Driver – in untaxed car with expired MOT – mounts pavement on wrong side of the road… then chastises six-year-old for cycling on same footpath; ‘Want your child to cycle to school? Dress them for battle’; Ayuso’s Super cool Colnago + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
‘Want your child to cycle to school? Dress them for battle’: More criticism of “victim blaming” road safety “nonsense”
This morning’s latest attempt to inspire families to cycle to school is brought to you by the government’s longstanding road safety campaign THINK!, which has drawn up a short “Cycling Kit List” to “make sure your family stay safe and seen while cycling”.
#CycleToSchoolWeek Day 2 🚲
Their school uniforms are sorted, but what about their cycling gear?
Check out the kit list below to make sure your family stay safe and seen while cycling. No name tags required! pic.twitter.com/lZA3hCSmvn
— THINK! Road Safety (@THINKgovuk) October 4, 2022
However, the safety checklist, which encourages children to wear a helmet and light-coloured clothing while cycling, has been criticised by police officer and road safety campaigner Mark Hodson, who described it as “victim blaming nonsense”.
Hodson also argued that “none of these things will save a child when they are hit by two tonnes plus of steel, piloted by an offending, cognitively distracted driver at speed” and that a lack of “suitable infrastructure” currently makes cycling to school safely “unthinkable”:
None of these things will save a child when they are hit by 2 tonnes + of steel piloted by an offending cognitively distracted driver at speed…. #Driverbehaviour #Greatestthreatofharm this doesn’t happen on the continent stop this victim blaming nonsense 🤦♂️ https://t.co/o69C3at0OR
— Mark Hodson (@markandcharlie) October 4, 2022
Basically says “Want your child to cycle to school… Dress them for battle with someone piloting with the most effective killing machine ever devised” ….🤦♂️ https://t.co/YddwJB63iN
— Mark Hodson (@markandcharlie) October 4, 2022
It doesn’t help drivers who aren’t looking out for you 🤦♂️ hi viz is a complete red herring, that’s why you don’t have hi viz cars and day time running lights don’t prevent collisions between drivers. Contrast is important to be seen by “those looking properly”
— Mark Hodson (@markandcharlie) October 4, 2022
In response to another Cycle to School week tweet from the Department for Transport yesterday, Hodson said:
Many many parents and guardians of school children won’t even consider letting their children cycle to school (including myself) as the risk from #Driverbehaviour & the lack of suitable infrastructure just makes it seem unthinkable. My youngest could cycle to school but it https://t.co/HoR1jYQ02I
— Mark Hodson (@markandcharlie) October 3, 2022
… would entail sharing a 50mph twisty rural road with blind bends which during the school run is full of cognitively distracted inpatient drivers, even with my training & experience I would think twice about cycling there at that time. Want people to cycle more…
— Mark Hodson (@markandcharlie) October 3, 2022
@transportgovuk… 🤔 Then create an environment where all are happy to see their most precious thing in the world cycle off to school and they don’t have to worry about if they will make it alive 👍 @Chris_Boardman @adamtranter
— Mark Hodson (@markandcharlie) October 3, 2022
Juan Ayuso rides L’Eroica on 1970s Colnago Super
Now, on a lighter note, what do you get if you cross one of the sport’s most precocious talents (fresh from a debut Vuelta podium), some classy old kit, gravel roads and a Colnago Super from the 1970s?
Extreme cycling coolness, that’s what.
STEEL IS REAL. @juann_ayuso
having fun on a Colnago Super from the 70s at @Eroica_Official #Colnago #LaBicicletta #Eroica @TeamEmiratesUAE pic.twitter.com/nmxCDrnDGl— Colnago (@Colnagoworld) October 3, 2022
Gen Zer Juan Ayuso looked achingly cool and retro as he took part in L’Eroica over the weekend.
The 20-year-old rode the world-famous Tuscan vintage bike sportive, which served as the inspiration for the professional Strade Bianche race in the same region, on a classically beautiful fifty-year-old steel bike supplied by his UAE Team Emirates squad’s sponsor, Colnago.
