“We are not a nation of motorists”: Led By Donkeys projects moving 20mph speed limit video onto Houses of Parliament, after PM’s pledge to end “war” against drivers; Hi-vis victim-blaming; When you win a race without noticing + more on the live blog

94 thoughts on ““We are not a nation of motorists”: Led By Donkeys projects moving 20mph speed limit video onto Houses of Parliament, after PM’s pledge to end “war” against drivers; Hi-vis victim-blaming; When you win a race without noticing + more on the live blog”

1. For me, what Cav missed out

   For me, what Cav missed out on this year was not the extra TdF stage win (no one who doesn’t already think he’s a great sprinter is going to think he’s a great sprinter because of one more win, and no one who doesn’t already think he’s a better all-round cyclist than Merckx (which he’s not) is going to think he’s a better cyclist than Merckx because of one more stage win). What he missed out on was the tearful, processional farewell on the Champs-Élysées with fans and other cyclists giving him a proper send-off. Unfortunately this won’t happen in 2024 either because the final stage is a time trial in Nice but it’ll be better than this year’s exit at least.

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   • You’re assuming he’ll get

     You’re assuming he’ll get there.

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2. Sunak wrote:

   For those in rural areas, it is a lifeline

   — Sunak

   One wonders how people in rural areas survived until the car was invented.
   It must have been absolutely grueling doing the 5+ mile journey to the nearest supermarket…

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   • “Ah… but before the car

     “Ah… but before the car they only survived in rural areas because they couldn’t get into town!”

     If you go back say 100 years plus it turns out that quite a few people still spend a lot of time commuting (e.g. maybe walking an hour to the mine before you even started your shift).  The expansion of mass cycling (around say the 1920s on) may have represented a rare drop in enforced commuting time – until it started to go back up when the roads got busier with cars / it became “normal” to drive an hour or so to access better work opportunities.

     (It was never planned, but replacing the “freedom to breathe and not get run over, but at the same time possibly starve / not be able to access amenities / get bored” with the “freedom to travel … for hours a day and spend a long time in queues, while also paying a chunk of money for the priveledge” has actually turned out to be a genius move in keeping the peasants from revolt while still extracting money from them.  Unfortunately it turns out that there’s been an explosion in the peasant population AND all the peasants want a car now which has caused some small additional issues)

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   • It’s almost as if it would be
     It’s almost as if it would be better that people had what they needed within a 15 min walk…

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   • Before widespread car

     Before widespread car ownership, the “15 minute city “already existed, even in rural locations, when there were local shops, rural buses, local post offices, banks etc.

     Today, High streets have suffered due to large out-of-town supermarkets, banks are online, rural bus services are no longer economic, and children can no longer walk or cycle to school on their own, because the roads are too dangerous, full of speeding motorists due to the lack of Policing.

     To the majority of voters, the car is now the essential and only form of transport [well, that is how they perceive it!!!!].

     Labour are also chasing the same voters, so don’t hold your breath for any radical policies from them.

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     • Trevor Anderson wrote:

       Labour are also chasing the same voters, so don’t hold your breath for any radical policies from them.

       — Trevor Anderson

       Yep – all the vox pops I’ve heard / read recently simply have the government doing the usual polical “say things which you can’t actually pin us on” (like “baying packs of cyclists dragging drivers from their cars and setting about them has got to stop!” or “Some Local Authorities seem to think that they should have the power to ban motorists from driving for longer than they can hold their breath – we fundamentally disagree”)

       So irrelevant stuff but they have been flirting with lending support to complete lies.

       However Labour is not challenging or disagreeing with these – they’re actually tacitly accepting the arguments but just responding “… but the government’s response is too little, too late – this government has so far done nothing to protect motorists from these lycra louts”.  Or “well a Conservative government has presided over there being speed limits for the last 12 years – and you shouldn’t hold your breath if you think they will address the fact that working people pay for their cars, whereas Mr. Sunak gets his limo for free…”

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   • Car Delenda Est wrote:

     For those in rural areas, it is a lifeline

     — Car Delenda Est

     One wonders how people in rural areas survived until the car was invented. It must have been absolutely grueling doing the 5+ mile journey to the nearest supermarket…

     — Sunak

     In Wales they have the various T or Trans bus services.  They go about through many, many villages and towns, typically between the larger towns.

     The Carmarthen to Aberystwyth T1 service goes past our front door every two hours, each way. (It’s an hourly service but varies parts of its route to serve even more villages). It takes about ten minutes longer (50 rather than 40 minutes) than it does to drive the same route to Carmarthen from our front door. Free to we pensioners and (as I recall) still a max fare of £2. No parking fee or fuel costs.

     At Carmarthen and Aberystwyth, one may get off the bus and walk straight into the railway station.

     There are several such T bus services about Wales hinterlands. Just lately, the buses have gone electric.

