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news
Lord Robert Winston (CC licensed by Andy Miah via Flickr)Lord Robert Winston says a woman kicked him when he told her not to cycle on the pavement
Lord Winston’s not letting it lie. Days after being told by the Government that the costs and complexity of licensing cyclists would significantly outweigh the benefits, he says he’s considering introducing a private members' bill to force them to have number plates. He says a woman attacked him when he challenged her for riding on the pavement this week and that he didn’t report it because she is “impossible to identify.”
Last year, without citing evidence, Lord Winston claimed that cycle lanes have led to increased air pollution in London – something that was flatly rejected by the mayor. He has since been campaigning for cyclists to have licences and insurance.
After he tabled a question at the House of Lords, Winston was told that licensing and insurance were considered as part of the cycling and walking safety review in 2018.
Conservative peer Baroness Barran told him: “Over three million new cycles are sold each year. Licensing and insurance would require the establishment of a central register, and the government’s view is that this would be very cumbersome and expensive to administer.
“There is evidence that other countries that have trialled these schemes have then withdrawn them.”
But Winston is undeterred. This week he tried to support his position by telling The Times about a recent encounter with someone who had been riding on the pavement in Bloomsbury in London.
"I went up to her and told her very politely that it was against the law to cycle on the pavement and it was dangerous," he said.
“I thought she would apologise and walk off but she became very aggressive and was swearing. She snatched the telephone out of my hand and then threw it into the road. She then kicked me repeatedly.”
Two passers-by came to his aid and the woman – who he said was ‘clearly well-educated’ and in her late 30s or early 40s – rode away.
Winston said he had not reported the incident to police because it would be impossible to identify her.
"The requirement for number plates would mean cyclists who are blatantly breaking the law can be identified," he concluded.
Alex has written for more cricket publications than the rest of the road.cc team combined. Despite the apparent evidence of this picture, he doesn't especially like cake.
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69 comments
Had a mate who had a die cast s1999 eagle, with dropable tube. I was jealous.
I remember fun times playing with my Dinky.
To think I (once) admired this man.
What an out of touch fucktard he has become----senility?
Labour peer?
His gestational period has over-reached it's sell by date.
His ideaology is stillborn.
If I could punch someone in the mouth, he'd be top of the list.
Strip the nutty professor's lordship and professorship once in for all. His anti-cylist facist views and hatred for cyclists should be treated the same as all thee fuss over antisemitic. If only we could express our digust directly at him.
I don't think removing professorships over such things is a good idea. Academic freedom, and all that. It's not as if he's been publishing fraudulent research, he's been talking rubbish only in non-academic contexts.
But absolutely there are too many oddballs able to use a seat in the Lords as a platform for their personal cranky nonsense (cf Christopher Monckton). Whole thing needs reforming.
I eagerly anticipate the next installment of the vigilante lords.
Will he be attempting to "halt" motorists that are speeding or attempting to park on the pavement?
'Managed to halt a cyclist' does sound like an unprovoked assault on a lone female.
Probably on a shared path too, hence the lack of specific location.
I'm still struggling with the idea that 'she kicked me repeatedly'. Did he 'take it like a man' or something instead of moving away. Unless of course he had her in a full nelson and she was kicking his shins...
Electronic tags for all.
This will end all crime!
I like this idea.
What we need is some kind of electronic device that can always be located. However, probably the easiest way to do this is to have the device communicate with some stationary objects (probably tall towers which would be able to cover a large area) and then by triangulating the signal between 3 or more of these, the powers-that-be could easily locate the individual.
However, that kind of plan is going to be expensive. Who is going to pay for the triangulating towers? Who's going to pay for the electronic tag devices? How do you get everyone to carry around a locating device that would need to be re-charged every so often?
But who would, who COULD, invent such a gadget? I mean, we don't even have Moonbase Alpha yet...
That's just what THEY want you to think.
(Is it true that NASA actually stands for Need Another Squirrel Astronaut?)
la-sci-sn-mars-rat-curiosity-rover-nasa-man-in-001.jpg
Squirrels are pretty agile: I imagine they'd be pretty effective in microgravity. Or hilarious. Or both...
(You realise that Space:1999 was set *twenty years ago*??)
But, do you realise that it's been about 16 years since Drusilla (played by the daughter of Martin Landau and Barbara Bain) appeared in Buffy?
But, do you realise that it's been about 16 years since Drusilla (played by the daughter of Martin Landau and Barbara Bain) appeared in Buffy?