Juan Ayuso rode the Eroica yesterday on a vintage Colnago https://t.co/I3beL5XZvS (🇮🇹)
— the Inner Ring (@inrng) October 3, 2022
Call me old-fashioned, but I believe all pro cyclists should still look like that. And that bike…
Which reminds me, ‘Dear Santa…’
“It’s ridiculously unforgiving for any cyclist”: The reality of cycling to school in Belfast
Here’s more Cycle to School Week content for you this morning, as university lecturer (and Spurs fan, but we’ll let him away with it after the weekend) Dom Bryan shared a rather revealing insight into the realities of riding a bike to school on a busy Tuesday morning in North Belfast:
A 2 min video on active travel in N Belfast. Getting our kid to school on a bike in the morning. No bike lanes. No Infrastructure. No safety. @SustransNI @deptinfra @belfastcc @PSNIBelfastN pic.twitter.com/Oz4VcqveVv
— Dominic Bryan (@Domsball) October 4, 2022
Responding to Dom’s eye-opening video – in which he argues that certain junctions and road layouts make cycling for a child “almost impossible” – the Northern Ireland branch of Cycling UK tweeted: “It’s a miracle any kid cycles to school… This scenario is endemic across the country and needs to change. Safe, connected cycle lanes [are] required.”
Another cyclist praised the video and noted that there are “so many similar stories across Northern Ireland.”
However, the cyclist pointed out that there has been “no serious attempt by the Department for Infrastructure to improve cycling safety for urban and rural dwellers. Many good examples in Europe as to how this can be done. Not rocket science – just takes commitment to make the changes.”
> Sinn Féin minister “neglecting Northern Ireland’s future”, says Cycling UK
Last month on the blog we reported that Cycling UK had criticised Sinn Féin MLA and Minister for Infrastructure, John O’Dowd, for appearing to renege on a pre-election pledge to introduce an Active Travel Act in Northern Ireland.
Instead, as Bryan alluded to in the above clip, O’Dowd has decided to launch the third consultation in the space of a year concerning a trial cycle lane on Belfast’s Limestone and Cavehill roads, viewed by active travel advocates as key to delivering a proper cycling network in the city.
However, those campaigners have been highly critical of the Department for Infrastructure’s approach to the project, which they say has been needlessly delayed through repeated consultations which fail to yield any new information.
According to Cycling UK, O’Dowd’s lack of commitment to active travel is “neglecting Northern Ireland’s future” and “[locking] us all into a fossil-fuelled dark age”.
Caption competition
— Casquetteurs (@casquetteurs) October 2, 2022
‘What do you mean, road.cc placed you higher on their list of cycling’s greatest ever seasons?’
Shameless plug, I know, but it’s still a cracking photo…
Remco debuts rainbow stripes at Binche-Chimay-Binche
Remco in rainbow 🤩#BincheChimayBinche
Photo: @BeelWout l pic.twitter.com/PlsoMi3vCT
— Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team (@qst_alphavinyl) October 4, 2022
First time racing in 🌈@EvenepoelRemco 😎 pic.twitter.com/60CYIhoE0Q
— UCI (@UCI_cycling) October 4, 2022
Worcestershire cut off from cycling and walking funding after Active Travel England gives County Council ‘level zero’ rating
Worcestershire County Council has been barred from accessing funding for cycling and walking schemes after Active Travel England said that it has “not demonstrated the minimum levels of local leadership and/or delivery track record that we require”.
Worcester News reports that the county council was handed a ‘level zero’ rating by the new government body, below the ‘level one’ standard – given to local authorities deemed to have shown “some local leadership and support with basic plans and isolated interventions” – the council awarded itself when ranking its own performance regarding active travel.
The miserable rating is also miles away from the highest ‘level four’, bestowed upon councils which have an “established culture of active travel” and “highly supportive” policies which help reduce car trips.
The embarrassing ranking in Worcestershire comes after two previous active travel funding bids fell far short of expectations, with the county council receiving just over half of the £1.3 million it had bid for, and means that Active Travel England will be “withholding funding until improvements are made” and that the council is banned from making any new bids.
“Our funding is limited and we need to invest it in areas where we are likely to achieve our long-term outcomes,” Active Travel England said in a letter to the council.
“Unfortunately, we have assessed that the evidence you have provided does not demonstrate the minimum levels of local leadership and/or delivery track record that we require.”
Mike Rouse, the council’s cabinet member for highways and transport, said: “It is disappointing that Active Travel England decided to override our fair and reasonable ‘level one’ rating and put us at ‘level zero’ instead, potentially cutting us off from funding opportunities.
“I have written to the new Secretary of State at the Department for Transport to voice my concern at this assessment, and I have invited her to come to Worcestershire, to hear our plans and see the difference increased government funding could make to the county.
