“Corporate litter strikes again”: Cyclists frustrated by e-hire bikes blocking pavement; Bus driver criticised for impatiently tailgating cyclist before bus stop; Men’s Tour of Britain teams announced; TT at the TdF Femmes + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
Tottenham's pedestrian traffic obstacles
It’s a brief video, and one with a pretty simple explanation, yet all it does is embolden anti-cycling arguments. This was Tottenham Court Road this weekend, the pavements teeming with e-bikes that appear strewn.
Tottenham Court Road crossing packed with E-bikes
by
u/AnAgalma in
londoncycling
“This is caused by the parking space in Soho square (the biggest in the area) being closed today.” The top-rated comment writes.
“Unfortunately a lack of spaces in Soho means people end up going for the closest (and smallest) in the area…”
You fear that in some corners of the internet this would be weaponised, that there would be calls to ban it all, because some people love nothing more than banning stuff, letting people wallow in strife. Thankfully r/londoncycling are again on the money with practical solutions…
“Shows there’s demand for cycling infrastructure. Swap some nearby car parks to bike parking zones, or build dedicated bike parking buildings. The space shouldn’t have to be taken from pedestrians, especially around there with the amount of foot traffic.”
“The operators already know in real time which bays are full – it’s in their own apps. A bay the size of Soho Square going offline should automatically trigger something: redistribute the fleet, temporarily cap drop-offs at the small bays nearby, offer credit for parking further out. Instead the overflow just becomes a pedestrian problem.”
“We’re due underground parking garages ASAP. And these companies can be the ones to pay for it.”
“This is annoying to be fair. But how much of the public space does road traffic take up? More traffic restrictions would free up space for pedestrians. There’s no need to drive in the city for the most part.”
“The other side of this car prioritisation is you can guarantee if these bikes had all been dumped in the road like this and were blocking cars rather than pedestrians, the authorities would get it sorted out in double-quick time. Pedestrians so often are just bottom of the pecking order.”
Others weren’t so complimentary towards the e-bike providers…
> E-bike operators including Lime and Forest slapped with £210,000 in fines for sloppy parking
“It’s a private company being allowed to implement their “disruptive” business model within the public realm with little-to-no oversight or accountability.”
“Why can’t traffic wardens just issue parking tickets for this, billed to Lime? If it was a car parked like this then they’d rightly get a ticket, so why not do the same for these? If Lime was racking up millions in parking tickets every day, they would soon put a stop to this nonsense.”
“Corporate litter strikes again.”
We might be all for encouraging people to cycle, but a bit of corporate accountability also wouldn’t go amiss…
> Barcelona to ban private bike share schemes from 2027, as mayor slams e-bike parking “mess”
Racing round-up: Brennan & Ben's barnstorming Burgos
That headline kind of works…
Away from the Tour de France, there were two sprints in the men’s peloton. We’ll start in Spain, where the Vuelta a Burgos started today with an uphill sprint, and Matty Brennan was victorious for the first time since May. And Ben Tulett, second to Paul Seixas in Fleche Wallonne came in in second place for a British 1-2! Lovely stuff…
Matty Brennan wins the first stage of Vuelta a Burgos! #VueltaBurgoshttps://t.co/7V8iJ6a2x1 pic.twitter.com/47NJOPOzSo
— Eemeli (@LosBrolin) August 4, 2026
Meanwhile stage two of the Tour of Poland ended in another sprint that was won by Jonathan Milan…
Unstoppable!
It’s two stages and two victories for Jonathan Milan in Poland 🚀🇵🇱 pic.twitter.com/wFNX4LtvbZ
— Cycling on TNT Sports (@cyclingontnt) August 4, 2026
Reusser wins and takes yellow!
Sigrid Haugset comes to the line, more than three minutes behind Marlen Reusser who has already started her cool-down, she celebrates with her partner.
It’s not her first TT win at the Tour, having won the final stage of the race in 2023, and she now has a yellow jersey to boot…
🇫🇷 #TDFF2026, Stage 4 (20.1 km, ITT)
TOP10 pic.twitter.com/UdORzCmklY
— ammattipyöräily (@ammattipyoraily) August 4, 2026
New race leader incoming
Ah, you have to feel a little for Sigrid Haugset. You deliver the ride of your life and then are expected to back it up the next day. She looks resplendent in full yellow but the legs aren’t there. 2’06” down at the intermediate split, she’ll be out of the race lead by the day’s end. Hopefully she can savour the occasion of the next 10-15 minutes or so at least.