     For those who like local shopping services, several vendors of essentials such as meat, milk, fruit & veg, mixed groceries and fish bring their goods to your door or very near it. If you must, you can also get stuff delivered by the supermarkets (spit) but they charge and are expensive.

     ********

     I also recall a youth (Tyneside) in which council and private-firm buses went all over; and were inexpensive. Several different buses to all sorts of places near and far were just a 2-5 minute walk away for most people and, on average, departed every 7 minutes to here, there and everywhere.

     Good public transport can be done. It just takes political will, to provide such services and to curtail the preda-tory money-wasting polluting murder machine that is the car.

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   • Car Delenda Est wrote:

     For those in rural areas, it is a lifeline

     — Car Delenda Est

     One wonders how people in rural areas survived until the car was invented. It must have been absolutely grueling doing the 5+ mile journey to the nearest supermarket…

     — Sunak

     I wanna tell you a story:

     I threw my back out as I was leaving work on Monday night.  Tried riding home, and got to that point where you are sitting on your bike, can’t pedal, can’t lift your leg to dismount and you think, “Shall I just fall over and crawl out from under it?”.  Managed to get home, anyway.  Eventually.  Pedalling veeeerrrrryyy slowly…  Couldn’t even roll over in bed: just sank into the memory foam mattress like Uncle Fester.

     By the next day, it was fine when standing up or walking but terrible if I’m sitting (especially on low furniture like bus seats) and I didn’t want to risk mounting/dismounting my bike.

     So I walked.  Six miles.  Took me an hour and half.  Left home a bit earlier than I usually would, and arrived later than I usually would, but still in time.  Walked home again too.

     Anyway, my point: I wonder how many people nowadays would have just stayed at home, thinking that six miles along tarmacced footpaths was an insurmountable distance…?

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     • brooksby wrote:

       By the next day, it was fine when standing up or walking but terrible if I’m sitting (especially on low furniture like bus seats) and I didn’t want to risk mounting/dismounting my bike.

       — brooksby

       I’m sorry to hear about your injury.  But … your effort was unnecessary.

       (Apologies, for full points I would have needed a petrol-powered Segway pic, I know…)

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       • An ElliptiGO might be the

         An ElliptiGO might be the legal alternative (I doubt even the King has a 6mi private driveway?)

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         • I love my bike wrote:

           An ElliptiGO might be the legal alternative (I doubt even the King has a 6mi private driveway?)

           — I love my bike

           Keep It Simple, Stoopid.  (Per my username I can’t really quibble the extra wheel though).

     • handy you have a stand up

       handy you have a stand up desk !

        

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       • I think I’ve spent more time

         I think I’ve spent more time fiddling with my office chair to try and get comfortable, than I have actually doing work…

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     • You walked….six miles…..!

       You walked….six miles…..!

       Actually, as I am sure you knew, you were doing just what most people from the 12th C onwards would do to get to market. As outlined in this webpage: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Market_town most markets were placed 12 to 13 miles apart this meaning no one lived more than a reasonable six mile walk from one.

       Indeed, walking to market was still a thing when the railways were built. In the town I know live, there was a line built in the mid 1850’s which went via a small village 2 miles from the market town. Given how little distance there was between the two places, no station was built as the company felt that people would prefer to walk rather than spend money on the train fare. No one from the village now walks to town…apart from the EU national field workers who can often be seen striding away carrying their shopping while the fat and unfit locally born individuals sit in the kiddy killing car. 

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       • Two miles is nothing.  I’d

         Two miles is nothing.  I’d think twice about even getting the bike out, for a two mile walk.

         (That said, I only did the Long Walk the first day.  I’ve got the bus after that.  I had forgotten that First buses form one of the circles of hell…).

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       • essexian wrote:

         You walked….six miles…..!

         Actually, as I am sure you knew, you were doing just what most people from the 12th C onwards would do to get to market. As outlined in this webpage: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Market_town most markets were placed 12 to 13 miles apart this meaning no one lived more than a reasonable six mile walk from one.

         Indeed, walking to market was still a thing when the railways were built. In the town I know live, there was a line built in the mid 1850’s which went via a small village 2 miles from the market town. Given how little distance there was between the two places, no station was built as the company felt that people would prefer to walk rather than spend money on the train fare. No one from the village now walks to town…apart from the EU national field workers who can often be seen striding away carrying their shopping while the fat and unfit locally born individuals sit in the kiddy killing car. 

         — essexian

         Long ago (in my twenties) I rode a bike everywhere (I had no car) but rarely walked more than a mile. One day I was invited on a fell walk, which was 7 miles with considerable up&doon. I ached for days!

         Later, I became owned by a dog so was required to walk many miles each and every day. Walking became easy and routine to the point that 3 hours of it a day somehow created more energy for the rest of the day rather than less.