“We felt we were able to rate ourselves at ‘level one’ for our performance, as we have delivered a number of schemes to improve cycling and walking routes and we have more proposals on the way. We spend more than £20m per year on active travel measures.”
> Extension of cycling ban in Worcester city centre ‘an embarrassment’
This week’s news isn’t the first time that Worcestershire County Council have fallen short when it comes to active travel schemes.
In 2020, the council received only half of the money it bid for during the first and second tranches of emergency active travel funding, after its then-cabinet member for highways, Alan Amos, had described the rise in cycling during lockdown as “just a phase”.
Amos’s position on cycling had long been under scrutiny, after the councillor was one of the leading advocates for the 2018 ban on cycling in Worcester city centre.
Speaking at the time, he said that those who rode bikes in the area were “dangerous and selfish” and “wretched people”.
Clinical Wiebes storms to 23rd win of season at Binche-Chimay-Binche
💫Inconteatable victoria en Binche-Chimay-Binche pour Dames de Lorena WIEBES💫 Victoria 59 y con solo 23 años.. pic.twitter.com/DQn0SnIjih
— 💯el show de tadeo ⚡💫 (@joss__ok) October 4, 2022
While the British football media has been prattling on about Manchester City forward Erling Haaland’s ruthless efficiency in front of goal, on the road Lorena Wiebes has been showcasing some clinical, world-class finishing of her own throughout 2022.
The Dutch sprinter stormed to victory at today’s Binche-Chimay-Binche, beating Marjolein van ‘t Geloof and Uno-X’s Anniina Ahtosalo after yet another perfect lead out from her DSM teammate and former British champion Pfeiffer Georgi.
As GCN’s Dan Lloyd pointed out on Twitter, the win was European champion Wiebes’ 23rd of the season – from only 50 days of racing.
That staggering 43 percent win rate – which included a clean sweep of all three stages and the GC at the RideLondon Classique – puts Wiebes’ remarkably prolific year up there in terms of dominance and efficiency with Marianne Vos’ 2012 and Eddy Merckx’s 1970 and 1972 seasons.
Clinical.
‘Interesting’ anti-cycling Facebook comments, part 657
— Adam Bronkhorst (@AdamBronkhorst) October 3, 2022
Legendary Puy de Dôme to make long-awaited return to Tour de France?
Today’s nostalgia:
1964 Tour de France
Jacques Anquetil and Raymond Poulidor #cyclinglife #cyclelife #cyclingvideos #cyclistsofinstagram #cyclingpics #cyclists #cyclingstyle #cyclingphotos #cyclistlifestyle @sarpergunsal @berkemceylan @seytanarabasi @canereler pic.twitter.com/HlAkXkh7Eo— Gökhan Derin (@cyclist_merch) August 14, 2019
To continue one of the key themes of today’s live blog – unrepentant 1960s, 70s and 80s cycling nostalgia – we turn to one of the Tour de France’s most mythical climbs, the Puy de Dôme.
The Massif Central’s iconic volcano – the scene of some of the Tour’s most memorable moments, from Anquetil and Poulidor’s legendary shoulder-to-shoulder battle in 1964 to the famous punch from a spectator that effectively ended Eddy Merckx’s Tour reign – has lain dormant in road racing terms since the Grande Boucle last visited in 1988.
By the late 1980s, the continued expansion of the Tour into a global behemoth, with its cavalcade of vehicles and infrastructure, had made hosting the race on the Puy de Dôme a logistical nightmare, a difficulty only enhanced by the construction of a rail line to the summit in 2012, further shrinking the already narrow road.
The black and white photo of Anquetil and Poulidor going shoulder to shoulder on the Puy de Dome in 1964 is one of cycling’s most treasured images, but here they are, in colour, on that same climb. PouPou’s shoulders are the closest he’d get to wearing yellow on the Tour. pic.twitter.com/alPZlPCqLu
— Felix Lowe (@saddleblaze) November 14, 2019
In June, however, it was reported that the seemingly impossible task of bringing the Tour back to one of its most emblematic climbs was being actively investigated by the race’s organisers.
“The dream becomes bigger today,” Christian Prudhomme told local newspaper La Montagne of plans for the Puy de Dôme to host the Tour in 2024, the sixtieth anniversary of Poulidor and Anquetil’s iconic duel and the same edition that is purported to finish in Nice to avoid a clash with the Paris Olympics.
“There’s a lot of emotion for us because it’s a dream that we’ve had in our heads for years,” Prudhomme said. “This corresponds to our desire to give the mountains back to the champions. As we have shown in recent years by going to classified sites or sites that are difficult to access.