Now, here comes Vollering to the line, the race favourite took no prisoners on the descent, trying to ride as close to the police motos as possible. 22 seconds down at the intermediate point, but it looks like her combativity on the second half of the course has paid off! Only 17 seconds lost to world champion Reusser! She collapses on the ground, hyperventilating, pouring water on herself. What a statement of intent…
Meanwhile Ryan informs me he heard Elisa Longo Borghini tell her mechanic she had a problem during her TT, if so that makes her 10th place on the stage all the more remarkable. The Italian is clearly in great form!
New clubhouse leader
Marlen Reusser comes up to the finish and beats Nooijen’s time by four seconds, the Dutchwoman clearly rode strongly in the second half of the course.
Meanwhile we’re now seeing Pauline Ferrand-Prevot come towards the line but her position on the bike just doesn’t look very fast. I’m afraid it reminds me of Andy Schleck. She finishes 2’13” behind Reusser and barring something miraculous this weekend I think that might put to bed her chances of defending her title. It doesn’t help when the world is watching her every move…
Demi Vollering has just come through the intermediate split, 22 seconds behind Reusser, a solid ride but not one that looks like threatening the day’s victory.
Stormin' Marlen
Blimey, not only has Marlen Reusser gone fastest through the first intermediate sprint by 20 seconds, but she appears to have already put a minute into Pauline Ferrand-Prevot.
All the riders are now out on the course, we’ll get an update on Demi Vollering shortly, but it’s looking like Sigrid Haugset might have to put a shift in to hold off the Swiss champion of the world against the clock.
Kasia Niewiadoma is 30 seconds down at the intermediate split, but honestly that’s a great result for the 2024 champion…
So close!
Ah, agonising for Zoe Backstedt who just falls short. She was level on time with Lieke Nooijen at the intermediate check at the top of the climb but lost ground on the descent and run-in to the line. In Ryan’s words, “she looked done” as she collapsed on the ground in the finish, having finished 15 seconds down.
The GC favourites are now getting underway, with Marlen Reusser and Pauline Ferrand-Prevot having just started their effort. With only one intermediate split it’s hard to compare times, but one update I can share for now is that Anna van der Breggen seems a little off the pace…
Impatience 101?
This might be asking a bit much, but I like it when bus drivers drive slowly. It should be part of the social contract when taking public transport that the person transporting you takes every bit of care to ensure the mass transportation is completed safely and without incident.
Unfortunately, this video doesn’t appear to be observing every precaution. Geolocation is not my strength so we’ll have to limit this footage to ‘London’, but that’s not exactly the main take away here.
Bus drivers: don’t do this.#2SecondRule pic.twitter.com/hkDtJ73yIJ
— Tulse pHill (@PhillTulse) August 2, 2026
A bus driver tailgating a cyclist seems… dangerous? It requires only a modicum of an attention-lapse from either party to cause serious injury for the cyclist. Worryingly, the driver also seems impatient enough to be repeatedly looking to overtake, despite the regular bollards and pedestrian crossings in the road designed to reduce such an incentive, and the rapidly approaching bus stop that would cut off the cyclist if the driver attempted to pass.
Incidentally, I don’t think the cyclist’s behaviour is perfect here, but only because they appear to be riding too close to the kerb and to the parked car doors, making a Remco Evenepoel-style incident more likely, and also motivating the driver to try for a dangerous overtake because they see more of the open road directly in front of them.
But as our original poster identifies in the comments, “possibly she is intimidated by the 10 tonne bus which is right behind her.”
Unfortunately, over on the cesspit of Twitter, social media users don’t seem to grasp this…
“Pull in and let a bus running on a scheduled full of people pass. You are not safe with it behind you, you are holding up many peoples lives. It is not rocket science.”
“Gotta wonder why for their own safety the cyclist doesn’t just get out of the way for two seconds and let the bus go past. It’s not difficult.”
“Bus driver has done no wrong. Peddle faster or pull over. Don’t be a c***.”
“There’s all sorts of great bike infrastructure there, and the cyclists *still* insist on playing in traffic and being a menace to everyone around them.”
“Cyclists are the worst, thinking they own the roads.”
And on and on it goes. To get in advance of what might become a contested topic of discussion, the Highway Code rules drivers should maintain a two-second gap, but that buses and lorries should hold a four-second gap, though that’s harder to maintain on city streets than an A-road. This page also shows a useful chart of all sorts of stopping distances…
Bäckstedt begins!