[/quote]
Youngsters all! Your erudite post reminds me that its 40 years since Drusilla (played by Theresa Ann Savoy) appeared in the buff.
A quick google also reminds me that Caligula was directed by Tinto Brass and is to be re edited by Alexander Tuschinsky,all of which brings us nicely back on topic...Sir Robert is a bit of an arse!
Yes, I wouldn't have been old enough to see Caligula when it came out.
Alexander Tuschinsky? Didn't he make a little known film from 2008 called Killereichhörnchen? (Known in english as Killer Squirrels)
Yes, I wouldn't have been old enough to see Caligula when it came out.
Alexander Tuschinsky? Didn't he make a little known film from 2008 called Killereichhörnchen? (Known in english as Killer Squirrels)
[/quote
Little known in some circles, but to the cognoscenti, a seminal work!
(Peter, I bow humbly to the breadth of trivia you have squirreled away.)
Hadn't known Juliet Landau was related to Martin. Huh.
How about that Joss 'Buffy' Whedons Firefly came out seventeen years ago.
Erm, and that the original design for the Millennium Falcon in the original Star Wars had to be changed because it was too similar to the Eagles from S1999, which was new in TV at the time.
Sorry: lost track: what were we talking about?
I did not know about the Millenium Falcon/Space 1999 connection. Even the name is a rip-off 1999->Millenium, Eagle->Falcon.
Did you know that 20 years ago The Matrix came out? (Why did they never make any sequels to that?)
And Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure is 30!
(On the Eagle/Falcon - the original design got rejigged around a lot, and ended up being used as Leia's ship - Tantive IV; its also why the apparent interior layout inside the Falcon bears so little relationship to the final shape of the ship.
Give me a Serenity any day, where they at least made some effort to fit the interior into the exterior model!
)
You can't take the sky from me!
f3SJjjC.jpg
Y'know, it occurs to me that that particular quote could be applied to all sorts of modern political situations...
you're over-complicating this. For centuries - at least since the time of Salem, and into the 20th century and beyond - it has been perfectly easy to ask people to keep an eye on their neighbours, friends and family and whenever they do something undesirable to let the authorities know, and they will deal with them accordingly.
Maybe a phone app then?
Something like Facebook but you have foes instead of friends.
Once you've achieved this ambitious task, do you think you could devise a plan so the cameras are carried so that we can have visual reports on what people are doing to provide support evidence of crimes/antisocial behaviour/cyclists.
It'd be asking too much to get people to voluntarily pay for and carry the tracking devices and then have them carry a camera all the time too. I mean, what's next - get everyone carrying microphones and 6-axis gyroscopes?
I do wonder why this man's views are even reported. If other politicians are actually standing up for something that benefits cycling, he should realize he has no hope whatsoever of having his dreams fulfilled.
Sadly, and the last 3 years ought to be evidence enough,there are plenty of buffoons in parliament who would agree with him, and vote it through on the nod if it came to it, you actually need people in both houses to be actively against stuff like this for it not to come to pass, and who could name an MP/peer actively engaged in cyclists interests? The parliamentary cycling group ought to be making as much noise about this to counter his claims.but there is nothing is there?
Ben Bradshaw, MP for Exeter. Google him.
yep the chair of the parliamentary cycling group, and has he issued any statements lately on this that have been lost in the noise of Brexit ? or from the All Party group ? their twitter feed just retweets Road.ccs articles, and also the news article in the Guardian, in fact youd be forgiven for thinking the amount of retweets Prof Winston got from them this week, all offered without stating their own policy view on it, they dont wholly disagree with the noble lords suggestions on this.
its no good simply saying you are in support of cycling as a thing, or be a member of a group who like to promote cycling, youve got to campaign as passionately & as actively for cycling as those that are against it, make as much noise as those detractors, not let nonsense ideas like this gain a foothold.
because this is the kind of stuff that gets passed into law all too easily in times when governments are distracted by other things, because it never feels quite as important for them to focus on the detail and it probably matches alot of their biases and would be a sparesly attended debate, look how quickly they decided new laws for dangerous cycling were needed of from one mans campaign and how not quickly they are bothering with the full review on driving part.
there is a steady stream of stories on Road.cc highlighting the appalling lack of understanding and knowledge of any form of cycling that politicians from all parties and at all levels have, and these people end up making decisions on cycling that affect us all
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