bicycle speed” and ride in middle of lane..." I'm sure something like that actually happened a number of years ago in some location in the USA in protest at some other silly new cycling law. Which led to the inevitable gridlock. My usual useless internet search skills have failed me again in finding any articles about it.
mitsky 2 hours ago
Given the news (and common knowledge) that car theft is endemic and successfull prosecutions are, I assume, relatively low... Would he plan to divert police/court resources away from car theft units to catch and prosecute bike thieves? Or is that what he is planning to use the £72m (+£5m) donations for?
mdavidford 2 hours ago
Would it, though? Surely the whole premise here is that those roads are gridlocked anyway, so much of it is going slower than a bike already? That's certainly my experience of cities of any size - riding in the middle of the lane is frequently going to mean sitting behind the bumper of a car.
Clem Fandango 3 hours ago
This just plays to his "supporters" vision of London being a lawless no go zone (KHAAAAAAANNNNNNN!!!) and as usual is just a vague promise (that he can't possibly deliver) with no practical solution behind it.
Smoggysteve 4 hours ago
Looks like another cheap sound bite to try and win votes from niche sectors. He would never offer anything like safer routes or better cycling infrastructure because he knows that would upset drivers, so finds a nice little area that effects cyclist without upsetting anyone else. But we know that this would never actually come into being. it would get lost in the noise of all the other rhetoric surrounding immigration, youth unemployment etc etc. shameless click bait politics
24 thoughts on “Live blog: ‘make cyclists wear numbered bibs’, says former West Ham footballer, Belfast university gets a (timely?) EU award for being a cycle friendly employer, end of the road for Velothon Wales +more”
The most informative quote
The most informative quote from the Frank McAvennie piece: “I’m no expert on road safety”
A quick google of ‘Referee
A quick google of ‘Referee books wrong player’ quickly puts Frank’s plan to bed.
More like: Who needs
More like: Who needs Handlebars, when you’ve got 3 Hetchins?!
I’m not sure Airbus would win
I’m not sure Airbus would win an EU award for being a cycle friendly employer, a colleague was handed this when arriving on-site.
very odd given the horrendous traffic in Toulouse, you’d think they’d be encouraging more people to cycle to work.
ChancerOnABike wrote:
I’d prefer brakes on the bike rather than any of the other advice.
ChancerOnABike wrote:
McAvennie is ridiculed annually in a BBC Scotland comedy show broadcast at New Year.
The two things his character is identified as.
He was a fine footballer in his Celtic days, but not the sharpest.
Edit – This is from Wikipedia
During his playing career he reputedly enjoyed a playboy lifestyle involving drink, drugs and womanising.[14][12][52] His lifestyle was the inspiration for a parody character played by Jonathan Watson in the Scottish comedy TV programme, Only an Excuse?[12][53]
In 2000, having been cleared in court of an incident involving the supply of controlled drugs,[12][54] McAvennie found himself in severe fiancial difficulties and resorted to selling his medals to Celtic-supporting businessman Willie Haughey for a small sum; these were later returned to him in 2017.[54]
On 12 January 2009, McAvennie received a four-month suspended sentence for affray following an incident in July 2008 in which he head-butted a man in Douglas on the Isle of Man.[55]
Ideal role model to take advice from.
Quote:
But they aren’t held to the same standards at present. He’s right. At present, drivers are dealt with a great deal more leniently…
Quote:
This one really annoys me.
Bicycles and cars are not the same things, and I firmly believe the rules and regulations should reflect that (which they don’t at the moment, for the most part).
Arguing that cyclists should be held to the same standard as drivers calls on that non-existent equivalence. We often hear demands that we should be held to the same standard, or be made to obey the law in the same way, or pay the same taxes, or be subject to the same enforcement regime (cf the proposed dangerous cycling law) and yet at the same time, we are also told that we should get out of the way of faster vehicles, ride in the gutter at all times, not ride in the centre of the lane and so on, and so on.
The law in this country should recognise the differences between modes of transport and allow for different regulations where appropriate (e.g. permitting cyclists to turn left through red lights, for one example).
brooksby wrote:
It is a fundamentally stupid thing to say. In almost every aspect of life, standards are stricter for owning and operating more potentially dangerous items of equipment. Hence it is easy (in the UK) to get hold of an air pistol but nigh on impossible to own an assault rifle. Pretty much any adult can buy fireworks but very few can buy Semtex. Anyone can ride a bicycle but very few people are allowed to fly jet aircraft (and then only after long and rigorous training).
A 10-kg bicycle, propelled by human power is potentially FAR less dangerous than a two-tonne steel vehicle propelled by anything up to 200 bhp. Anyone who cannot understand the difference between the two and the accompanying operating standards is an idiot.
Good of that footballer to
Good of that footballer to come along and confirm the stereotype of footballers being as thick as two short planks!
“At the moment, they have no
“At the moment, they have no accountability — and I have a brilliant idea to change that. Cyclists need to be held to the same standards that drivers are.
So, wearing a numbered bib would allow cyclists to cause the same levels of death & destruction as drivers? Really?
So, as an example from DfT statistics, on 20mph roads 86% of cars exceed the limit, that would have to be reduced to ~15mph to make it possible for 86% of cyclists to break the limit – genius!
I bet motorists would be happy with you mr ex footballer,
and I’d love to hear your ideas on BrexitWill the bib come with
Will the bib come with electric lighting?
Good to know there are no hit and runs by any driver.
hirsute wrote:
Yep: 100 per week motorised hit & runs in London alone. Maybe cars need bibs.
Can footballers also be made
Can footballers also be made to wear bibs, so they can be clearly identified as they are generally immune from prosecution due to the services of Mr Loophole?
National Cake Day, wish I’d
National Cake Day, wish I’d known. but I did start the day with a glazed knot ring doughnut, from my local bakery. And yesterday I did manage, on my 4th attempt to make caramel shards, which I used to make The Violet Bakery’s butterscotch blondies, which are very sticky and nice.
“I don’t want it to seem like
“I don’t want it to seem like I hate all cyclists…”
Is this a newer form of “I’m not racist but…”?
He’s a footballer. His plan
He’s a footballer. His plan for numbered bibs will run into trouble as soon as he gets past 10. Maybe 20 if he takes his socks off.
Mungecrundle wrote:
12 or 24 for his type.
BehindTheBikesheds wrote:
Hey! I’ve got friends from Bridgwater, you know.
hawkinspeter wrote:
Sandwich city!*
*(All in bread)
And congratulations for being one of the 5% who can spell it right.
I’m sure Frank has thought
I’m sure Frank has thought this through rigorously but surely numbered bibs would be wide open to fraud
Sadly Biggins wrote:
Yeah – I’d get bib numbered 69 (dude) and after jumping red lights, I could just turn it upside down and get away with it.
hawkinspeter wrote:
You might also get some attention from ladies who misunderstand your sign.
burtthebike wrote:
I don’t think there’ll be any misunderstanding.