Zoe Bäckstedt is off, down the start ramp and through the cobbled streets of Gevry-Chambertin. She’s a heavy favourite to take the hotseat, but the stage win might prove a difficult task with the mid-race climb.
Currently in the hotseat is Visma’s TT specialist Lieke Nooijen, having beaten the time of former unexpected Omloop winner Lotte Claes. Next sown the start ramp is meanwhile Lidl-Trek’s own specialist Riejanne Markus… The stage favourites will soon be coming thick and fast.
Meanwhile Ryan’s been out and about, taking lots of photos of Spongebob-related things…
TDFF coverage criticised
One of the good things about people who #watchthefemmes is that it means there’s an audience to complain when they don’t even show the whole race. Orla Chennaoui is one of many irritated that Sigrid Haugset’s race-winning attack was not captured on television.
I’m glad Orla’s speaking out, and I am similarly annoyed that only two stages of the whole race will be broadcast in full. But we get full coverage of pan-flat stages of the men’s Tour of Poland? As Ryan analyses from the press room of today’s TT, TNT has a part to play in the limited coverage we’re seeing…
Speaking of the TT, we’ll be switching attention to the mustard land imminently…
Very sticky bottles
Disqualifying-ly sticky in fact, from the Tour of Guadeloupe…
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Farewell Flanders-Baloise
One of the staples of the Belgian, and indeed European road cycling scene, will soon be no more.
Team Flanders-Baloise, the second-tier Belgian team that became a staple of the spring classics and popular regulars at the Tour of Britain, will fold at the end of the season after the team proved unable to find a replacement sponsor after the Flemish Government announced last year it would withdraw its funding of the team. The team has been running more than 30 years and, in a statement, General Manager Christophe Sercu described his pride at helping 218 riders make a career out of riding their bikes, with 111 moving on to the WorldTour or other ProTour teams.
“For 33 years, Team Flanders – Baloise guaranteed the training and guidance of young Flemish cycling talent and the team grew into a fixture in the international professional peloton.
“In recent months, we have received a great many expressions of sympathy, appreciation and support. That has touched us enormously and confirms how much this team has meant to many. In the end, however, economic and financial reality decided the survival of our project.”
Sercu also sounded a warning about the broader state of the men’s peloton, with ever-increasing budgets at the top squeezing out teams in the middle. The Inner Ring blog noted that the Spanish Kern Pharma team and the French TotalEnergies teams are also set to fold at the end of the year.
“The disappearance of Team Flanders – Baloise illustrates how challenging it has become today to finance a UCI ProTeam in a sustainable way. While the budgets of the UCI WorldTeams have risen sharply in recent years, it is becoming increasingly difficult for UCI ProTeams to stay afloat financially.
“This evolution is also evident from the figures. Whereas there were 27 UCI ProTeams active worldwide in 2018, there will only be 16 in 2026.
“We hope that this evolution will give rise to a lasting reflection on the future of professional cycling. A healthy cycling landscape not only needs strong UCI WorldTeams, but also a strong second professional layer with sufficient UCI ProTeams.”
It also says something about the state of the sport when the Flanders Government decides it’s no longer worth their while funding the development of local cyclists through sponsoring a team. Coupled with last season’s messy merger of Lotto and Intermarche-Wanty, it seems as though Belgian cycling is not in a healthy position.
Men's Tour of Britain teams announced
There will be 5 WorldTour teams at the men’s Tour of Britain next month, including UAE Team Emirates-XRG, Soudal Quick-Step and Decathlon CMA CGM.
Netcompany-Ineos are also set to return, having been mainstays since their founding in 2010, alongside NSN Pro Cycling. Other teams lining up include Pinarello-Q36.5, Tudor Pro Cycling and the newly-formed American team Modern Adventure Pro Cycling.
> Men’s Tour of Britain route revealed
As ever there will also be a GB national team, but once again there will be no British Continental teams at the race – because there still aren’t any anymore! An unfortunate state of affairs. Incidentally, it was a pitch of mine on the domestic racing scene that got me through the door at road.cc towers. Sadly things haven’t improved in the intervening period – on the racing front, to be clear. I am now happily employed, for the avoidance of doubt.
