“My first ride of the year resulted in five drivers reported”: Cyclist shares pictures of five close passes; 19-year-old British rider comes close to winning first stage at Tour Down Under; Peter Sagan does wheelies with fan + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
“He hasn’t forgotten how to do a wheelie”: Fan meets Peter Sagan and does wheelies with him
It’s not every day that you meet a pro cycling legend, and not just that — but also get to do wheelies with him.
“Finally got to meet Peter Sagan in San Diego, thanks for stopping by and riding with us!” the fan wrote on Instagram.
It’s no Alpe d’Huez, but a wheelie from Sagan? I’ll take one anywhere — maybe even on the dancefloor.
“He came zooming past me”: 19-year-old British “super talent” Matthew Brennan almost pips Sam Welsford for victory at stage one of Tour Down Under
After a thoroughly entertaining women’s race in the scorching Australian sun, the men’s Tour Down Under kicked off last night, and Red Bull–Bora–Hansgrohe’s Sam Welsford picked up where he left off in 2024 — smashing the doors down of the 2025 men’s road racing season with a well-taken victory in the bunch sprint.
The home rider, who won the points jersey last year with three wins in the six-day tour, never looked in doubt before the final few hundred metres of the finish line, with the peloton making their way through a tricky serpentine section before the riders geared up for the sprint.
Although Welsford looked in control of the sprint, the 19-year-old British prodigy Matthew Brennan came very close to raining on his parade, the Visma–Lease a Bike rider who was promoted from its Continental to WorldTour squad this year, announcing himself to the world in stellar fashion.
“I had someone on my wheel and I was keeping them in check, and I didn’t actually notice the left,” Welsford said after the race. “I went to stop and salute, but I [had gone] pretty long, so I didn’t have much legs left. I should have realised that it was a really fast downhill sprint at the end.
“I thought I had it, but [Brennan] came at such a pace — I thought my front wheel was over the line, but then he came zooming past me, and I thought ‘maybe I mucked that up’, but I was happy to get it.”
FIRST WIN OF THE SEASON 🔥
Sam Welsford takes the first WorldTour win of 2025 at the Tour Down Under 👏 pic.twitter.com/RkeGB1BOoo
— Eurosport (@eurosport) January 21, 2025
Meanwhile, Brennan is already proving himself to be a top talent at 19 years of age (I swear they keep getting younger), the Giro Next Gen stage winner even feeling “a little frustrated” not to come away with the win.
“It’s a really nice result but it would be nice to win,” he said. “It’s really nice being the young riders’ jersey. That’s something that we’re going for this year as a team. But it would always be nice to come first.”
“Sprinting is freakin’ hectic, innit?”
Well, get used to it, young lad!
Dylan van Baarle suffers broken collarbone in Tour Down Under crash
After the dramatic crash which overshadowed pro cycling’s return at Tour Down Under crit, the first stage of the men’s Tour Down Under was a relatively tumble-free affair. However, there was one crash with just a few kilometres to go, and the victim was Visma–Lease a Bike’s Dylan van Baarle.
The team said this morning: “Dylan van Baarle was involved in a crash in the final kilometres of today’s stage. Examinations after the finish line have revealed that he has broken his collarbone and he will not be able to start tomorrow.
This is a tough setback, but we know Dylan is a fighter who will come back stronger than ever. Looking forward to that moment already.”
A Colnago road bike and two Specialized mountain bikes amongst other valuables stolen by thieves from Juan Sebastián Molano’s house in Colombia
UAE Team Emirates XRG rider Juan Sebastián Molano was the latest victim of a robbery as thieves raided his house in La Trinidad, Boyacá in Colombia, stealing three bikes and other valuable items, totalling up to thousands of euros.
The two-time Vuelta a España stage winner is preparing for the next season with his brother Julián in Dubai, and the house was empty when a bunch of thieves broke into it, according to El Tiempo.
> UAE Team Emirates pro Juan Sebastián Molano hit head-on by motorist while training
The Molano family later reported that a Colnago road bike belonging to UAE Team Emirates XRG and two Specialized mountain bikes were among the stolen items, which also included household appliances, cycling jerseys, and various other accessories. They called on the cycling community to at least recover the three bikes that were taken from their home.
