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Department for Transport assures MP it has no intention to make cyclists carry number plates and insurance

Selaine Saxby, co-chair ofAll Party Parliamentary Group for Cycling & Walking, said her WhatsApp “lit up” when Grant Shapps’ comments emerged last week

An MP who co-chairs the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Cycling and Walking has been assured by the Department for Transport (DfT) that there are no plans for cyclists to be required to display number plates or take out compulsory third party insurance.

In a column for the Parliamentary magazine The House, Selaine Saxby, the Conservative MP for North Devon, revealed that her WhatsApp “lit up” last week when Grant Shapps appeared to suggest that cyclists should be insured, be subject to the same speed limits as motorists, and be licensed.

Despite Shapps immediately backtracking on his comments, they ignited a media storm that lasted into the weekend and beyond, underlining how for some elements of the right-wing press, whether print or broadcast, cycling is very much part of the so-called culture wars.

> “No plans to introduce registration plates” for cyclists, insists Grant Shapps

“The Transport Secretary’s foray into the politics of cycling has certainly generated much debate and again demonstrated the strength of feeling from those pro and against cycling about how to best ensure the safety of all road users,” Saxby wrote.

“From a policy perspective I have been assured by the Department of Transport, as the Transport Secretary has reiterated to the press, that he has no plans to introduce number plates for bicycles or compulsory insurance.

“As co-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Cycling and Walking it would be fair to say my WhatsApp instantly lit up at the suggestions aired in the media last week that more cycling regulation was coming.”

Saxby said that in rural constituencies such as her own, “it is very hard to understand why on earth anyone would even need a conversation about such matters. Given our rurality, hills and the distance between locations, for many journeys active travel of any kind is simply not an option.”

But she said that for ease of commuting and health benefits, cycling in towns and cities across the country should “be widely encouraged and supported,” citing the news in recent days that “GPs will be prescribing active travel for its health benefits.”

One of the reasons – the principal one, arguably – put forward by non-cyclists for people on bikes to be subject to tougher regulation is of course the widespread assumption that they flout the law in a way motorists do not, and Saxby acknowledged that “as with everything in life there is always a minority who are unable to follow the rules.”

She continued: “The APPG are in 100 per cent agreement that we should all follow the rules of the road, whatever mode of transport we employ.  Cyclists should not run red lights putting themselves and other road users at risk. 

“And those with bikes – and legs – that can clear those 20mph speed limits should use high tech gadgets to ensure they drop below the speed limit.

“However, someone needs to explain to the tourists now back on Westminster Bridge what the new cycling lane is for, and how fast even 20mph is if a cyclist crashes into them inadvertently whilst they are trying to get a photo in front of Big Ben – this is not an infrequent occurrence either!”

While encouraging cyclists to take out cover “to literally be on the safe side, the MP said insurance came down to “a matter of individual choice,” but predicted “a growth in this in the years to come as more of us do move to a cheaper and greener alternative journey choice.”

She added: “The upside of the confusion created by the comments from the Transport Secretary is we appear to have some certainty now that number plates will not be getting onto our bikes any time soon!”

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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18 comments

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steaders1 | 1 year ago
1 like

Remember though this is the govt. that regularly makes U turns

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Jenova20 replied to steaders1 | 1 year ago
0 likes

steaders1 wrote:

Remember though this is the govt. that regularly makes U turns

It's better to U-turn than stick to a bad idea. This is the preferrable option and shows that someone/something is open to advice and criticism.

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ShutTheFrontDawes replied to Jenova20 | 1 year ago
1 like

It's better still to not publicise a shit moron-baiting idea in the first place.

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Velo-drone | 1 year ago
9 likes

A bizarre mix of sense and nonsense.

There is no reason that cyclists should "ensure they drop below" 20mph speed limits for cars.  That's because they are not in charge of 2 tonne lumps of metal. 

I would bet that even those cyclists that do exceed 20mph speed limits are still travelling at lower than the average actual car speed on those roads in addition to being far less dangerous to be hit by, and far less likely to actually hit anyone.

Rurality, hills and distance between locations does make a difference to scope for active travel - but it doesn't mean it's "not an option" in the age of e-bikes.

Last but not least, while tourists on Westminster bridge may be a bit of a nuisance (to pedestrians as well as cyclists), that's just a fact of life.  I'd suggest that she actually take a little survey of cyclist speeds on the Westminster Bridge path before harping about the necessity of warning tourists about "dangers" of 20mph cyclists.  This is just playing into the hands of the loons who think every cyclist is buzzing round at 20mph all the time when they simply aren't - the vast majority will never hit 20mph at all.

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OnYerBike replied to Velo-drone | 1 year ago
2 likes

It certainly seems to me that a cyclist travelling at 18-20mph will be perceived by pedestrians etc. as cycling recklessly fast, whilst a car on the same stretch of road travelling at 20-25mph will be perceived as travelling sensibly slowly. 