Anyway, the Tour of Britain has become a popular race for riders preparing for the world championships in recent years. Julian Alaphilippe, Remco Evenepoel and Tom Pidcock have all lit up the race in recent years and could make a return, whilst the return of UAE means we’re allowed to get excited imagining Isaac del Toro making an appearance on our home roads, right?
Other stars who have lit up the Tour de France who could make an appearance include Biniam Girmay and Olav Kooij, whilst if Fred Wright doesn’t show up after his stage 21 Montmartre attack I’ll be gutted…
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The full list of competing teams is:
TT day at the Tour
There was some consternation when the Tour de France Femmes didn’t feature any time trial, individual or team, in last year’s race. Admittedly it’s harder to incorporate it when your stage race isn’t three weeks long, but there was relief in several quarters when it returned for this year’s race.
Although, as is the style of the time, the organisers have only gone and put a hill in it! The specialists won’t be happy about that, although there will still be around 14km of flat-ish terrain for the likes of Marlen Reusser to stake a claim on GC. The Swiss rider is my pick for today and, based on her racing form before the race, is also my tip for a great overall result in this race.
Demi Vollering actually won the last Tour time trial, back in 2024, despite not being a favourite for the discipline, but today’s parcourse should surely suit her characteristics. Pauline Ferrand-Prevot, on the other hand will be hoping to limit her losses as defending champion.
If there’s a non-GC rider to look for, it’s Zoe Bäckstedt, the newly re-crowned British national TT champion riding her first Tour de France. We’re not biased, honest.
A final word should go to our yellow jersey Sigrid Haugset, who I’m sure is still in dream land after yesterday’s stunning 90km solo win. With a two minute buffer on the GC favourites, the Norwegian is well-placed to hold on to the race lead, maybe even until Mont Ventoux on Friday.
Boys build their own MTB bike track
Who says teenagers don’t go outside anymore? Oliver and Jackson were bored, and wanted to ride their bikes, a tale as old as Karl von Drais. So they set about making a bike track in the nearby field. BBC Humberside have captured them in action designing and riding their trail…
View this post on Instagram
We’ll have to send our off-road experts off to do a review…
Bike gunk watch...
That’s the technical term…
This bearing is probably done huh?
by
u/AlrightFineImAGirl in
Justridingalong
Bra-gate
It’s difficult to say what the solution is here. I’m inclined to think that if a woman is willing to wear an extra-padded bra whilst riding in 35 degree heat then they deserve the minor aerodynamic advantage that comes with it.
Then again, if it’s teams that are complaining rather than a snooty person in a UCI shirt, maybe some action should be taken, although any means of investigating the issue quickly becomes a privacy issue of its own…
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Latest Comments
@Riggers I used to buy a lot from Wiggle, and since then, unfortunately nowhere has come close in my opinion for a one-stop shop, so for me now it's a combination of: Decathlon (clothing) Merlin (tyres, drivetrain components) Woolly Hat Shop/bikeparts.co.uk (tools, drivetrain components) Sigma Sports (clothing, misc accessories) SJS (components) BikeInn (misc accessories)
What exactly do you think I said you said that wasn't what you said? Because you appear to be saying that you did say what i said you said - that it may provide useful information to inform the way that clinical cases should be assessed and handled when they present. Or as you put it: The issue is that they themselves didn't conclude this - they claimed that it provides information about the risks of ebiking and related behaviours, and that it could inform policy in those areas. It doesn't and it shouldn't.
Do you work in a secret bunker in the middle of a mountain? Or a mine?
Mountain biking does a lot less harm to nature than, er, paving trails. Also, I'm pretty sure that "federal court" has no particular sway in the UK.
I think horse riders would prefer not to ride on the roads, but they often have to use them to get between stables and bridleways. Also if one horse rode behind another the one in front can sometimes kick out at the one behind because it feels threatened. The point is that many drivers travel too fast on narrow twisty country roads and fail to allow for unanticipated (by them) events such as cyclists, horses, pedestrians, sheep, tractors, fallen trees etc being on the road and badgers, pheasants etc crossing the road.
@Paul J More information has come out today which indicates that the riders did not believe that the conditions were fine, apparently a lot of the roads were extremely slippery (this seems to have been a problem throughout the race, presumably due to dust caused by the excessive heat) and so the many hairpins had become hazardous. Secondly the riders felt that the nature of the circuit made it impossible for any riders suffering a crash or mechanical to get back on as the peloton would be so strung out and it would take so long for assistance to reach anyone in need. Decathlon rider Sander de Pestel told journalists that in his opinion a GC rider wouldn't be able to get back on even if they had an incident at 40 km to go. Take that with a pinch of salt or not as you wish but those two sound like quite legitimate reasons for the riders to be concerned.