Israel-Premier Tech cycling team face more protests at Tour Down Under as campaigners call for "no sport with apartheid"
road.cc Recommends Bikes of the Year 2024/25: the best road bikes
From sportive bikes to full-on race bikes, it’s time to find out which are the best road-focused bikes we’ve reviewed over the past 12 months…
> road.cc Recommends Bikes of the Year 2024/25: the best road bikes
“This is deeply disappointing but unsurprising”: Labour councillors call for “halting” of traffic filters, claiming they have “turned neighbours against one another”
Traffic calming systems have always been a sore point in Oxford, with acts of violent vandalism and arson such as setting planters on fire and ripping apart bollards a frequent occurrence in the last few years. In October 2023, anti-low traffic neighbourhood took the streets to ironically block traffic, with angry protesters claiming that the traffic-calming measures have increased congestion and that they “can’t get on bikes”.
Now, Oxford Clarion has shared on Bluesky that Oxford Labour’s local leader Liz Brighouse has called for the process of installing traffic filters in the city to be “halted”.
She said: “Oxford residents are united in recognising that traffic is a major problem. But debates on what to do about it have turned neighbours against one another.”
Labour has called for the upcoming Oxford traffic filters to be “halted”. Its local leader Liz Brighouse said “Oxford residents are united in recognising that traffic is a major problem. But debates on what to do about it have turned neighbours against one another.”
— Oxford Clarion (@oxfordclarion.bsky.social) 21 January 2025 at 07:25
Labour said that there needs to be “continued conversations on the future of Low Traffic Neighbourhoods, implying “in the first instance, that means removing the Crowell Road LTN”. The party also suggested that “the county council needs to speed up re-opening the Cowley and Witney railway lines to passengers”.
Green party candidate for Parks division, Oxford and sustainability researcher at the University of Oxford, Emma Garnett, said on social media: “This is deeply disappointing but unsurprising from Oxford Labour. You can’t tackle traffic without tackling the number of cars on the road and improving public transport.”
"The strategy suggesting that cyclists 'should be more courteous and move to the left for faster-moving traffic' has strangely never been adopted by drivers"
The strategy suggesting that cyclists ‘should be more courteous and move to the left for faster-moving traffic’ has strangely never been adopted by drivers.
— Bob From Accounts 🚲 (@bobfromaccounts.bsky.social) 20 January 2025 at 12:15
Cameron Mason, Zoe Bäckstedt, Imogen Wolff, and Cat Ferguson selected to represent Great Britain at 2025 UCI Cyclocross World Championships in Liévin
The 2025 UCI Cyclocross World Championships are just two weeks away from kicking off in Liévin, France from Friday 31st January to Sunday 2nd February, and British Cycling has announced 11 riders to represent Team Great Britain.
Three-time national champion Cameron Mason will spearhead the elite men’s race. The 24-year-old rider, who has had three top-10 world cup finishes so far this season, will be joined by Thomas Mein, who delivered a world cup best position of sixth place in Besançon in December.
The under-23 women’s category is stacked with Zoe Bäckstedt aiming to defend her U23 women’s title. The 20-year-old is already on the back of a terrific season, having finished in the top 10 of every world cup race she’s entered, even finishing on the podium thrice.
Having missed a chunk of the cyclocross season due to injury, Cat Ferguson will be looking to make her mark in her first year at under-23 level, after securing the junior women’s silver medal in 2024. National bronze medallist Imogen Wolff will also be pushing for a podium position, alongside Ella Maclean-Howell.
Back-to-back national champion Oscar Amey will compete in the junior men’s category, having had a promising season so far with three top 10 performances in the junior world cups. Making his world championship debut alongside him will be national championship silver medallist Milo Willis.
All three of Great Britain’s junior women will be making their world championship debut in Liévin, with Arabella Blackburn, Zoe Roche and Ellie Mitchinson looking to earn their stripes on the world stage.
Matt Ellis, Great Britain Cycling Team Cyclocross Co-ordinator, said: “We have a fantastic squad of promising riders heading to the world championships this year, ready to take on an interesting course and show their talent on the world stage.
“We have a fantastic range of experience from cyclocross veterans to debutants looking to gain experience on the biggest stage, all supporting each other and ready to represent Great Britain with pride and determination.
“Having this level of strength and depth across the programme to take 11 riders to a world championships is a credit to the talent teams and coaching staff that support these riders to become the best in their sport and I’m looking forward to seeing what they can deliver in competition.”
