Police search for e-bike rider after pedestrian seriously injured in hit-and-run

Bungle_52 wrote:

The issue here is that, even if they are caught, there will be no additional punishment for fleeing the scene so there is no incentive to stay if the person has no conscience. Parliament has passed up two chances to deal with this using some excuse about wing mirrors. Apologies to swdixer.

There really should be a legal disincentive to not render assistance and not leave the scene. Currently, if you're under the influence, then even if you are later caught, you can always try to claim that you took drink/drugs after the incident.

"The assailant ran away, sarge"

"What?  They didn't stay to face justice?  Well that's it, son.  This one won't go anywhere.  All that's left is to scrape up the victim and wrap up the paperwork.  I miss the old days, you knew your felon then... Right, you go get the doughnuts."

The same as many hit and run drivers then. How many untaxed cars on the roads ? Thousands.

Hope they get the git and the pedestrian recovers .

Get back under your bridge lousy troll.  Plenty of ways to trace a cyclist. 

Agree, but 1/4 of a point to them.  In practice if it's "youf" and involves anything less than a car / a knife it doesn't seem like it attracts much police attention or effective sanction.  Of course we're not looking at the whole picture and it's a wonky view of the world you see from meeja.  However... mopeds seem to be a fairly safe bet for a getaway.  Personal anecdata but in Edinburgh last year we had gangs (well - more than two...) on scrambler bikes "reclaiming the streets".  I witnessed that on multiple occasions.  Probably there to bait the police - at least I watched them and driving rings round the poor coppers who didn't seem very clear as to what they should do.  I suppose I should be noticing that cops did actually turn up...

chrisonatrike wrote:

Agree, but 1/4 of a point to them.  In practice if it's "youf" and involves anything less than a car / a knife it doesn't seem like it attracts much police attention or effective sanction.  Of course we're not looking at the whole picture and it's a wonky view of the world you see from meeja.  However... mopeds seem to be a fairly safe bet for a getaway.  Personal anecdata but in Edinburgh last year we had gangs (well - more than two...) on scrambler bikes "reclaiming the streets".  I witnessed that on multiple occasions.  Probably there to bait the police - at least I watched them and driving rings round the poor coppers who didn't seem very clear as to what they should do.  I suppose I should be noticing that cops did actually turn up...

Edinburgh police (possibly all of Police Scotland) are not allowed to chase motorcycles for safety reasons. Not sure if this is safety of the motorcyclist or the general public. Opinions on the rights and wrongs of this may vary.

[/quote] Edinburgh police (possibly all of Police Scotland) are not allowed to chase motorcycles for safety reasons. Not sure if this is safety of the motorcyclist or the general public. Opinions on the rights and wrongs of this may vary.[/quote]

Not too sure about this.  I have recently read two separate accounts of police/motorcyle pursuits in the Scottish press so I guess they are part of normal police activity.

Of course, any individual pursuit can be called off it is particularly dangerous to the public, but this has always been the case.

From what I'm led to understand from a former PS officer. Regular station vehicles can follow and engage if safe to do so. If the 'target' doesn't comply then they back off and follow and wait for Traffic Branch to take up a pursuit. 

I got my info from a "they went that way" moment a couple of years ago. The police car stopped when I signalled the direction of a scrambler (no registration plate, wheelies, etc) and said "thanks, we can't go after them, but if you were minded to write to an MSP about that, it would be useful to us."

So it was at least a rule for them in 2019.

I don't know all the rules but some police in England appear to be able to do this.  As to whether this is something they should be doing, how they should best do this and the safety / effectiveness I don't know.  For the scrambler youth in Edinburgh they were at times definitely a risk to others.  There has been at least one death (some years back, in Drylaw I think) associated with street racing and while razzing about town one trashed a cyclist's bike (cyclist got away without injury).  But then how would that go if one died if a police car nudged them into a wall?

How do muggers get traced? By a description and CCTV. The same as with most criminals. If car registration plates were a guranteed means of identifying car based criminals, then why do we have stats like 10% of Hit-and -run cases are solved. 

Look forward to seeing you post on the next car hit and run on a cyclist. 

Rockhopper229 wrote:

Probably won't be traced as there is no way to identify the cyclist. The bad cyclists know this and that's why they ride off.

In much the same way as many of us who have been victim to hit and run collisions by motorists and are still waiting for their apprehension. You know. Those motorists who are registered, licensed and insured to allow them to operate heavy machinery on the public  highway. 

I would imagine that 100% of the cyclists on this forum would stop and call for help, share details and render assistance if able. 

Nice try though. 

That's what I was thinking, how would they know it was an ebike unless it was an illegally modded bike that stuck out like a sore thumb that it was electric. That's the big problem with the term ' ebike '. We on here all know what it means, but the general public see a guy cruising down the road doing car speeds without pedalling and call that the same thing.
Wishing a speedy recovery for the pedestrian.

When the police initially put a plea out, it was reported that they were looking for an escooter. So I do wonder if was one of those small wheeled Chinese electric bikes??

I was thinking the same when reading the recent report about the crash in Leeds. There are hundreds of electric conversions whizzing around Leeds at the moment.