I don't know if it's a inherent trick of the brain (do smaller objects appear faster?) or simply a function of what people are used to seeing.

Leads to "Schrodinger's Cyclist" - simultaneously too slow and too fast. 

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levestane | 1 year ago
2 likes

"...Given our rurality, hills and the distance between locations, for many journeys active travel of any kind is simply not an option.”"

North Yorkshire is rural, hilly and with good distances between communities but there are plenty of cyclists here.

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jh2727 replied to levestane | 1 year ago
3 likes

I holidayed in Devon earlier in the year. It isn't the distances between places or the terrain that make active travel impossible, it's the fact that the route connecting a lot of places is a national speed limit roads, with blind bends and dips (and motorists who are ignorant of both) and not so much as a pavement, let alone any cycle infrastructure - permitting motorists to travel at more than 20mph on these roads is the sole reason that active travel is a non-starter.

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OldRidgeback replied to jh2727 | 1 year ago
3 likes

When I went to Cornwall with my family just before the pandemic, we took our bikes. But the narrow lanes and high hedgrows, not to mention the occasional local nutter in a hopped-up hatchback, meant we were very wary of cycling anywhere.

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Patrick9-32 replied to OldRidgeback | 1 year ago
1 like

Living in cornwall it is sort of sad seeing all the tourists coming down with a family's worth of bikes on the roof knowing that they will likely not get ridden as going anywhere by bike here requires being fairly fit, fairly fearless and ready to stand your ground, not exactly ideal charateristics for a fun family day out. 

We do have a couple of decent trails in the bissoe and camel trails which are good for familys but the roads are pretty universally terrible. The only segregated cycle infra I can think of anywhere near me makes you give way 7 times to cars to traverse a single roundabout. 

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Awavey replied to jh2727 | 1 year ago
4 likes

it depends on the road and mix & volume of traffic, there are some rural country roads youd not catch me riding on at all I feel totally unsafe on them, there are others Im completely comfortable & happy riding on, both types of road have the same speed limit,bends,dips & hedges to contend with and Ive even ridden some of them in the total dark,no street lamps in the countryside, with nothing more than essentially a rear light protecting me.

and yet where is it I get most of my close passes and hassle riding ? its as soon as you hit a population centre and theres a volume of traffic to contend with. I can ride an hour in the countryside, barely encounter another vehicle and everythings great, hit a small market town and within 5mins I can be near knocked off multiple times by people in cars, most of whom could probably have used active travel options within that town, but wont, because every drives around them like they are insane.

so for me its not about the rurality, its about when you encounter a volume of traffic and those drivers suddenly get road rage on steroids.

 

 

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EM69 | 1 year ago
5 likes

I really do hope whoever hairbrained idea this was to put out to MSM the damage they have done to the law obeying cyclists who have to put up with taking their lives into thier own hands each time they ride on todays roads. This has only made things worse, and noticeably worse in my experience. Getting more close passes, pull outs at junctions and verbal abuse than ever...thanks for that.

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OldRidgeback replied to EM69 | 1 year ago
7 likes

Grant Shapps doesn't care.

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pockstone | 1 year ago
8 likes

Damage done. This won't be full page headlines in the Mail. All the ranters have had the seed planted in their heads and a lot will have convinced themselves that registration plates for cyclists are now required. Any cyclist without them will be fair game. 

I read recently how Boris described his 'journalism' at the Telegraph as  throwing bricks over the garden wall and waiting for the sound of a smashing greenhouse. Shapps has thrown a particularly big jocker over the wall (knowing full well what the result would be) and we are now left to clean up the sh...ards.

 

 

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Rendel Harris replied to pockstone | 1 year ago
7 likes

I'm concerned about the damage it's done to potential cyclists too, how many who would have thought about getting a bike now have the impression that at some point in the not-too-distant future they're going to face an onerous licencing and insurance burden and think sod it, may as well have a car?

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pockstone replied to Rendel Harris | 1 year ago
10 likes

Absolutely. Shapps has dropped a bomb with wide-ranging ramifications, all for the sake of stirring shit and upping his own profile.

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the little onion | 1 year ago
13 likes

What a surprisingly balanced and informed view from that MP! Nice to hear, instead of flaming culture wars

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eburtthebike | 1 year ago
15 likes

It's still happening now, the DM group and others have farmed it out to their regional titles, and the gammons are still lapping it up.  I'm not aware that any of the media that featured Shapps the Sh*t's original comments have featured his retraction; I wonder why not.

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thereverent replied to eburtthebike | 1 year ago
14 likes

Just need to get in the comment section of those titles and say that cyclist number plates will be part of a new National ID Card scheme, and watch how fast the supporters change their mind.

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