Police force admits bike thefts "unlikely to ever be solved" after spoof sign pokes fun at station's "Bicycle Redistribution Point"
Rouvy acquires FulGaz from The Ironman Group, also announces multi-year partnership with Ironman
Indoor cycling platform Rouvy has acquired FulGaz from The Ironman Group, a strategic move to enhance its position in the competitive virtual training market. The integration brings FulGaz’s extensive collection of immersive ride simulations to Rouvy’s augmented reality platform, offering riders more variety and realism during their training sessions.
The deal also coincides with a multi-year partnership naming Rouvy as the Official Digital Sports Platform for Ironman events. This partnership will provide triathletes with courses replicating Ironman events, tailored workout plans, and realistic training environments.
Former users of FulGaz — the indoor cycling app with thousands of real-world routes from around the world, including Ironman and Ironman 70.3 courses — will gain access to Rouvy’s augmented routes, interactive features, and gamified elements, enhancing their training experience. Similarly, Rouvy users will benefit from an even larger route library, offering lifelike race simulations and opportunities to prepare for iconic events like the Ironman World Championships.
Petr Samek, co-founder and CEO of Rouvy, said: “We’re at an especially exciting stage of development, growing organically due the engaging and high-quality riding experience our platform provides but also, fortunately, in a position to capitalise on pivotal opportunities as and when they arise.
“In our discussions with Ironman about forming a multi-year partnership, it became apparent that FulGaz would be one such opportunity, so we’re delighted to announce the news of this acquisition and the bringing together of two of the best-loved virtual cycling platforms in the world.”
Scott DeRue, CEO of The Ironman Group said: “We are on a mission to inspire our athletes and elevate their experience on race day and every day in between. In this pursuit, we are investing in innovation and partnering with leading brands that can help us enrich the athlete experience.
“Over the last few years, Rouvy has been on the leading edge of revolutionizing the indoor cycling platform, and with their technology and commitment to innovation, we will elevate the athletes’ virtual training experience to an entirely new level. Pairing our iconic Ironman and Ironman 70.3 routes with Rouvy’s seamless user experience, immersive technology, and unparalleled data analytics, we will help both novice and experienced triathletes perform at their very best and have a lot of fun doing it.”
Rouvy also said that it will be present onsite at Ironman and Ironman 70.3 races throughout the season, serving as the naming partner for transition areas and aiming to provide an enhanced experience to athletes.
Near Miss of the Day 919: Driver makes shockingly pointless close pass on cyclist... and is found not guilty in court
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If you're cycling in the UK. But just be careful about picking up discarded perfume bottles, watch who you drink tea with, don't cycle near Russian warships etc.
Vittoria Corsa NeXT are the answer for anyone who actually isn’t pro. Still better than Conti GP5000’s, more durable, better ride feel and better price. …the best way to not pay too much? Buy something else.
I'm am more at threat from dangerous drivers than I am from russian snipers
But again, it's irrelevant to the argument.
The thing that makes cycling more dangerous (among others) is poor skill and situational awareness. Both of which will be exacerbated by this thing full of screens sensors and other distractions which will do nothing to help a novice ride better.
Good to hear that people are keen and they won't be doing the Lambeth Walk if they can help it. Now, can we have a rule that new buildings (that the government wants more of built) have to include decent cycle storage space? Like in NL? (Of course not - that would be insanity as nobody cycles, and anyway Nige and Kemi and anyone else will be shouting "nanny state" and "government overreach". And frankly the planning process is a giant hot mess as it is and we're already worried about being slated for missing housing targets ...)
Those wheels are certainly a major advance in road safety for squirrels trying to cross the road.
@momove maybe they mean "more pure cycling *marketing*"?
It needs to read license plates, look them up, and tell you the registered owner has 26 prior driving offences. Ideally it would remotely hack their car and turn the engine off. Driver: I only get 'undred yards down road and another one of those bloody smart bikes shuts me down. Took me two hours to get t' pub.
Shurely one of those Zwift bikes is safer? As long as you get medical approval before use, always wear a helmet in case you fall off and don't put it near a wall that someone might inadvertently drive a motor vehicle through.
45 thoughts on ““My first ride of the year resulted in five drivers reported”: Cyclist shares pictures of five close passes; 19-year-old British rider comes close to winning first stage at Tour Down Under; Peter Sagan does wheelies with fan + more on the live blog”
“If you have video evidence
“If you have video evidence of dangerous and inconsiderate driving you can submit it to the West Yorkshire Police OpSnap team who are dedicated to making our roads safer.”
