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

Sadly Biggins wrote:

I'm sure Frank has thought this through rigorously but surely numbered bibs would be wide open to fraud

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:

Sadly Biggins wrote:

I'm sure Frank has thought this through rigorously but surely numbered bibs would be wide open to fraud

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.

You might also get some attention from ladies who misunderstand your sign.

burtthebike wrote:

hawkinspeter wrote:

Sadly Biggins wrote:

I'm sure Frank has thought this through rigorously but surely numbered bibs would be wide open to fraud

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.

You might also get some attention from ladies who misunderstand your sign.

I don't think there'll be any misunderstanding.

Mungecrundle wrote:

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.

12 or 24 for his type.

BehindTheBikesheds wrote:

Mungecrundle wrote:

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.

12 or 24 for his type.

Hey! I've got friends from Bridgwater, you know.

hawkinspeter wrote:

BehindTheBikesheds wrote:

Mungecrundle wrote:

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.

12 or 24 for his type.

Hey! I've got friends from Bridgwater, you know.

Sandwich city!*

*(All in bread)

And congratulations for being one of the 5% who can spell it right.

hirsute wrote:

Will the bib come with electric lighting? Good to know there are no hit and runs by any driver.

Yep: 100 per week motorised hit & runs in London alone. Maybe cars need bibs.

Quote:

Cyclists need to be held to the same standards that drivers are.

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:

Quote:

Cyclists need to be held to the same standards that drivers are.

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...

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.    

ChancerOnABike wrote:

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. 

I'd prefer brakes on the bike rather than any of the other advice.

McAvennie is ridiculed annually in a BBC Scotland comedy show broadcast at New Year.

The two things his character is identified as.

• Thick
• Notorious womaniser

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.