         When living in NW England with two fit dogs, I walked at least 6 miles a day and often ten. At least once a week, me and t’wife would also walk 11 miles to and from the local town via the canal towpath, which we regarded as our private footpath as we rarely saw anyone else once a half-mile from the village we lived in or the town that we walked to & from.

         ********

         As you illustrate, walking is a natural activity for humans in that it was the only mode of AtoBing available as we evolved for a few millenia. Even in the 1950s, many walked miles to and from school then work, as it saved the threepenny bit (or even sixpence) bus fare.

         Then came the car-for-all years. Along with the junkfud-for-all, it’s transformed us into a nation of blebs, hardly able to get up from the tele-sofa to stumble to the 4-wheeled killer-armchair. Morbid obesity and type 2 diabetes are eveerywhere, along with a thousand other ills & degradations that might fade away if the habits of self-neglect, self-indulgence and self-abuse induced by consumerism were discouraged or even banned like the fag.

         Perhaps cars should all come with a large warning printed on ’em in 3 foot high letters. “DRIVING KILLS – YOU AND OTHERS!”

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3. Do my eyes deceive me?  Was

   Do my eyes deceive me?  Was Tim Vine a cycling activist long before his brother Jeremy?

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   • Things I Learned Today: Tim

     Things I Learned Today: Tim Vine and Jeremy Vine are brothers.

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     • Ah, but have you heard about

       Ah, but have you heard about their older brother, Grape?

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       • I think Tim referenced him in

         I think Tim referenced him in one of his sets – so I Heard It Through the TimVine….

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     • HoldingOn wrote:

       Things I Learned Today: Tim Vine and Jeremy Vine are brothers.

       — HoldingOn

       And they come from where I live (Cheam).

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       • Steve K wrote:

         Things I Learned Today: Tim Vine and Jeremy Vine are brothers.

         — Steve K And they come from where I live (Cheam).— HoldingOnSo not Tony Hancock territory then?  East Cheam.

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         • eburtthebike wrote:

           So not Tony Hancock territory then?  East Cheam.

           — eburtthebike

           “This radio lark’s a wonderful hobby, y’know. I’ve got friends all over the world, all over the world . . . none in this country, but friends all over the world.”

4. *** CENSORED BY GCN ***

   *** CENSORED BY GCN ***

   Yesterday, I watched the latest edition of the GCN show.  Si Richardson conveyed the “good news” that cycling casualties in the UK in 2022 were the lowest on record.

   I made an entry in the comments section, the essence of this being the data reported in the RRCGB is about as reliable and believable as when Lance Armstrong stated “I’ve never tested positive for doping!”

   My comment was deleted by GCN within minutes of being posted.  Perhaps it’s not the message they want to promote?

   RRCGB stands for REPORTED Road Casualties for Great Britain.  The big emphasis is on REPORTED.  Cyclists are being injured in road traffic collisions which are not being REPORTED, so they do no count, they are not included in the casualty statistics.

   One example can be found on Road.cc :https://road.cc/content/news/police-criticised-after-family-catapulted-cargo-bike-298251

   Quote “a spokesperson for Essex Police explained to the Daily Gazette that the incident was not attended because there were no serious injuries reported and that the road in question was clear of any obstruction.”

    

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   • Trevor Anderson wrote:

     *** CENSORED BY GCN ***

     Yesterday, I watched the latest edition of the GCN show.  Si Richardson conveyed the “good news” that cycling casualties in the UK in 2022 were the lowest on record.

     I made an entry in the comments section, the essence of this being the data reported in the RRCGB is about as reliable and believable as when Lance Armstrong stated “I’ve never tested positive for doping!”

     My comment was deleted by GCN within minutes of being posted.  Perhaps it’s not the message they want to promote?

     RRCGB stands for REPORTED Road Casualties for Great Britain.  The big emphasis is on REPORTED.  Cyclists are being injured in road traffic collisions which are not being REPORTED, so they do no count, they are not included in the casualty statistics.

     One example can be found on Road.cc :https://road.cc/content/news/police-criticised-after-family-catapulted-cargo-bike-298251

     Quote “a spokesperson for Essex Police explained to the Daily Gazette that the incident was not attended because there were no serious injuries reported and that the road in question was clear of any obstruction.”

      

     — Trevor Anderson

     Maybe because GCN is generally a positive place trying to get people into cycling and informing educated and well meaning cyclists of factual information and good news, rather than here which is a never-ending rabbit hole of frothing doom and gloom. 

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     • And trolling.

       And trolling.

       Don’t forget the trolling.

       Sorry, couldn’t help myself…

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     • GCN is primarily geared up to

       GCN is primarily geared up to leisure road cycling.  Articles on utility and the issues faced are few and far between. I don’t think I’ve seen a vid of any of the presenters wearing duds while on their bikes. 

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       • Honourable mention for a

         Honourable mention for a video Si did on running a cargo bike (though he does (entertainingly) give it a GCN spin by skidding it right at the start).