Well, you might be lucky and get a decent officer who understands cycling and, you know, the actual law regarding cycling and road use. You might not be so lucky. If you are really unlucky, you get prosecuted yourself because you swear as a car close passes you.
Remember kids – delete the audio from any files that contain swearing.
Had this last year. Driver
Had this last year. Driver took it to court, he didnt bother to turn up and the Magistrates spent more time talking about my swearing and what they considered my aggresive response to the close pass than the close pass itself. I readily admitted I was extremely upset since the car had been sitting behind me reving his engine for a good few minutes before the close pass (which was millimeters). They then admonished me for swearing – they also didnt like it when I asked what their reaction would have been if I had charged at them with a hammer in my hand. Driver was found not gulity. After the verdict it was then disclosed that the driver had had numerous runins with the police/other members of the public for speeding/careless driving/drink driving and was serving a ban already.
So from the above I learnt to delete the audio files when submitting claims and make no reaction / take no action if I am subjected to close passes (which is a least once on each journey of my commute from south london into the city).
Anybody who says there is a war on motorists is deluded. There is a war but its one that vunerable road users are casulties of
every day.
ceebee247 wrote:
I was told by the met that because I didn’t swerve they said that the close pass didn’t affect me, and used that as justification for NFA. So it helps to swerve but not to swear. They expect you to react but only in specific ways that they deem acceptable. Does this apply to victims of other offences I wonder such as when someone is stabbed? Or is it entirely ridiculous police nonsense to avoid having to prosecute anyone because allegedly they can’t actually be bothered.?
I was told by the met that
I was told by the met that because I didn’t swerve they said that the close pass didn’t affect me, and used that as justification for NFA
This is the police dodge recently described on here as ‘cyclist must demonstrate that he has been inconvenienced by the close pass’. Start swerving as a result, and you’ll be under the wheels- which is an outcome they’d be happy with because police officers are anti-cyclist bastards! If only I’d swerved eh?
https://upride.cc/incident/sk19evw_stagecoach42_closepass/
https://upride.cc/incident/sc19usu_brosterbuilders_closepass/
https://upride.cc/incident/yx74soj_greenpass_closepass/
https://upride.cc/incident/ca11abd_blackpoolboilers_closepass/
It can only be dumb police
It can only be dumb police who’ve never ridden a bike who’ve come up with this swerving nonsense.
Unfortunately, you’ll find
Unfortunately, you’ll find the vast majority of the decisions made by the ‘police’ in these instances are actually made by civilians employed to deal with this kind of ‘admin’.
the vast majority of the
the vast majority of the decisions made by the ‘police’ in these instances are actually made by civilians
Even if true, this is irrelevant – Filth aren’t permitted to dodge out of trouble with “nothing to do with us, squire!”
I thought civilians processed
I thought civilians processed all the work around the submissions,filtered the obviously no action ones, sent the letters out etc, but the choice of NIP or not had to be made by a police officer.
else they could just literally just hire more civillians to do this or even use AI to deal with it.
stonojnr wrote:
Interesting point ref processing resources. Just yesterday I had a phone call from an actual Op Snap review team member. I’ve spent a few years submitting footage, usually only doing the worst ones as I’d kind of worked out that the threshold for a response of “letter sent to keeper regarding driving standards” or “offence(s) identified, NIP sent, keep the footage” resulted from near death experiences. Usually nothing meaning NFA.
So I picked up, don’t usually answer withheld numbers but I did because I’d been dealing with guarantor paperwork on daughter’s student accommodation so thought it may be that. Anyway he introduced himself as Op Snap review team and asked if any of the other riders or I had front facing footage as the recent clip was “definitely reckless or careless driving” and before proceeding to next step, wanted to know if I’d be sure to attend court if it came to it, because, due to not just being “due care and attention” the driver would probably contest it because of the potential outcome.
He said “I don’t know where to start, overtaking when cyclists are turning right, on a blind hill summit, on a junction, forcing oncoming traffic to brake to avoid a head-on, they’re definitely getting done for something” – and it’s going to be processed anyway regardless of additional camera evidence.
We got chatting, he said he was a front line officer for many years, now back office staff and just started semi-retirement job on the Op Snap desk. Also mentioned he was a cyclist too (?) and in his experience, cyclists and motorcyclists make better drivers.