@Chris RideFar ..... and the first thing they do is crank that throttle all the way! WHOO HOO!!! Look at me go!!!
I wish I could commute to work but my house is 5000' above where I work :-( That's 1500 meters for you metric types. Good article. Can I suggest silk glove liners under your fingerless cycling gloves. Not waterproof but gives you an extra 10 degrees of cold protection.
I'm honestly amazed that horse riders dare take to our country roads. I have no idea what the actual statistics on collisions are but they are very slow moving, often 2 abreast and generally on the little twisty turny country lanes. With the way far too many people drive on these tiny roads, I wouldn't dare be on a horse on them. On my weekend ride this week a pickup driver (shocker eh) nearly crashed into a poor lady head on because he simply couldn't wait until it was safe to overtake. Poor womans ABS kicked in and she had to go into the side of the road to avoid him as he barrelled on through and she still only missed him by inches I reckon. All because too many people don't care. If he hits her he will have a crash on his insurance but he almost certainly wouldn't be banned despite it being a fucking braindead overtake that he clearly does as a matter of course. He is a danger on our roads but we will never treat him as one until he kills or seriously hurts someone and we can prove he was completely at fault. Even then it will have been a "one off" according to his lawyer. A lapse. About 2 minutes after this near miss a BMW flies past me giving me plenty of space and gently drifts back over to our side of the road. He was going about 45 and was on the wrong side of the road going around a blind corner while he drifted back in. If someone else doing the same speed was coming around that bend he would have binned it into the hedge or hit them. The mind just boggles. Absolutely zero reason he didn't pull back in faster. Just didn't occur to him I assume. This is why it scares me on our country roads. Far too many drivers who are just fundamentally dangerous, bad drivers.
There needs to be a change in the language used when reporting on things like this. If there is ever an incident involving a cyclist it is very much dehumanised. Cyclist = Inanimate object. Not a human being, with family and loved ones. its all so easy to make them look more like a statistic. The more people who understand that cyclists are real people just trying to live their lives and and not just an obstacle or inconvenience then we might have people treating them the way you would wish to be treated.
31 thoughts on ““Corporate litter strikes again”: Cyclists frustrated by e-hire bikes blocking pavement; Bus driver criticised for impatiently tailgating cyclist before bus stop; Men’s Tour of Britain teams announced; TT at the TdF Femmes + more on the live blog”
“Geolocation is not my strength so we’ll have to limit this footage to ‘London’”
No idea why I recognised this but the location is 58 Norwood Road SE24 9BH on the A215 northbound at the Deronda Road bus stop between Tulse Hill and Herne Hill.
Perhaps the cyclist was on their way to the nearby Herne Hill velodrome for a track day, preserving their legs for a sprint finish?
@Pub bike Beat me to it, a familiar road to me as I have friends in Tulse Hill so quite often use it. I’m not a fan of always telling cyclists to ride primary when there may be good reasons they are not, but I always hold the centre of the lane on that stretch because the presence of a succession of traffic islands means if you don’t you get numerous drivers speeding by and diving in hard before they get to the next island.
Worth noting also that a little further on there are two sets of three-way traffic lights (Croxted Road junction then Herne Hill) which always have long queues any time of day, so highly doubtful that even at the relatively slow speed the cyclist is travelling waiting for her actually impacted on the overall journey time of the bus.
one of the rttcgb lot wears/wore a hydration pack in the front for the same aero effect.
“Incidentally, I don’t think the cyclist’s behaviour is perfect here”
This is actually all about the bus driver’s bad driving but for some reason everyone seems to be blaming the cyclist. So the cyclist could have taken primary between the bollards but why should it be necessary? The bus driver should just keep at a safe distance. Even a slow cyclist will beat a bus point to point in London so there’s no reason whatsoever for the cyclist to pull over in this case.
And in general there’s no obligation for cyclists to pull over and let other vehicles pass: Highway code rule 72 When riding on busy roads, with vehicles moving faster than you, allow them to overtake where it is safe to do so.
There was no safe place here and allowing the bus to overtake would have put the cyclist in danger at the next bus stop.
“Boys build their own MTB bike track”
Shouldn’t this be on scrapland.cc?