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     • Wearing “rose tinted glasses”

       Wearing “rose tinted glasses” won’t make road cycling safer!

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     • Left_is_for_Losers wrote:

       *** CENSORED BY GCN ***

       Yesterday, I watched the latest edition of the GCN show.  Si Richardson conveyed the “good news” that cycling casualties in the UK in 2022 were the lowest on record.

       I made an entry in the comments section, the essence of this being the data reported in the RRCGB is about as reliable and believable as when Lance Armstrong stated “I’ve never tested positive for doping!”

       My comment was deleted by GCN within minutes of being posted.  Perhaps it’s not the message they want to promote?

       RRCGB stands for REPORTED Road Casualties for Great Britain.  The big emphasis is on REPORTED.  Cyclists are being injured in road traffic collisions which are not being REPORTED, so they do no count, they are not included in the casualty statistics.

       One example can be found on Road.cc :https://road.cc/content/news/police-criticised-after-family-catapulted-cargo-bike-298251

       Quote “a spokesperson for Essex Police explained to the Daily Gazette that the incident was not attended because there were no serious injuries reported and that the road in question was clear of any obstruction.”

        

       — Left_is_for_Losers

       Maybe because GCN is generally a positive place trying to get people into cycling and informing educated and well meaning cyclists of factual information and good news, rather than here which is a never-ending rabbit hole of frothing doom and gloom. 

       — Trevor Anderson

       More likely that GCN, a collection of infantile folk and vids structured for the infantile avid consumers of post-modernity, don’t want their advertisers complaining about anything that reduces the sale of bikes and bits. After all, that’s what GCN and similar mass media cycling organs are for.

       DId you think they were some sort of charity for promoting safe and green cycling? They’ll claim that but in fact they’re advert-organs, first & last, targetting cycling fashion victims with money to spend.

       Their behaviours on their bikes often makes me cringe at how unaware they seem to everyone else around them, as they gurn and chatter at the camera, adopting the, “Lookit me, I’m racing” mode rather than looking where they’re going. The equivalent of the 1950s Wizard or Bunty Comic …. but for cyclist boys and girls who never grew up.

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       • Cugel wrote:

         More likely that GCN, a collection of infantile folk and vids structured for the infantile avid consumers of post-modernity, don’t want their advertisers complaining about anything that reduces the sale of bikes and bits. After all, that’s what GCN and similar mass media cycling organs are for.

         DId you think they were some sort of charity for promoting safe and green cycling? They’ll claim that but in fact they’re advert-organs, first & last, targetting cycling fashion victims with money to spend.

         Their behaviours on their bikes often makes me cringe at how unaware they seem to everyone else around them, as they gurn and chatter at the camera, adopting the, “Lookit me, I’m racing” mode rather than looking where they’re going. The equivalent of the 1950s Wizard or Bunty Comic …. but for cyclist boys and girls who never grew up.

         — Cugel

         So just to be clear from the above, GCN are infantile (despite often referencing road.cc in their weekly GCN Show) and for infantile avid consumers, yet you clearly watch it because you cringe at their behaviour 

         So you are describing yourself as an infantile avid consumer?

         Road.cc is also an advert led site…and they are loosely mass media (despite any newbies being jumped on and any reading the site would be led to believe that cycling is a death wish)

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         • Left_is_for_Losers wrote:

           So just to be clear from the above, GCN are infantile (despite often referencing road.cc in their weekly GCN Show) and for infantile avid consumers, yet you clearly watch it because you cringe at their behaviour 

           So you are describing yourself as an infantile avid consumer?

           — Left_is_for_Losers

           You do paffle-wiffle on, old poffler.

           So, are you a-one o’ these that emits indignant criticisms of books, plays, filums and the like despite never having read or seen them, as you jump aboard some reactionary-loon bandwagon trundled out by the latest Mrs Whitehouse of even Lozza the Loon? How does one criticise summick without personally partaking of it?

           I consume a GCN youboob about once a month …. but they never seem to get beyond the boy-racer ooh-aahing lookitme stuff. In fact, they seem to be gradually getting worse. All the wee screen title thingies now have one or another of ’em doing an exagerated excito-gurn with poppy eyes, open gobble and the waving of a mit clutching summick or other.

           Once upon a time children eventually grew up. Not now, though. Permanent childhood goes with constant toy consumption, I suppose.

         • thisismyusername wrote:

           So just to be clear from the above, GCN are infantile (despite often referencing road.cc in their weekly GCN Show) and for infantile avid consumers, yet you clearly watch it because you cringe at their behaviour.

           So you are describing yourself as an infantile avid consumer?— thisismyusername

           Yeah, what sort of person goes to a site they continually slate as rubbish day after day, leaving countless comments there telling everyone how rubbish it is, telling all the subscribers and commenters they’re shit too? What a total Loser they’d have to be. Especially if they even came back to carry on doing it under another name having been banned.