“There is a political will for the return to the Puy de Dôme. It’s a real challenge.”
“It is a dream that we had in our heads for years. The Puy de Dôme is a myth, our emblem of the Auvergne. I always thought it was a mistake to deprive oneself of the potential to come here,” said regional president Laurent Wauquiez.
While those June reports suggested that the Puy de Dôme’s long-awaited return would take place in 2024, rumours are currently circulating on Twitter that the savage slopes may well make an appearance even earlier:
It’s happening. Puy de Dome MTF in 2023 Tour de France. #TDF2023
(France 3 Auvergne/velowire message section) | 📷 wiki pic.twitter.com/Vv8Th43DVA
— ammattipyöräily (@ammattipyoraily) October 3, 2022
Le Tour de France 2023 fera son grand retour au Puy de Dôme après 35 ans d’absence (1988)#TDF2023 #TourdeFrance https://t.co/ewCWZlVjSg
— RouteZeroSix (@routezerosix) October 4, 2022
One French Twitter account also claimed last month that “several clues seem to indicate that the 2023 Tour de France will make an extended visit to Auvergne: first in Puy-de-Dôme, then in Allier.”
This is the one climb I always regretted it wasn’t in the tour when I raced it. My dad used to tell endless stories on this iconic climb! https://t.co/aRnyCFECKp
— laurenstendam (@laurenstendam) October 4, 2022
With the route presentation of the 2023 Tour, which will start in Bilbao on 1 July next year, due to take place on Thursday 27 October, we won’t have long to wait until we know for sure whether we’ll be basking in some golden-era cycling nostalgia in July…
Tadej Pogačar lays down marker for Il Lombardia defence with strong sprint win at Tre Valli Varesine
It seems that the reports of Tadej Pogačar’s demise are greatly exaggerated…
While many cycling fans rushed to their keyboards to speculate that the two-time Tour de France winner, who turned 24 less than two weeks ago, was a spent force after his second place to Enric Mas at Saturday’s Giro dell’Emilia (I know, right?), the Slovenian superstar proved today that he’s bang in form, just in time for the defence of his Tour of Lombardy title at the weekend.
Tadej Pogacar wins Tre Valli Varesine with one of his beasty sprints against Higuita and Valverde. 👏 If we are mean, we could say that in Emilia, UAE worked for Mas and today Movistar returned the favour. 😝😈 #TreValliVaresine
📽️ @BlancoAseguradopic.twitter.com/KXcQ0AvT0L— Mihai Simion (@faustocoppi60) October 4, 2022
The UAE Team Emirates rider took advantage of Movistar’s work for the soon-to-be-retiring Alejandro Valverde, launching a monstrously long sprint to see off the 42-year-old Spaniard, who was forced to settle for third in the penultimate race of his career, and runner-up Sergio Higuita.
I’m not sure that too many will bet against the Slovenian adding to his two monument victories in Como on Saturday…
Christophe Laporte wins #BincheChimayBinche – what a season it’s been for him. One of the riders of the season in terms of his improvement, I’d say. pic.twitter.com/AnhKh9tbye
— Katy M (@writebikerepeat) October 4, 2022
Meanwhile, on slightly flatter terrain further north, Christophe Laporte cemented his status as the favourite for Sunday’s Paris-Tours by charging away from breakaway companion Rasmus Tiller on the cobbled climb of the finish to win Binche-Chimay-Binche, the fifth win of the world road race silver medallist’s stellar debut season with Jumbo-Visma.
There’s something quite sinister about the Tour of Lombardy's latest rebrand…
Not sure about the slightly sinister re-branding of Il Lombardia. pic.twitter.com/222E35YzrY
— John MacLeary (@JohnMacLeary) October 4, 2022
‘Falling leaves’ just sounds so much more wistful, and less like a Hitchcock film…
Everyone in Belgium right now: ‘I’m not crying, you’re crying’
An era concludes.
Another one begins.
Photo: @BeelWout pic.twitter.com/MTbMWPQRWm
— Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team (@qst_alphavinyl) October 4, 2022
“Even those driving illegally have an extreme sense of entitlement”: Reaction to this morning’s untaxed, uninsured, pavement-mounting, child-chastising driver
Plenty of you had something to say about this morning’s story on the motorist – driving a car with no insurance, MOT or tax, and which is currently registered as off the road – who mounted the pavement on the wrong side of the road, only to chastise a six-year-old child cycling home from school for riding on the same, now-greatly diminished footpath.