So it seems in my area at least, that the civvies on the Op Snap desk are not just footage review droids, they seem to be made up of former officers with experience who actually care.
In summary I was very encouraged by this, especially as he said “keep them coming, tell your club mates to use cameras if they can”
Result I think. Memory card removed, labelled and stored for the next 6 months.
Could you let us know which
Could you let us know which police force this is.
Dorset, and their Op Snap
Dorset, and their Op Snap portal also covers Devon & Cornwall.
wtjs wrote:
It was Gloucestershire and here is the link to the article
https://road.cc/content/news/close-pass-isnt-offence-says-police-officer-310433
And here are a few examples to confirm that the opinion is adhered to
https://road.cc/content/news/near-miss-day-786-293709
https://road.cc/content/news/near-miss-day-779-293395
https://road.cc/content/news/near-miss-day-603-overtaking-driver-squeezes-cyclist-284461
And finally one where the police officer actually says I’ve been inconvenienced but still no action.
https://road.cc/content/news/nmotd-674-driver-inconveniences-cyclist-288521
Although they have now admitted that that was a mistake when I questioned it.
Excellent group of links,
Excellent group of links, Bungle! Thanks. They will go into my list for the probably doomed attempt to expose the bloody awful and anti-cyclist police.
It [the police dodge recently
It [the police dodge recently described on here as ‘cyclist must demonstrate that he has been inconvenienced by the close pass’] was Gloucestershire and here is the link to the article
So, has Gloucestershire police actually prosecuted anybody for close-passing you? (This question is, of course, from Lancashire which has never prosecuted and has long since ceased responding in any way to reports from people who annoy them by keeping detailed records!)
Have the officers stated in writing that any of these dismissed cases resulted in the joke advice letter or the even more joke words of advice? Your series of links to stories and videos on here demonstrates the evolution and development of the Gloucestershire ‘inconvenienced’ dodge- where they have decided beforehand that there’s going to be no prosecution for close-passing cyclists no matter how close or how fast, and they’re looking for an easy formal way to write that down without much effort. They have invented the term because of a complete lack of cycling empathy- in other words, they’re not cyclists and have no intention of either cycling or considering what it’s like to be on the receiving end of attacks like these, or they wouldn’t be using the dismissive word ‘inconvenienced’ and the stupid ‘the driver had to close pass you because of the entirely unforeseeable event that traffic might come along in the other lane’
https://upride.cc/incident/ca70mkc_citroenvan_closepass/
https://upride.cc/incident/du61vhj_stuartbraithwaitebuilders_dwlcrossclosepass/
https://upride.cc/incident/pn14msx_coachcarpetsducato_closepass/
https://upride.cc/incident/g6noope10zvf_vwaudi_veryclosepass/
https://upride.cc/incident/yj60kgzar12way_brethertonsarchwaybuses_closepass/
wtjs wrote:
Not as far as I know. The only points and fine I have been told about so far was a pass on a blind bend. I was out in the middle of the lane as I knew it would be unsafe to pass but sure enough a driver behind attempted it just before a supermarket delivery driver appeared round the bend. I had room to move in but the oncoming driver had to pull in and stop to avoid being hit. I strongly suspect that it was the inconveniencing of the driver that caused the prosecution but I can’t be sure. I have had a few with warning letters and recently some advisory letters but not for close passes. There are quite a few reports where they have said they would take action but they were less than a year ago so I haven’t asked for the outcomes yet.
Here is a still of a recent close pass that I reported hoping for an advisory. It didn’t get one. I did question it and was told that the driver was on the other side of the road so what more could they do. I didn’t reply saying that they should obey rule 153 and not overtake other moving road users in a traffic calming area and allow cyclists to pass through traffic calming measures. Not to mention leave enough room.
The difference between Lancashire and Gloucestershire is that Gloucestershire let me know what they have done and why. Their reasoning is wrong in the view of a great many people but at least they are doing what they believe to be right and judging by the outcomes of some court cases on here they may, unfortunately, have a point.
The only acceptable response
The only acceptable response is to pick yourself up, apologise to the driver for delaying them (if they stopped) and then report the incident when you get home.
ceebee247 wrote:
…and i would imagine the Magistrates also didn’t issue a warrant for the drivers arrest as he was ‘driving whilst disqualified’. However, that should have been picked up by the prosecution!
I submit my close passes to
I submit my close passes to Warwickshire police’s Op Snap.