Nice to see the cycle path being used.
https://www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk/news/gloucester-news/alarm-after-car-drives-down-11091061
@Bungle_52
Well, my usual suggestion that ALL cycle lanes be painted green to indicate drivers should know not to drive on them has clearly been refuted by finding the one human fool who fails that test.
*hangs head in despair*
@mitsky consistent marking would be great! Although that still doesn’t do all that much before we get to separated cycle paths and “bicycle streets” (“fietsstraat”) as drivers just ignore paint. And with UK motor traffic volumes that paint can wear off / disappear into a pothole pretty quick. I see this with current cycle lane markings and ASLs.
If we’re going Dutch in this way then it should be a top layer of coloured tarmac for longevity. That is more expensive, so even the Dutch don’t use it everywhere…
Just two of my examples of impatient bus drivers:
@mitsky “The cyclist stopping somewhere.. ..and then you, you should be checking what you are doing”
Wise words, if only the bus driver had a moment to reflect on what whatever aggressively defensive verbal diarrhoea fell out of *their mouth.
@ROOTminus1
Her mouth. I assume.
@mitsky The bus driver seemed to imply that because the cycle lane ends that the cyclist’s rights ran out at that point and they had to immediately stop at the end of the cycle lane and therefore it was fine for her to cut her bus in front of the cyclist. Bizarre illogical nonsense. Is there widespread cheating in driving tests or something?
I hope you reported this back then to the police and TfL as one or more offences have been committed and the bus driver needed (re?)training.
@Pub bike
Yep, the police gave a ref to indicate they would look into it but not had an update since then.
So I assume they put her on an awareness course or gave her points and a fine.
And per the description on the video:
-Update from TfL/Arriva, 27/10/2023:
“I assure you that your experience was taken very seriously and dealt with. Arriva have confirmed that the driver was seen, the incident discussed and appropriate action taken.
Please be aware that this is the only information Arriva is able to disclose, in line with employment law whereby their disciplinary procedures are confidential.”-
@mitsky I’ve had a number of those letters from Arriva, I’ve been informed by somebody who used to work for them in a clerical capacity that the “incident discussed and appropriate action taken”, if there is no police action, generally amounts to the shift manager saying, “Oi Fred, some bloody cyclist has been complaining about you again, watch yourself, will ya?”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cpq811wgn7zo
Sad one from near to me. Basically a driver (who the year previous was convicted of phone use whilst driving) ad at least eight seconds to see a cyclist on a dead straight road, but still hit and killed them.
Punishment is suspended jail sentence but also 200 hours of community service and a three year suspension of driving licence. So even though they had a history of driving offences, they killed someone and will be back on the roads within three years? I don’t think jail is the answer in instances like this, but can we please start treating driving as a privilege not a right.
@the little onion I don’t believe that he was using a phone at the time of the fatal collision, or it would have been an aggravating factor in sentencing.
Quite why he didn’t see the cyclist isn’t really stated – unfortunately time of day/road conditions aren’t mentioned in the article.
Edit – there’s a better version in a local paper which details the collision as 4.50am, no aggravating circumstances such as drink, drugs, phone use, details how the van driver attempted CPR at the scene. If I was hazarding a guess I’d think it could be a case of driving while tired. Very sorry for the family’s loss.
@Nigel Garage Yes it does, it says it was 4.50AM on August 6th 2024 which was clear with very light cloud, no rain, the cyclist had full lights and presumably the driver had his lights on as well. It is simplicity itself to organise a mobile phone that cannot be identified in the event of police investigation and some van/HGV drivers openly admit to doing this in online forums: simply pay cash for a cheap phone with a prepaid SIM card and use that when driving, if you’re stopped by police or involved in an incident you can simply hide/bin the “burner” phone and show them your regular phone that hasn’t been used at the pertinent time. A very useful technique for a van driver who might feel the need to make calls without stopping but who already has points on his licence for mobile phone use at the wheel. Still, as long as you, with your unblemished reputation for never taking the side of drivers over cyclists, without knowing anything about the case, “believe” he wasn’t using a phone at the time that must obviously be the case.
@jackcycles Really not sure what your input is trying to say.
You don’t point out any mitigating factors, like he was urgently transporting a fridge somewhere for his disabled mother; or he’s a lovely chap who was momentarily distracted by an inability to pay attention to the one job he had at the time.
Anyway, he avoided jail, so ‘every cloud…’, and all that.