            

         • Rendel Harris wrote:

           Yeah, what sort of person goes to a site they continually slate as rubbish day after day, leaving countless comments there telling everyone how rubbish it is, telling all the subscribers and commenters they’re shit too? What a total Loser they’d have to be. Especially if they even came back to carry on doing it under another name having been banned.

           — Rendel Harris

           Mind your language Rendel, we all know swearing is the sign of a weak man/boy. 

           And don’t make assumptions, you don’t seem to like it when I suggest that you are, in fact, just a road.cc staff member profile. For what other reason would you not have been banned considering the language you use and your attitude towards others on here. 

           After all, one person was even stupid enough to suggest that I should retract calling you a “nasty piece of work” which from the above comment, reinforces that view. 

     • Left_is_for_Losers wrote:

       Maybe because GCN is generally a positive place advert-led product channel trying to get people into cycling sell overpriced equipment and informing educated and well meaning cyclists of factual information promote said equipment to gullible folk and good news spin, rather than here which is a never-ending rabbit hole of frothing doom and gloom cycle of Tory MPs and councillors lying, cheating, grifting, dog-whistling, gaslighting and scamming the entire country.

       — Left_is_for_LosersThe editor has had to work on that pile of tripe you posted. It’s a bit more accurate now.

       GCN is fine, if you see it solely as light enterainment. The ‘science’ is suspect, it’s about as deep as a toddler’s paddling pool with a hole in the bottom and about as edgy or controversial as choosing magnolia wall paint.

       Feel free to spend your time on GCN instead of here.

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       • Simon E wrote:

         GCN is fine, if you see it solely as light enterainment. The ‘science’ is suspect, it’s about as deep as a toddler’s paddling pool with a hole in the bottom and about as edgy or controversial as choosing magnolia wall paint.

         Feel free to spend your time on GCN instead of here.

         — Simon E

         I think they’re clear that the science is not necessarily the work of a professor. 

         And yes thank you, since they have updated their website to be more relevant and include news etc, it’s a lot better than here. Sorry to have been quieter here than usual.

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         • I’ve only just found out a

           I’ve only just found out a bridge I regularly ride over was designed by Thomas Telford. One of his best apparently.

         • perce wrote:

           I’ve only just found out a bridge I regularly ride over was designed by Thomas Telford. One of his best apparently.

           — perce

           Oh, you’re back! I thought I’d lost you for a while

         • Was it one of his troll toll

           Was it one of his troll toll bridges?  There’s a nice one in Dunkeld.

         • Yes, yes it was. I didn’t

           Yes, yes it was. I didn’t know he was also responsible for the Pontcysillte aqueduct, among his other great works.

         • perce wrote:

           Yes, yes it was. I didn’t know he was also responsible for the Pontcysillte aqueduct, among his other great works.

           — perce

           Pontcysyllte, known locally as ‘The Fron’ and part of the Ellesmere canal, is an engineering marvel. Completed in 1805, it’s the longest aqueduct in the UK and the highest in the world. It features at the start of this charming video of cycling NCN route 85 to Llangollen, which I found while researching routes from Chirk to Llangollen avoiding the A5. The nearby Chirk aqueduct and the A5 London-Holyhead (including the suspension bridge over the Menai Straits) are among Telford’s many creations. CTC North Wales has a fascinating and detailed article about the history of the route here. The picturesque bay of Porthdinllaen on the Llŷn peninsula was in the running to be used as the departure point for Ireland but Holyhead was chosen instead.

         • Simon E wrote:

           part of the Ellesmere canal

           — Simon E

           A pedant writes: it was intended to be part of the Ellesmere canal, but that was never completed – abandoned not long after the aqueduct was finished. It’s now part of the Llangollen canal. I’ve driven (sailed?) a narrowboat over it and the drop on the non-towpath, non-guardrail side is quite vertigo inducing.

         • Thanks for those links Simon,

           Thanks for those links Simon, much appreciated. Great video and really interesting article about Telford (and Macadam). 

         • Left_is_for_Losers wrote:

           GCN is fine, if you see it solely as light enterainment. The ‘science’ is suspect, it’s about as deep as a toddler’s paddling pool with a hole in the bottom and about as edgy or controversial as choosing magnolia wall paint.

           Feel free to spend your time on GCN instead of here.

           — Left_is_for_Losers

           I think they’re clear that the science is not necessarily the work of a professor. 

           And yes thank you, since they have updated their website to be more relevant and include news etc, it’s a lot better than here. Sorry to have been quieter here than usual.

           — Simon E

           Did you know that you can still buy old copies of The Hotspur, Rover & Adventure and even The Wizard comics for little boys? You can probably get Bunty too. 

           These comiks would shirly shoot you as they tend to have big biffy Bwitish blokes in ’em, punching foreigners and generally being very Tory-like. Also, the girly comics keep the little rascals in their place, down in the makeup and dolly places. Gud ole Bwitish traditions you’d shirly find infotaining and not a drop of science in sight, just plenty of that by-jingo you seem to crave.