(And breathe…)
road.cc reader gazza_d argued that the “car needs crushing” and the entitled motorist in question “needs a big fine”, while ChrisB200SX noted that the driver “needs an attitude adjustment”.
Over on Facebook, David wrote: “Hopefully the untaxed and expired MOT vehicle is clamped and removed soon, with the driver gaining points on their licence for that error. And additional points plus fine for poor driving/behaviour.
“Whether they’ll learn and change from such a self-entitled perspective is sadly unlikely.”
“The self-entitlement of motorists summed up in a 10 second clip,” wrote Rog. “Has a pop at a six-year-old while committing a very similar but far more dangerous crime without a hint of irony.”
Paul agreed, writing: “Yes, even those driving illegally have an extreme sense of entitlement.”
“Pretty much sums up driver entitlement and misguided post-war transport policy all in one go. ‘This bit is full so I’ll drive over here now’,” said Andrew.
Meanwhile, on Twitter, the emojis were out in force:
🤡 imagine he’ll be getting a visit from the police quite soon.
— Matty P (@mattypnufc) October 4, 2022
The gobshite nearly got himself run over too!
— Dave Parsons (@Daveyraveyrgave) October 4, 2022
“You couldn’t make it up”: Driver – in untaxed, SORN-registered car with expired MOT – mounts pavement on wrong side of the road… then chastises six-year-old for cycling on same footpath
It’s been quite the start to Cycle to School week.
Yesterday on the blog, a Northern Ireland government site was accused of “victim blaming” after encouraging schoolchildren to “be bike smart” – and illustrated this important road safety message with a photograph of an extremely narrow, painted cycle lane…
Then, in the afternoon, a parent and child were cycling home on the School Street on the Leahurst Road in Lewisham when an approaching motorist parked his car by mounting the pavement on the wrong side of the road:
Day 1 of #CycleToSchoolWeek. @LouiseKrupski it’s still toxic on Leahurst Rd on the first day of the school street. Driver goes to the wrong side of the road onto the pavement and then chastises a 6yr old for cycling on the same pavement. You couldn’t make it up @markandcharlie pic.twitter.com/gjn7Mf4lu2
— Greg N (@n00dles71) October 3, 2022
As he exited his vehicle – which is comfortably taking up half the footpath – the driver casually remarks in the direction of the young cyclist and his father, “Shouldn’t be on the pavement, should he?”
Unsurprisingly, both the cycling parent in the video and Twitter were highly critical of the irony-free driver, accusing him of “entitlement”, “cognitive dissonance”, “hypocrisy”, and of embodying “car culture”.
What an entitled hypocrite drivist
— Adam the Moofer ⚡️🚲 #StandWithUkraine 🇺🇦🌻 (@Adski11892) October 3, 2022
He’d probably have complained at you being a bad parent if you’d let your 6 year old cycle on that road too! Uh I’m so angry on your behalf. I’m glad you said something back to him 🥵
— Dawn Rahman (@velopostgrad) October 3, 2022
He drives onto the pavement and parks on it, blocking half, and then chastises a young child for cycling on that pavement.
Everything you need to know about driver entitlement attitude in the UK summed up in a 1 minute video. https://t.co/vA4gZAnmUN— theRdoubleC (@theRdoubleC) October 3, 2022
Unbelievable. Great come back though!! So many things wrong with this clip, even the trees are taking up stupid amounts of pavement as well .
— Deva (@DevaPete) October 3, 2022
Jesus Christ; also NOTICE the MASSIVE EMPTY MARKED PARKING BAY on the other side of the road, the side he was driving on, that he didn’t use. Saw the pavement, parked on it. Convinced this is parody
— billy (@CycleExmouth) October 3, 2022
“The drivers are at it again,” wrote Mark Hodson, one of the two officers who devised West Midlands Police’s renowned close pass operation, in response to the video. “Having committed the offences of driving on the pavement and obstruction, objects to the child cycling on the pavement, for which there is a specific discretion to allow due to the danger posed by offending drivers.”