I always get a response. Last year there were 5 NFA’s, 63 letters concerning driving (e.g. close pass, consideration etc.) and 44 NIP’s
Cynics might say that letters don’t do any good, but apart from 2 cars, I have had no repeats in the 3 years I have submitted videos. My ‘rides’ are a 3 mile commute at about the same time each day each way, so a lot of cars have passed me multiple times.
“My first ride of the year
“My first ride of the year resulted in five drivers reported”: Cyclist shares pictures of five close passes from one ride.
If this happened to a new cyclist, they’d never ride on the road again. Which is why we all need to use cameras and to report this kind of driving to get these incompetent, inconsiderate and dangerous drivers off the road.
Well done Bikery, and keep up the good work.
I’m not seeing evidence it’s
I’m not seeing evidence it’s having an effect, even if all police forces were taking an interest, and we know they all don’t.
I probably get 2 per ride on average, and that’s with a pass pixi displayed. 5 wouldn’t be unusual if i counted similar equivalence to those car passes shared as they look fairly,sad to say, standard distance passes to me.
The only time I have
The only time I have submitted one I got an email saying “Following identification of the driver a decision will be made as to a suitable disposal for the offence.
We are unable to provide any future updates on your case. The only time you would be contacted further is if we needed to check your availability for a potential court hearing”
So I assume they did nothing when someone in an SUV was sick of waiting for me to overtake parked cars on their side of the road and just drove at me.
My first ride of the year on
My first ride of the year on Friday resulted in five drivers reported for close passes which in turn has led to five Notices of Intended Prosecution being sent to the owners/drivers
Now, Bikery, try and find out what happened in those NIP cases, and tell us!
I am in the States and use a
I am in the States and use a camera for >when<, not if I am hit / knocked off my bike. Here, submitting evidence of a close pass is meaningless, because if the police didn’t see it (& it had to be a gross violation —- you didn’t get hit did you?), it didn’t happen. —- too many variables — so they say!
Just like Police Scotland
Just like Police Scotland
Didn’t realise that Dylan van
Didn’t realise that Dylan van Baarle had rejoined Ineos for this season.
Great signing…
Quote:
Is that ‘always’ as in ‘since Twitter’? (Anything before that being the age of myths and legends, rather than real history.)
There seem to be so many
There seem to be so many people who don’t understand that the concept of the “15 minute city” is a good and aspirational thing: it’s not the same as the bl00dy Warsaw Ghetto
it’s not the same as the
it’s not the same as the bl00dy Warsaw Ghetto
To the average Tory hyper-junk press reader, being hindered in driving and parking where you like, when you like IS THE SAME as being in the Warsaw Ghetto!
brooksby wrote:
Apparently despite certain people decrying the “woke agenda” we need to “wake up” to the fact that this is “basically the same” and those who are keen on this are “literal nazis”? Because the 3rd Reich or something – AND they had bicycle troops! As well as … er … building autobahns? And bringing us the Volkswagen (is that right)? And … making the trains run on time?
No, what we should be doing is asserting our independence and ensuring our future by … er… importing lots of fuel (oil, gas, electricity) and motor vehicles … er, and building a richer, fairer society by continuing to build our public spaces, housing, amenities, jobs and culture around only being able to access these by travelling 5+ miles (but sometimes a lot more) and doing so at 30mph+. (But you have to get a lift if you’re young, or have certain disabilities).
(Sign up now for our finance deal on a brand new w@**panzer and stick it to The Man!)
But anyway, it’ll drive “growth” and bring in billions to our treasury (er…), as opposed to wasting money on providing for a few idiots’ hobby [1] [2].
Or even the original venetian
Or even the original venetian ghetto.
“This is deeply disappointing
“This is deeply disappointing but unsurprising”: Labour councillors call for “halting” of traffic filters, claiming they have “turned neighbours against one another”
Or, in plain English “We’re giving in to the petrolhead thugs.” Depressing.
AFAIK, all the surveys of LTNs shows that the residents are overwhelmingly in favour, so the people against them either don’t live there or are a small minority. Good to see that labour doesn’t believe in democracy.
Well the boss did say that
Well the boss did say that they were on the side of the drivers (albeit while disguising himself in somewhat blue-ish clothes, if not purple).