           Mind, only the bad-germans seemed to have bicycles. But it was so long ago that I read these Jingo-organs myself. Perhaps some other olephart can recall a Bwitish boys comic-character who rode a bike?

         • Q bikes in the beano. Six of

           Q bikes in the beano. Six of them there were, on a quest to fight crime before teatime.

         • perce wrote:

           Q bikes in the beano. Six of them there were, on a quest to fight crime before teatime.

           — perce

           Well, that’s just typical!  What about those crimes perped by crims after the buns, scones and Earl Grey have been consumed?

           I haf informed that Truss about this neglect, so she can add it to her Brittleania Unchained book describing the lazy Bwitish serfs and how she will have them whipped into action by a satanic miller or two. (Even The Famous Five may be slackers, perhaps).

           No more apres-teatime crimes then (except those committed by new aristos, exempt because they’re Toryspiv pals and bungers-to-the-party). Truss’ll fix it.

           But I digress.

           Some years ago, a pal from the cycling club in NW England got a job as a cycling village bobby in the village where I lived. He was very pleased, getting lots of training opportunities as he cycled his ten-ton-tessie of a police bike here and there to check the theft of onions from the allotments or a break-in to the bowls shed to get the lignum vitae to make lathe-turned gew-gaws.

           But they found out and cancelled such bobbies, spending the money on a large computer installation that constantly failed to do …. anything. Well, except make some privatisation Toryspiv bunger loadsa money. (They get a contract to supply the IT but also a contract to maintain it.  When it doesnae work, this generates more money for ’em than when it does work).

           *********

           But never mind that. Today I went for a nice hilly ride about the Welsh hinterlands in me shorts.  Nineteen whole degrees C and sunshine!  Eeee, reet gradely. No crimes were being committed and every driver (all 4 of them) were well-behaved, considerate and good-lookin’.

     • Yeah, but it’s our never

       Yeah, but it’s our never-ending rabbit hole of doom and gloom, and we like it here.

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   • If you were correct and the
     If you were correct and the road traffic statistics were being manipulated then the deaths would still be recorded elsewhere.

     Any death in a traffic collision has to be reported to the coroner and the cause of death would be recorded at that point.

     There should, therefore, be plenty of indisputable documentary evidence to back up your claim.

     Can you provide a link to any of it?

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     • Pretty sure that Trevor was

       Pretty sure that Trevor was highlighting that there’s a fair number of collisions that go unreported as opposed to actual KSIs  

       I know several individuals who have been knocked over or had a spill due to oil/gravel/pothole and not attended hospital or informed the police. I also know of people who when calling police have been told that if the road isn’t blocked or an ambulance not required to treat the matter as a civil case. I dryly commented to someone once that if hit to stay lying on the ground and the police would have to attend. 

       A clearer figure would be to establish from the insurance companies claims made without police in attendance as well as those with police in attendance. 

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     • Firstly, in edition of the
       Firstly, in edition of the RRCGB reflected on the large disparity between the reported casualties and hospital admissions data.
       Secondly, my neighbour’s son was injured in a PI RTC, the Police did not attend, therefore, this incident was not reported to Stats 19. I was in email contact with a cyclist who was hit by a car and suffered a broken leg. The Police were called but didn’t attend. Again, this would not have been reported on the RRCGB stats. A pedestrian was seriously injured in a collision on my road. An FOI to the Police revealed this was not recorded on the Stats 19 database. The incident I referenced in a previous post, Essex Police did not attend because the injuries were not serious enough. That collision will not have been reported on the casualty stats. I could go on…….

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5. Excellent to see so many

   Excellent to see so many giving that hill a good go!

   My only, important, question – did pink helmet make it to the top without stopping?

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   • Fair play to Hamish – if you
     Fair play to Hamish – if you can run a bike bus up there…

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6. That picture pair could

   That picture pair could easily be framed as “When driving you can’t always expect people to be dressed like traffic cones. Drive like there is a child you can’t see. Pay attention and be ready to react to things you don’t expect” 

   It is also dark in the summer at night, do we expect every person in britain to replace every item of clothing that might end up as the outer layer at night with a high vis version in case they are walking near a road at night? Do we ban black T shirts, hoodies, cardigans, shirts, coats etc? No, of course we don’t. High vis should be reserved for situations where it is appropriate, not blanket applied to everyone at all times. When everything is highlighted, nothing is highlighted. 

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   • If you buy a dark car, don’t

     If you buy a dark car, don’t forget to cover it in hi-viz decals to make it easier to be seen….

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     • But then will all those HiViz

       But then will all those HiViz adorned vehicles become invisible due to their sheer numbers. I remembered years ago being at Disneyland when a thunderstorm broke. All of a sudden we were surrounded by thousands of yellow poncho wearing tourists. At one stage I lost the group I was with and couldn’t spot them until everyone was divested of their outer garments. 