@jackcycles The history of a phone usage conviction is not a claim it was the case in this incident, but a demonstration of a pattern of behaviour of contempt for the serious nature of operating a motor vehicle, and an evident lack of consideration for the adequate attention required.
AKA; Motornormativity
BBC:
“The court heard how Nash, from Giggleswick, had been riding on the single carriageway section of the road at about 04:50 BST on 6 August and was wearing a helmet with a light attached and his bike also had a rear light illuminated.”
It does state the conditions at the time of the incident in the BBC report to which Onion linked.
This driver should be banned from driving for the rest of their life. Period.
Road.cc wrote:
Why is this hard on city streets? The slower you go the shorter the distance represented by two seconds and in the limit it reaches zero metres for this rule. Saying this is hard is perpetuating a myth that it is difficult to keep a safe distance from the vehicle in front. Surely tailgating needs more concentration?
Goodness – could this be the DVLA actually being proactive? And even taking someone to court?!
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cpw9v0rlj5go
Someone should check on wtjs…
@chrisonabike I would have thought that the owner of the car would have been able to afford a DB5 rather than a DB6. Cost of Aston Martin crisis?
PS: I wonder why the DVLA is going after cars that aren’t being used on the roads when there seem to thousands cases of untaxed uninsured un-MOTed vehicles actually being used on the roads?
PPS: As a “historic vehicle” this car is exempt from MOT – until the engine is changed to electric – and is zero rated for vehicle tax so there’s no revenue to be collected. Seems like they have their priorities wrong. Or they are just going after people who will make the headlines to make examples?
I couldn’t say … but hopefully some other road.cc posters will be along to explain.
@chrisonabike I wonder if like when HMRC has to make cuts the first thing it does is lose compliance officers that the DVLA is the same, and without sufficient compliance officers all they can do is pursue a small number of high profile cases like this one regardless of the actual individual merit of each case just to get headlines to act as a deterrent?
In the BBC article the last line is “He was among 1,451 people across England and Wales to be convicted last week of failing to insure their vehicles.”. Given that there are 43 million+ registered vehicles in the UK this seems to be an incredibly small number ie 0.0033% considering how often cars without tax and/or MOT I (and others e.g. @wtjs) find when looking up a registration on the DVLA reg check website.
@chrisonabike Someone should check on wtjs…
Not sure what CoaB is implying here- is it that I have a secret Aston Martin, or that my stories about HN21 VXB and BF64 TGE can’t have been properly presented to the Kickass Enforcers at DVLA, the body which, in real life, makes Border Force look like the Swiss Railways. I don’t have any vehicle on the road at present, for the simple reason that I know that the vindictive b******s at LancsFilth would be out to nail me if they could, just like WYorks police recently did with the cyclist who annoyed them by reporting a close passing offence. Apologists for DVLA should know that it’s impossible to report a vehicle to them if you don’t have the location where it ‘lives’, and I first reported BF64 TGE to them in May 2022, because I accidentally do know where it lives. It will soon achieve the landmark ‘5 years without VED’ so they haven’t exactly leapt into action. It was reported to DVLA by my MP a year ago, so it’s encouraging to know that MPs are fobbed-off with complete bollocks from ministers just like the rest of us. There are loads more of them around here: I haven’t seen PO64 AUR for a year but that will soon achieve a prizewinning 10 years without VED. DVLA already knows about these millions of vehicles on the road without VED, because many of them keep getting MOT and are easily identifiable from DVLA’s own database anyway- such as HY66 ZZB, which I last saw about 3 months ago. Or, a recent discovery where I also know the address, MM10 EOG. I haven’t reported that to DVLA, because I know the reports go straight in the bin along with all the others marked ‘can’t be bothered’, and it’s only 3 years without VED which would entitle you to a Good Citizenship Medal in Lancashire
The bus driver cannot slow down and stop behind the cyclist, and yet she has plenty of time for an argument.
Surprise! – spaces are nicer when cars are removed from them!
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c8jnmzekx0ro
@mdavidford The same applies to people. Well some people anyway.
Yeah – the mods normally get around to that eventually…
@mdavidford ah the woke / metropolitan / elite / communist / deep state (delete as appropriate, or not) BBC again with their ridiculous anti-growth propaganda!
Or – rather than just a few cones and signs and couple of parents having an argument with Mr Smith about his “right to drive” a couple of times per week… what about a “living street”: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bSBdshn2tUM