It gets worse, however…
A number of inquisitive souls decided to check the parked car’s tax and MOT details. It turns out that the driver – unhappy at the thought of a six-year-old riding his bike on the pavement – is nevertheless quite content to drive and park on that very same pavement a vehicle with an expired MOT and one which is currently registered as off the road:
Definitely report the vehicle. It’s SORN and was driven with no MOT. @MPSRTPC pic.twitter.com/IM5N4oKP8V
— Alex Raha (🦠😷 💉💉💉🚲🚶🏾♂️) (@Rahario) October 3, 2022
I know it’s stereotyping, but when someone drives on the pavement like that & then has the gall to complain about a child cycling, then wanders off arguing, you just KNOW their car will be untaxed, uninsured, un-MOTed. It’s the don’t give a damn’ attitude, it’s so predictable.
— It’s me again (@bicyclecircus) October 3, 2022
I still can’t get over that having committed four offences he has a go at the kid 🤦♂️… I shouldn’t be suprised having dealt with so many offending drivers but that’s a pearler of an idiot 😡
— Mark Hodson (@markandcharlie) October 3, 2022
Just looked and it’s declared SORN, but seen that many other people have checked as well.
So driver with car that shouldn’t be on the road, Shouldn’t be on the pavement, chastises a 6yr old for cycling on the same pavement.
— Adam Bronkhorst (@AdamBronkhorst) October 3, 2022
As I said, Cycle to School week has started well…
4 October 2022, 08:45
4 October 2022, 08:45
4 October 2022, 08:45
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@Rendel Harris Agree, I am baffled that the 84 year old who is now banned from driving for year can then start driving again without a retest. We should be re-tested regularly.
@mitsky Just checking the figures and apparently the 2026 average cost is £58,000 per year per prisoner; worth noting that is only the direct cost, you then have to factor in ten years of lost tax income from the prisoner, ten years that the prisoner is making no contribution to society as a worker or as a consumer, plus the fact that if they were the primary breadwinner very likely the costs will include benefits for their family as well. None of which should be a reason for keeping violent recidivists out of prison of course, nor drug/drink drivers who kill, but it is a factor worth considering for lower-level offences.
@Surreyrider I ride in Surrey a fair bit and absolutely many do look like that but the point is they all *think* they're driving perfectly reasonably (as one discovers when remonstrating with someone who's skimmed one by 30cm, "I gave you masses of room") so deterrent penalties have little effect. That's why we need to strike at the root cause and actually train drivers properly and test them stringently (and more than once over the course of a potential 70+ years of driving, it's absolutely absurd that competence and knowledge in what for most people is the activity in their life that will run the biggest risk of killing people you never have to have your qualifications renewed).
@mitsky Imprisonment currently costs over £50k p.a. per prisoner and obviously that will rise over the course of a ten-year stretch with inflation. Regarding culpability and mitigating sentences etc, of course I'm not against condign punishment for drivers who kill (and cyclists on the tiny, tiny handful of occasions when this happens), including prison as appropriate; I was objecting to the ridiculous and oft-repeated demand of MM that drivers who kill cyclists must get ten years, "no excuses, no exceptions".
Hey, but their wool blend cycling adjacent t-shirts are/were fantastic.
@Surreyrider Still the boss. Ride one, you'll see why
@Smoggysteve "Most would happily ride on the roads and be treated with respect by drivers". But people aren't - and as far as I can see they won't be. Not until there is a lot less driving and it's slower around cyclists, and far more people driving have "skin in the game" eg. they sometimes cycle and their friends and family do also. That's what leads to the model - which is perhaps most advanced in NL - where cycling, walking and driving are all seen as separate normal transport modes. Their needs, vulnerabilities and any dangers to others are considered. And *that* leads to "mix / share when possible, separate when necessary". But "possible" is "where your 10-year old would be safe to cycle unsupervised" - so very few motor vehicles, going slow! And AFAICS everybody - even "existing cyclists" - is happy with the result. (I dunno about a few pro cyclists - but don't they tend to have training camps in different counties anyway?)
@quiff as an Edinburgh resident I can confidently say he's speaking without moving his lips in one sense: - while as I noted in a separate comment there *is* now some real separated cycle infra, all the examples i can think of have *at least as much space* for pedestrians. The rest of the "cycle infra" is essentially similar to the situation in the rest of the UK: eg. bus lanes*, cycle lanes and shared use paths (eg. "build" infra by sticking up a sign). Edinburgh is one of the places with a moderately extensive network of former railways which have been converted to "shared use" paths (completely motor traffic few). However though shared they are not narrow by UK standards. And this is all effectively a "free extra" for all non- motorised users, not like the "sign a cycle path" where pedestrians do lose space. I think this all comes from the "popular understanding" of cycling in which ultimately cyclists are the "other". They don't fit "motor vehicle" or "pedestrian" (including wheelchairs on the very rare occasions people think about that). Thus "cyclists are cheating" in multiple ways! They shouldn't get their own space as "there aren't enough" of them. And "they can just use the road / path". But being able to *choose* "on the road" or "on the footway" (shared use path) is clearly unfair - nobody else gets to do that! BUT of course even if they did pick just one of road OR pedestrian space it's still not fair anyway because they're "too slow" for the road (don't pay "road tax" etc...) and "far too fast" for pedestrians... * Though some existing cyclists may appreciate them when there are few buses, buses and bikes are a very poor mix for several reasons.
