Mr Loophole lawyer says lockdown has led to “culture of toxic cycling”

The man is a cock of the highest order!

please a little bit of sympathy for this chap who seems to crave attention any one with children will recognise the ...pay me attention.... syndrome, in a four year old it is dealt with by mild rebuke in a ageing chap such as this its a cause for sympathy for a man being slightly pathetic 

Freeman is a twat, peddling mostly debunked arguments to the gullible.  His court work can be characterised the same way.

Personally I'd prefer not to give him the oxygen of publicity.  Or any oxygen at all, to be honest.

If one followed the "logic" of this numpty's argument, then pedestrians, prams, wheelbarrows, children on scooters and wheelchairs should also be licensed and insured. Pathetic attempt at publicity by a third-rate lawyer.

This idiot was on my Regional News program, Look North, spouting this crap last week. 1st time I've ever seen Peter Levy put up a real challenge to a guest and all Freeman could do was give opinions, no evidence at all. Man's a dick who specialises in getting celeb's off dangerous motoring offences. 

Nick Freeman can simply fuck off 

Double post.  ARRGGHH!

Duplicate

The man and his ideas are not worth a single penny of his hourly charge rate.

Cyclists having compulsory  insurance etc is not going to make motorists slow down, be more considerate of other road users or make the roads any safer. Yes, there are some dangerous cyclists and I've seen plenty of lycra'd up riders going through red lights.  They are not helping the cause and this annoys me.

There are countless drivers not insured, not qualified etc and I wonder how many others would pay for insurance if it were not compulsory.

If the police and local councils don't have the resources to monitor and stop motorists breaking the law or driving dangerously, how are they going to do it wth cyclists as well.  I just don't see his point except to keep him in the media spotlight.

Out of interest, is the a motorists equivalent of the NMOTD (or similar site) where the cyclist is at fault?

Double post

Yes, unfortunately a whole host of new cyclist may cause some disruption, especially in city surrounds. (My neighbour for one...although I applaud his new found hobby...his roadcraft is non existent).
Lockdown in Ireland has meant a 2km radius sphere, recently extended to a 5km radius...and hopefully a 20km radius by next Monday 8 Jun...which has been a bind, sticking to the same roads for the past few months.

I happened across a few FB posts by The Irish Gardai roads unit.
Car clocked at 101kph in a 50kph zone, penalty points for another for overtaking on a solid white line...the usual stuff, empty roads meaning driving rules are out to lunch, etc.
I enquired if they were interested in following up on close passing of cyclists, having been the victim of at least 10 or so in 4 days of cycling.

Only to be met with the usual anti cycling torrents...one driver was livid that he could not "safely" pass two cyclists (side by side - socially distanced the requisite 2m). 
He would have to go over to the other side of the carriageway to safely pass...but how could he as it was a solid white line...they should have gone single file....blah blah blah, been more corteous to the driver , etc.
Then the usual road tax, registration, insurance balderdash gets thrown up...

I posted a picture of one of the close passes I received...which got a handful oh "ha ha" emojis. (Caring, concerned and upstanding people...)

I was close passed within about 4 inches on an 80kph limit road.
I was cycling uphill (20 to 25 kph).
The car came from behind, at 80+kph, stayed completely within the lane and overtook on the approach to a blind summit.
My language was "choice" to say the least.

This was followed (less than 5 minutes later) by another dangerous overtake, just past a 90° blind bend on a solid double white line, with a choke point (Road works sign directly in my path), the driver overtaking into the path of oncoming traffic, then slams on their brakes...

How can any cyclist be bothered these days? The mentality of other road users is just so piss poor.
What's to stop any cyclist from carrying some form of offensive "defensive" 
(sic) weaponry...oh yes, the law...because we as cyclists (well me anyway) abide by the law as much as is possible.
The law, and those supposedly enforcing it...that never seems to be there to protect us...
 

“Unfortunately, while there are many responsible drivers, some seem to have abandoned all road sense
“Lack of bikes has allowed a culture of toxic motoring to prevail on our roads as some drivers claim the highways as their own,” Freeman continued.
“It has made some motorists drive with a sense of dangerous entitlement.”

There, fixed that for him.

"I wouldn't tell any of the above to the wife as she wasn't happy I took my bike out in the first place"

Let's hope she doesn't read roadcc!!

Toxic lawyer who gets rich people off driving offences claims other people are the problem.

I think that headline would suit better.

Hi all, new to Road.cc but been following for a short while now. Live in London and have driven a lot over the years. Whilst a driver I had made many of the same arguments against cyclists that get repeated over and over again, i.e. no insurance, no awareness of the Highway Code etc. Having started cycling again in London, after over a decade off the bike, due to the coronavirus outbreak and reluctance to use public transport, my opinions are thus based on the short 2 month period that I have been a daily commuter cyclist in central london. As traffic has picked up so has the slightly aggressive driving with close passes and lack of courtesy towards bikes. But unfortunately pretty much ever near miss I have had has been with other cyclists or pedestrians. With so many new cyclists on the road, many of whom have never even driven in London, at times its absolute chaos. Just a few days ago when the Sun was out I had multiple incidences which pretty much highlights all my issues: 1. Boris bike unable to go in a straight line constantly swerving left and right in the hyder park cycle lane - almost crashed into me as I was overtaking 2. Groups of cyclists (usually teenagers) who have just stopped in the middle of the cycle lane and completely blocked it 3. cyclists not understanding that the lanes only go in one direction, so almost had multiple head on collisions 4. Later the same day cyclists breaking red light almost crashed into me as I went across a junction 5. Almost another head on collision as a group of Boris bikes go up a one way road which doesn't allow contralateral cycle flow 6. Family walked into the road across a cycle lane without even looking, had to swerve radpidlly to avoid them 7. Similar thing happened again when a pedestrian with ear phones in just decides to start crossing the road without looking. He actually almost got run over by a car before I even got to him. The main issues I have had with cars is that they wont let me merge when in from the left and tend to speed up particularly on the busier roads. Some close passes as well. 

So I do think the whole cycling and driving / Transport strategy needs to be overhauled to make it safer for all. Insurance is useful to help provide cover in case of an accident but ultimately we need better facilities and better awareness of road rules from both cyclists and motorists. 

If the above sounds anti-cyclist - its not meant to be. I am finding cycling really liberating and very enjoyable. Just feel that it could be made safer. I wouldn't tell any of the above to the wife as she wasn't happy I took my bike out in the first place.