I wouldn’t say Labour have ever been particularly keen on active travel in my experience. (Pity their road safety initiative from back when wasn’t maintained though). They might be a bit more keen on public transport? Other than that my impression is generally it’s more “it isn’t fair that only the mill owner gets to have a car – tradesmen should be able to drive also!”
(Obviously there is a great deal of variation within political movements on such “minor” issues as transport, never mind active travel…)
“Thè issue is splitting our
“Thè issue is splitting our voters off to Greens and Remain and we’d like to put that cat back into the bag”
Scott DeRue, CEO of The
…which is rather a change of tack from a couple of years ago, when they ended their previous partnership with Rouvy, and pulled all their routes and assets off and took them over to Fulgaz.
mdavidford wrote:
The staff at FulGaz got a shit sandwich in the deal.
DC Rainmaker has made a very good summary of events here:
https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2025/01/ironman-fulgaz-plenty.html
tl;dr
Events company buys virtual cycling platform in the middle of a global pandemic as a hedge because nobody is doing triathlons.
Events company realises that running a software platform is harder than it looks, and triathletes are only interested in structured workouts by numbers.
Events company sacks everyone working for said platform, hands over the assets to a rival established system.
Events company tries to get key staff back when new owner finds they’re needed to integrate the content and user base.
It is not often that we read
It is not often that we read or hear the words…
(I don’t ever remember it.)
“… was given a lifetime driving ban … “
Can we refer to this case now as one that sets the standard for that punishment?
Though I wonder if this would have seen a different outcome if the victim was a cyclist.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c1m5en9l818o
mitsky wrote:
According to BBC:
While the sentence is a (very rare) good start … am I missing something here? This seems pretty harsh given what we know the common sentencing is.
Driving while disqualified doesn’t seem to be seen as particularly aggravating (on its own it seems to get “don’t do it again, or we’ll tell you not to again”).
The driver was not said to be going faster than 70mph. It seems they were barely twice the speed limit.
Plus there was no mention that they were obviously drunk and high, or that they bragged about this on social media. In fact I’m a little surprised they were jailed – they didn’t kill the victim, they were driving on the road not the footway or into a building… I believe other cases have covered some of those bases with lesser sentences.
(Of course a lifetime ban here is also likely futile given the odds of being caught – very low – the punishment for same – minimal – and the fact this man already ignored a ban. The latter would be slightly ameliorated if only they might quickly get stopped and sent back to prison…)
A ban is no deterrent when
A ban is no deterrent when the driver involved was already banned though…
Agreed, we have seen plenty
Agreed, we have seen plenty of other examples of driving whilst already banned so it is clearly not a deterrent for some people.
But fingers crossed that this lifetime ban will have some effect as we can hope that if it does flout it then it will face more serious consequences…
Luckily a) it has to be
Luckily a) it has to be proved it was you driving (obviously in Scotland you could just claim you have no memory of that! Although I believe you can’t simply dodge by saying you didn’t know you were banned as this is an absolute offence – but I am not a lawyer). And:
b) All the penalties seem to have the words “up to (certain penalty)” – which phrase clearly implies “zero” or “nothing” is an option! AND there is the “hardship” defence!
Re the Cyclocross WC, how
Re the Cyclocross WC, how come Xan Crees & Anna Kay haven’t been selected for the women’s elite race?
Are they not good enough according to the wonderful British Cycling? BC must have been beeling when Crees beat Cat Ferguson at the nationals.
More pathetic crap from BC.
It would appear that soon you
It would appear that soon you will be more likely to be banned from driving for benefit fraud than for a driving offence.
It’s OK though, because it
It’s OK though, because it doesn’t matter why you were banned; ignoring the ban is unlikely to cause you problems! And even if you are caught, unlikely to lead to serious sanction.
Perhaps the Association of Bad Drivers should be campaigning to stop honest upstanding banned British drivers being damned by association with benefit cheats?
I first heard this early this
I first heard this early this morning, and thought I’d misheard until it was repeated later. Since I ascribe to the tenet of the punishment fitting the crime, this seems ridiculous to me. Besides, it won’t just be the person involved who’s punished, it’s potentially their family.
Why not remove licences from tax evaders? I think we all know why not.
eburtthebike wrote:
The tax evaders can just pay someone to drive them around. Losing their licence wouldn’t affect them in the slightest.
Bigger impact on the tax evaders would be to stop them having right of free passage at borders: stop them being allowed to leave the country or allowed to come back in if they were overseas at the time.