Whilst a shame for any employees, their bib shorts had the worst chamois pad I’d ever encountered, utter waste of my money. Even though they were Strava challenge discount purchases, still a waste of money.
Thanks, just going to have to suck it up. Got next week off and will take the easy, if expensive option...
34 thoughts on “Driver – in untaxed car with expired MOT – mounts pavement on wrong side of the road… then chastises six-year-old for cycling on same footpath; ‘Want your child to cycle to school? Dress them for battle’; Ayuso’s Super cool Colnago + more on the live blog”
Wow, pavement driver needs an
Wow, pavement driver needs an attitude adjustment, maybe a bump to the head would realign his cognitive processes to the real world.
Maybe he’s had one already
Maybe he’s had one already
It’s a bit OT, but if a car’s
It’s a bit OT, but if a car’s MOT has expired is it allowed to be even kept on the road?
Big black Mitsubishi Warrior pickup/SUV thing parked outside our house for about three weeks now: hasn’t moved and nobody’s been near it. Its MOT expired last month, at the same time that it appeared.
(There’s a garage at the end of the road does MOTs, but which recently expanded its workshop so it no longer has any “on-site” parking. I wonder whether they or the owner decided to just use our (residential) road as “off-site” parking…?)
Appaently so. Unless driven.
Appaently so. Unless driven.
At least that was what Essex police claim but it could have been an excuse to do nothing.
brooksby wrote:
You cannot keep a car on the highway without VED, a private driveway is fine. A friend of mine got DVLA fines, letters from the DVLA and council, etc. when his car was parked in the parking area for his block of flats, it wasn’t actually on the road but it is publicly accessible so essentially still on a public highway. (Pretty sure the law was changed a few years back so you cannot even legally keep a vehicle without insurance, SORNED and not on public highway seems fine though.)
MoT… it’s not allowed to be driven unless it’s to/from a booked MoT appointment. (In which case it doesn’t have to have VED because it may have expired and you cannot renew with a valid MoT, but it does have to be insured.)
brooksby wrote:
According to the UKGOV website (https://www.gov.uk/getting-an-mot):
so go ahead and report to police or DVLA if so minded!
Rendel Harris wrote:
so go ahead and report to
so go ahead and report to police or DVLA if so minded!
But don’t expect anything to happen if it’s yet another duff force competing with Lancashire for the coveted ‘Worst Traffic Police in the UK’ award
MoT… it’s not allowed to be driven unless it’s to/from a booked MoT appointment
Stop, stop!! My sides have already split. This vehicle is parked regularly at the Old Police Station right on the main road passed by numerous police vehicles every day, including ones with the apparently dummy ANPR camera boxes beloved of Lancashire Constabulary
I hope the police follow this
I hope the police follow this one up and he gets a fine plus some points on his licence.
It’s the same attitude as a
It’s the same attitude as a driver near me who must have clocked up 40 parking tickets since July for constantly leaving his vehicle in the diasbled bays when he has no Blue Badge or sometimes in the 2hr parking zone for 8-12 hours.
No loose clothing that could
No loose clothing that could get caught in a bike is fine.
We had to take a teenager home after her jumper hanging off her handle bars ended up in her front wheel.
On “hanging stuff off
On “hanging stuff off handlebars”, can anyone explain the trend for people riding around with a helmet hanging off their handlebars?
If you don’t have a helmet, you can’t wear it. If you do own one, why would you carry it around rather than wear it?
Malicious compliance? Been
Malicious compliance? Been nagged to wear a helmet so have to take it with them. I mostly but not always wear a helmet. I find off the road dog-walking areas more helmet necessary than local roads.