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       • giff77 wrote:

         But then will all those HiViz adorned vehicles become invisible due to their sheer numbers. I remembered years ago being at Disneyland when a thunderstorm broke. All of a sudden we were surrounded by thousands of yellow poncho wearing tourists. At one stage I lost the group I was with and couldn’t spot them until everyone was divested of their outer garments. 

         — giff77

         Please be very, very careful when divesting yourself and/or others of outer garments at Disneyland. 

         Or anywhere in public.

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   • What I found interesting was

     What I found interesting was that the image provided by Olivier with the children already on the road was that the one in dark clothing was more visible. 

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   • High Vis means nothing of
     High Vis means nothing of people aren’t looking. There I am, decked out like a dayglo Christmas tree, and still I get ‘sorry mate, didn’t see you’.

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7. Rather arrogant of the child

   Rather arrogant of the child in the photo to expect to be safe on the pavement from motorists.

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   • Are you sure it’s a child? 

     Are you sure it’s a child?  Could be a short adult who’s some sort of supernatural serial killer…

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8. Rishi Speech:  Well, I never

   Rishi Speech:  Well, I never realized £36billion can buy all of that!!

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   • Trevor Anderson wrote:

     Rishi Speech:  Well, I never realized £36billion can buy all of that!!

     — Trevor Anderson

     I’m listening now: it’s funnier than The Office and Fawlty Towers rolled together.

     EDIT: now he’s gone full Trump, talking about long term decisions and fighting vested interests.

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     • Be interesting to see a word
       Be interesting to see a word cloud on the speech and how prominent motorist themes or slogans aimed at motorists crop up

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       • Ahhh. A drinking game. 

         Ahhh. A drinking game. 

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       • Word Cloud Generator

         Word Cloud Generator

         Transcript of Sunak’s speech

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         • And this is Suella’s

           And this is Suella’s

         • That’s almost Boatsie.  I

           That’s almost Boatsie.  I like the “set prime politics every right family” and “say British best government”.

           And Suella’s “coming luxury police Britain party”, “beliefs work” (with a tiny annotation “British think illegal – racist anyone?”).

           Strangely lacking “drivers”, “cars” or “woke cyclists” though is this correct?

         • Cheers, interesting he didn’t
           Cheers, interesting he didn’t mention their new drivers plan at all, or anything about motoring really, they can’t have u turned the uturn already ?

     • eburtthebike wrote:

       EDIT: now he’s gone full Trump, talking about long term decisions and fighting vested interests.

       — eburtthebike

       Deffo that same “bad estate agent” vibe.  Boldly say the exact opposite of the truth, and double down if in doubt.

       You’ve been in government for over a decade?  You’re only at the top yourself because someone tried to change everything at once and broke things and you were seen as a safe pair of hands?  “It is time for a change. And we are it”.

       Frantically throwing stuff at the wall of a looming election hoping some will stick for voters? “We will give the country what it so sorely needs and yet too often has been denied – a government prepared to make long-term decisions so that we can build a brighter future for everyone.”

       Still, at least they’re not wasting all that cash on HS2 extension, but (in the future, probably when he’s not in office…) they might spend every penny on other stuff like roads and maybe filling in potholes.  Long term brighter future, all right…

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       • Apparently, emergency

         Apparently, emergency supplies of air freshener had to be flown to Manchester halfway through his speech.

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       • May I recommend this book ?

         May I recommend this book ?

         

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         • Hirsute wrote:

           May I recommend this book ?

           — Hirsute

           Trust me, I’ve tried: unfortunately Mark Harper will not respond.  I posted something on a local website about it, and a lot of other people don’t get responses either.

         • Hirsute wrote:

           May I recommend this book ?

           

           — Hirsute

           Steve Baker 

   • Trevor Anderson wrote:

     Rishi Speech:  Well, I never realized £36billion can buy all of that!!

     — Trevor Anderson

     £36 billion won’t get you anything near that, it was only a list of things that the next labour government are going to have to cancel so that the tory opposition can have a go at them.

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   • What a reinvestment in

     What a reinvestment in sustainable transport not!

     Find out about every new transport project in your region – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

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     • I read the document you note

       I read the document you note and am concerned by the amount of heavy lifting the word: “Could” is being put to. 

       In other words…yes, the Government “could” do all of these things but you would be a total fool if you actually believed they will do so. 

       Get the Tories (of all colours: Blue/Yellow or “Red”) gone! 

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     • HLaB wrote:

       What a reinvestment in sustainable transport not!

       Find out about every new transport project in your region – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

       — HLaB

       Thanks for that.  Just sent the PM this:

       “From your own office As a result of the decision to scrap the extension of HS2, every region will now receive investment in the modes of transport that matter to you most.

