“A young mother cycling on pavement for safety is anti-social behaviour?”: Police slammed for fining woman with child seat to tackle “cycling related anti-social behaviour”

Same old thing

Loads of people complaining about bikes and e-scooter being riden recklessly around the area

So council amd Police talk to the local people and "do something about a matter of local concern"

Problem is - if you go down to the pedestrianised High Street and tell a teenage kid on a mountain bike to stop then he (normally a he) will laugh and ride off. So to nab the dangerous criminal you wil have to have several cars nearby waiting to give chase and hope they don't cut down a local lane or path and escape

Hugly difficult to catch them and very resource intensive.

Instead wait until someone older comes along slowly taking care to avoid getting in people's way and if someone ina  uniform asks them to stop then there is a good chance they will do so

BINGO - some stats to show the politicians

Bit like nabbing a motorist doing 25 in a 20 mph limit while the bank robbers go past at 90

What the police say is of little relevance, now that police lying (in Lancashire, anyway) is routine

Yes, the police do appear to be uneven handed. As others have mentioned if you report untaxed, unlicensed and uninsured vehicles on the public highway they do nothing, or if you press really hard will go and 'have a chat' with the owner. They say:
the vehicle has to be moving for an offence to be committed,
any other matter is down to the DVSA.
Phone the DVSA and they say .... well you can guess...
I have no faith in the police to do anything and never report anything to 101 nowadays. They make it as difficult as it can be and you get the feeling you will end up doing their job for them in court.
I wish it wasn't the way I feel but then you read this and wish that they had an ounce of common sense. A caution maybe, but surely a verbal warning is better?
I'd say if you see a copper when in the pavement, stop, jump off and then declare that you we're not riding your bike at the time of the alleged offence. Ask to be arrested and taken to the station rather than accept a fine.
If necessary declare that there's a local by-law giving cyclists shared use of the pedestrian area. There's a chance you might be right.
They'll soon back off as an easy win becomes a bit of work.
But isn't it a shame that police are one by one alienating every section of society?

Once again this doesn't seem so simple as is being presented, and there is a lot of contradiction when you look.

Checking google maps the road is one way and no cycle lane. However as well as this the pavement doesn't seem very wide and this is a high street, so likely a lot of foot traffic and not really suitable to share with cyclists. Contradicting this though it can clearly be seen that numerous bike racks are located on the pavement, so cycling is encouraged.

If though, as claimed there is an issue with anti-social behaviour regarding cycling, then there is a chance of undermining authority by picking and choosing who to fine. Being a mother gives a free pass? The bike had a child seat on it, not a child in it.

"According to the National Police Chief’s Council, cyclists can ride on the pavement as long as they are doing it responsibly."

Grounds for appealing the fine?

Boy, our police are real tough guys, coming down like a ton of bricks on those anti-social offenders! Yet, when it comes to big Audis charging through a red light at 50mph, seconds after it changed (or any number of serious offences I have shown on here too many times) or Audis (other popular offending marques are available) reported without MOT or VED for over 3 years and regularly seen around Garstang, the police do nothing at all. It's pretty much impossible to fail to despise the police!

The officer is the one guilty of anti social behaviour here. The charges should be dropped, an apology made by the local chief police constable and the officer involved given retraining.

Zelu Pots

https://twitter.com/lucy_wakeley/status/1678019053737201664

Clearly in this case the police have targeted this area because there has been problematic use of the pavement by (some) cyclists.
But it's the same old story, so often officers these days seem to display little or no common sense. There's a big difference between kids hooning around on the pavements frightening (or even knocking over) spooked pedestrians or little old ladies, and those who ride on them responsibly but are genuinely uncomfortable on certain busy roads or junctions.
I get that laws are there for everyone to obey, and if one person gets told off and then they see another being allowed to carry on, they will whine like Kevin the teenager. I also get that these days, the public are far more likely to challenge the police when they should just do as they are told and STFU. But until police officers on the street start showing some common sense and discretion, the situation will only get worse.
By the way, I wouldn't in a million years be a copper these days, it must be a nightmare.

Not being funny but when was the last time anyone met a cop who knew anything about full cycle law??? Last time I met one who claimed to know had only bothered to learn about the infractions that warrant a caution and or fine! Think it's time the force was split into divisions again..... example your average bobby doesn't cycle so they don't need to know the law they only need to be bothered with what they think applies. (Usually this is a biased thought basis race/gender/religion or they just don't like you) So a good tip is to never ask if they failed the mental stability exam for the armed forces 😂

I was cycling into London a few days ago and at a usual bottleneck of motor traffic in Highgate a dude came hurtling past, skipped onto the pavement, shot past the queue and flew back onto the road.  He did it with some skill and agility. He was wearing a helmet and riding a full suss MB. I didn't imagaine any one was in any danger at the time but any pedestrian would have felt a bit shocked at the speed and size. I would have agreed with a fine in that case. 

Lock Her Up

Question from someone not living in the UK:

I understand that in the UK, it is not mandatory to carry official ID.  So, if police want to fine you, how do they establish (and verify) who you are and what your address is?  

Where I am it's simple:  anyone age 12 and older has to carry official ID (ID card issued by the government) on their person at all times when out in the public domain.  Failure to produce it when asked by an officer is grounds for arrest until ID is established (maximum 12 hours, then they need to call a prosecutor, who can extend the period of detention for another 36 hours, beyond that you have to be brought in front of a judge).