It’s a cool thing to do in
It’s a cool thing to do in the mountains of Italy. Well, when going up. Maybe not when going down…
brooksby wrote:
I know several people who don’t like helmets but have promised the OH they’ll wear one, so take it off once they’re round the corner. Also (and this one I find I really bizarre) I know some parents who want their kids to wear helmets so they wear one on the way to school to set an example but then once they’ve offloaded the kids they take it off to cycle home.
Rendel Harris wrote:
I’m clearly too honest. I only wear one because my wife insists, but it would never cross my mind to go out the door with it on and then take it off later…
brooksby wrote:
I would never, of course, deceive my dear wife, but even if I were minded to I would be too worried about getting caught, she’s got plenty of friends in the neighbourhood: “I saw Rendel on the road the other day, why does he carry his helmet on the bars?” Not to mention, “So you had your helmet on when you crashed, but you’ve still got six stitches in your crown…”
I rode a motorcycle in the
I rode a motorcycle in the days before helmets were mandatory, I didn’t think a helmet was cool but my Mum insisted that I wear one.
I used to set off wearing it, then hide it in the hedge at the end of our road ready to wear on my return.
That Honda is also showing as
That Honda is also showing as uninsured today.
I hope that driver has been reported. Car needs crushing and he needs a big fine
“shouldn’t be on the pavement
“shouldn’t be on the pavement should he?”
Their car is a he?
I thought, in English, cars
I thought, in English, cars are girls (like boats and spaceships).
Worcester not happy when some
Worcester not happy when some else marks their homework. No sh*t Sherlock.
Isn’t there a poster who
Isn’t there a poster who likes to quote the political makeup of councils when they appear on blogs etc.
but unless Active Travel
but unless Active Travel England publish their scores for ALL the councils they are reviewing, we wont be able to judge what the political makeup is. At least Worcester published their submission so we can get an idea what ATE were asking for and after and whilst bits of it you can feel are pretty poor it feels like alot of councils are going to get a score of 0.
I see “Worcestershire cut off
I see “Worcestershire cut off from cycling and walking funding after Active Travel England gives County Council ‘level zero’ rating”
… and think “Good, no more handing naughty kids pocket money they’ll misuse”. We’re at the start. I’ll know we’ve left the start line when that reads “Worcestershire transport department / council put into special measures after Active Travel England zero rating”.
Sorry for people living there though.
Assume this will be its own
Assume this will be its own news item
suspended sentence for 2 assaults within seconds.
Main story here.
Main story here.
Not seeing anything about banned from driving, and also not his first attack on a cyclist. The victims statement hits home but I suspect not for the DM brigade as they will not recognise themselves.
Thanks
Thanks
Should be banned and hardship ignored.
Guessing charged as assault
Guessing charged as assault and for some reason the vehicle aspect not considered. Stupid sentencing.
“He was given a suspended
“He was given a suspended jail sentence on Tuesday after admitting dangerous driving and assault.”
Well, there’s a bit to unpack
Well, there’s a bit to unpack there.
Firstly, the cyclist was passing a parked car in primary position and was well to the left of the centre of the road, the one who went for a gap that wasn’t there and crossed the centre of the road was the van, so the cyclist didn’t hit the van’s wing mirror (as it’s described in the report), Rawlins drove into the cyclist.
Secondly, the guy had known anger management issues (and previous for a similar attack on a cyclist), so why was he allowed to drive in the first place? Why are people who are known to fly off the handle and react massively disproportionately to the slightest thing even allowed to pilot 2-tonne metal boxes around other members of the public?
As true as this is, there was no “infraction” from the cyclist. Rawlins tried to barge a cyclist out of the way, hit him twice, and then decided to kick his head in for good measure – and not for the first time apparently.
Suspended sentence… FFS.
youd think deliberately
youd think deliberately driving into someone like that would be enough to spend some time in clink, but then actually punching them unconcious and with priors for similar aggressive behaviour… thats a shocking result frankly.
Il Lombardia has always been
Il Lombardia has always been known in Italian as the ‘classica delle foglie morte’ (the French use les feuilles mortes to describe the season of turning leaves as well I believe). Granted it’s less poetic in English but the literal translation of what the race has been called in its home country for well over a century is hardly a rebrand.
Things often sound much
Things often sound much better than their English translations; when I was preparing for the sportive version of Paris-Roubaix in 2016, I happily let my (cycling) work colleagues believe that it was “The Hell of the North”, even though the “l’Enfer du Nord” moniker was coined after the WW1 devastation of the region and not related to the ride itself
On reflection it was much, much worse than hell at the time, but fond memories now. Harder than it looks.