       I live in the Forest of Dean, MP Mark Harper, Minister of Transport.  I have looked at the document Find out about every new transport project in your region and am unable to identify a single transport project in the area, let alone the ones that matter to me most: cycling and walking, or Active Travel.  I am aware, however, that a few months ago, Mark Harper cut funding for Active Travel by 2/3rds.  Given that Active Travel is far and away the best investment, with a benefit:cost ratio at least twenty times that of any other, surely some of the money saved from cutting HS2 could be re-directed to that.

       I ask that the cuts made to Active Travel funding are immediately restored and then guaranteeing a minimum annual increase of 25%.  And could we have some money for Active Travel in the Forest of Dean please?”

       You can do the same https://contact.no10.gov.uk/

       Please note that one of the special characters you can’t use in quotation marks “” but they don’t tell you that.

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9. Laurence Fox arrested over

   Laurence Fox arrested over comments urging people to vandalise Ulez cameras

   Fox held ‘on suspicion of conspiring to commit criminal damage and encouraging or assisting offences to be committed’

   https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/oct/04/laurence-fox-arrested-over-comments-urging-people-to-vandalise-ulez-cameras

   

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10. A surprisingly pro bicycle

    A surprisingly pro bicycle article from the institutional anti-cyclist, hate filled guardian.

    https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2023/oct/04/bicibus-how-barcelona-got-kids-cycling-safely-to-school

    But of course, how do they get home?

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    • I’m not sure that’s a fair
      I’m not sure that’s a fair assessment of the Guardian.

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      • bensynnock wrote:

        I’m not sure that’s a fair assessment of the Guardian.

        — bensynnock

        He’s ironically referencing a comment made ages ago by a troll IIRC

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        • As I recollect it was Rich-cb

          As I recollect it was Rich-cb, and he ain’t no troll…

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          • ktache wrote:

            As I recollect it was Rich-cb, and he ain’t no troll…

            — ktache

            Oops, my bad.

            Apologies to Rich_cb – I agree that he’s no troll.

11. It was a pleasure knowing

    It was a pleasure knowing nearly all of you but as I write, there are only hours left.

    Please adhere to the zombie code and wear a full face helmet with the visor down. This way, you won’t be able to bite the survivors.

    

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    • I welcome the sweet release

      I welcome the sweet release of zombification. Got to be better than the current system.

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    • Don’t zombies go for the

      Don’t zombies go for the brain? So the tories will be safe.

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    • I’ve been to Morrisons today.

      I’ve been to Morrisons today. The zombie apocalypse has begun.

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    • I think I cycled past a few
      I think I cycled past a few on the way home….

      Can’t get a decent 5G signal here though so I should be OK

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    • I think I’m someone dreaming
      I think I’m someone dreaming I’m a zombie, but how can I be sure it’s not the other way around?

      Nice knowing most of you also! Actually, since it’s the end of the world – thank you all for the experience! I think of you as … people I met.

      Gonna put the music on as we all go now:

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    • Hirsute wrote:

      It was a pleasure knowing nearly all of you but as I write, there are only hours left.

      Please adhere to the zombie code and wear a full face helmet with the visor down. This way, you won’t be able to bite the survivors.

      

      — Hirsute

      Zombies are dead & well (well-off, anyway) at the Zombie conference in that Manchester. Yes, the Toryspiv seem to have allowed in that Farago zombie some years ago, who has bitten a few Toryspiv, who have bitten the rest in turn and ….. now they all go about mumbling the same crazed loonspeak of goosewipe & poodlejuice, whilst trying to bite any members of the wider population daft enough to go near them.

      They’re succeeding! Even here, an occassional zombie wanders in and tries to snack on the body-politic of still-cogent citizens. Happily, many have had their innoculation of rationality to prevent the mind rot starting then spreading to the rest of the person.

      Sadly, the zombie apocalypse seems imminent anyway. I’ve been practicing my sprinting on the bicycle – but when there’s a certain percentage of the population gone zombie, sprinting away from one stumbling fool dribbling Daily Hate Mail headlines will only be sprinting towards another yelling Torygraft headlines.

      And there are vast mobs of zombies hooting out Faecespuke and Twatter cries of inchoate rage as they come at one, snapping their rotten teeth and grasping with fungus-blackened fingers.

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      • Look on the bright side – now

        Look on the bright side – now we know zombies won’t be able to travel more quickly from the south to Liverpool and Manchester at least.  (Sorry Birmingham).

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    • I went to a wedding recently

      I went to a wedding recently which was invaded by zombies.  We had a gun and could shoot them, but they kept getting up.

      Later, I had to dance to the Time Warp with a drag queen for winning the bingo.

      (This is all true, by the way.)

       

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      • Steve K wrote:

        Later, I had to dance to the Time Warp with a drag queen for winning the bingo.

        (This is all true, by the way.)— Steve K

        Relax, I don’t doubt it – but was it the pelvic thrust that really drove you insane?

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