Increased police presence.

[Chris-H]

I can't see the problem, some people here are saying the Police are wrong for stopping cyclists and offering advice and some are saying the Police are at least trying to do something. whilst I agree that motorists need to be punished harder than they currently are for the likes of mobile use while driving etc the facts are there will ALWAYS be moronic drivers who have absolutely no regard for any other road users. All the time these twats are on the road, which unfortunately will never cease then surely we need to at least reduce the chances of being a victim of these idiots by making ourselves more visible. How on earth anyone can say that being offered advice by the Police in relation to making ourselves more visible to these idiots is wrong is beyond me. Yes a lot of us on here know how to ride sensibly in traffic and at night or in the hours of darkness but what about the less experienced cyclists out there, the ones who have maybe been sucked in by the Olympic legacy and decided to go and buy a bike and give it a go, those without the years of experience and knowledge that a lot on here have. If my teenage kids got stopped by the police and offered free safety advise about protecting themselves further I would be extremely greatful. I'm not the biggest fan of the Police but for Gods sake at least give them credit for trying !!!!

 

[Davidsw8]

The other day, I saw a group of school children on a school outing walking along the pavement all with high viz on. It somehow depressed me hugely. If high viz is needed for drivers to see 30 school children noisily making their way to a museum then I think we all need to have a bit of think about what the hell we have done with our streets.

I think it's also for the teacher (or whoever's in charge) to be able to keep an eye on the children should they start wandering off or if they have to walk through large crowds of people, sounds sensible to me.

 

[PK99]

The other day, I saw a group of school children on a school outing walking along the pavement all with high viz on. It somehow depressed me hugely. If high viz is needed for drivers to see 30 school children noisily making their way to a museum then I think we all need to have a bit of think about what the hell we have done with our streets.

Don't confuse 'elf'n'safety over-reactions with need

 

[PK99]

I don't see what the issue is with being asked if you've considered hi-viz. I haven't worn a hi viz tabard for years however in light of recent incidents SWMBO has asked if I'd wear it again on the principle of "What harm can it do?". Yes my bike is lit up like a Xmas tree, yes I'm hard to miss at the best of times but something that doesn't inconvenience me, isn't uncomfortable to wear and keeps someone I love happy, what's not to like?

There is a difference between "High-Viz" and highly visible.

I opt for the highly visible eg http://www.foska.com/marmite-toastie-lite-en.html, or the light blue and red of my club colours.

 

[Davidsw8]

I'm starting to come round to the way of thinking that the Police are wasting their time and it's all just a publicity stunt.

Cycled past the Houses of Parliament this morning to see 2 signs asking cyclists to stop for some HGV awareness training and to get their bike security tagged. The security thing is fine but they do that every now and again anyway and it only takes 2 PC's. They had a dozen PC's here (and a couple of TV cameras coincidentally...) plus a HGV, presumably for cyclists to have a sit in to see how hard it is to see anything out of.

Any cyclist who thinks it's a good idea to ride up the inside of a HGV on a corner won't be stopping to chat the police, I'm assuming that the ones who did stop were having a general chat about cycle safety.

All the while this is going on, there's chaos just up the road on the south side of Lambeth Bridge with all the traffic getting ultra-aggressive, trundling through red lights etc...

 

[Frood42]

I can't see the problem, some people here are saying the Police are wrong for stopping cyclists and offering advice and some are saying the Police are at least trying to do something.

I disagree, setup roadside signs and stopping areas, go to peoples work places, go to schools, if people want to stop voluntarily for that safety advice about hi viz and helmets that are NOT A LEGAL REQUIREMENT then great.

It is a LEGAL REQUIREMENT not to speed and to drive/ride safely around more vunerable people even if they are going at a "turtles pace".

I don't want to be stopped and told I should be wearing a space yellow vest when I have perfectly legal lights, and contrasting clothes, and especially where it is the police forces and the governments failure in other areas which means they are moving to victim blaming rather than tackling the root cause, as it is easier to do this and because they are too cowardly to do anything else.
When the police are stopping the victims when they are lit up legally just because they are not wearing a stupid coloured piece of cloth because of drivers they have failed to get off the road, then yes, I am going to get annoyed, hell I am going to get rightly outraged!

Take those police officers that do not really want to be stood there in the cold and get them to black spot areas with ANPR and speed cameras, get them stood at ASL's giving out FPN's to cars and bikes, get them giving out FPN's to RLJ's on bikes and in cars.
Start clearing up the ASL problems and less cyclists will start feeling the need to "get a head start" on traffic, as they will start to feel like they have a safe zone to use where cars will see them. Personally I am in two minds about ASL's, I am not sure I want a twonk in a black BMW sat behind me revving his engine...

It was quite telling that 15 lorries were issued with FPN's and fines, and yet all they got hit with was fines totalling £2300, and this is for large heavy vehicles, transporting all sorts of cargo, which can be a danger to cars and buses, let alone pedestrians and cyclists, in a heavily used URBAN AREA.

I also look at that headline about 100 cyclists being "pulled over" and it concerns me, especially when they are handing out the sort of advice I read about which seems ignorant, incorrect and 10 years out of date. It seems the officers themselves could have done with being educated before they tried to start educating others...

I wonder how many of these 100 cyclists that were pulled over and given this "advice" had comitted any offence beyond not wearing a piece of clothing that is NOT A LEGAL REQUIREMENT.
I wonder how many motor vehicle drivers saw JUST the headline of 100 cyclists being pulled over and thought, deserves "em right" when those people had not comitted any offences?

I just don't get it. I really don't.

This quote is very telling as to the "quality" of advice being given out:

One cyclist, Harriet Lamb, told us in an email of her experience of being stopped by police as she rode across Vauxhall Bridge, with an officer telling her: “Hi, we’re stopping all cyclists in light of the recent cyclist fatalities, to make sure that you’re making yourselves as safe as possible. Obviously it’s great that you have lights on and are wearing a helmet, but have you considered wearing a hi-viz jacket?”
She replied: “No, I’ve got really bright lights, reflective material on my coat and my bike, and I position myself in the road so that I can be seen.”
The officer then said: “I just think that if a driver wasn’t wearing their glasses then they might not be able to see you.”
Harriett asked him: “Do you not think that a driver driving around half-blind is more the problem?”
“Well, we’re just here to talk to cyclists,” continued the officer. “We don’t know yet why so many cyclists are being killed but there are a lot of bad cyclists out there.”
“There are a lot of bad drivers too, perhaps you should talk to them as they’re the ones doing the killing.”

Sorry, Boris and others, but you are a joke if you think this is how to tackle the issue.
.

 

[Davidsw8]

As someone who frequently tries to point out to people that the issue is not not riding up the inside of an HGV under any circumstance, it is knowing when it is OK and when not to, I can say that you are wrong. Why would anyone want to pass up the opportunity, provided they had the time?
So I have done it and guess what? I could see the copper wheeling my bike up the side of the lorry perfectly well.

Adrian, how unlike you to disagree!

I don't believe I said anything about riding up the inside of a HGV under any circumstance, I was talking about riding up the inside of a HGV on a corner. If you wanna do that, then good on you fella, rather you than me.

 

[MichaelO]

The police have run the lorry thing near to my office (near Victoria) about once every couple of months through the last year, so it's certainly not new. I was surprised, having sat in the truck, that the visibility of a cyclist on the inside was better than I expected!!

 

[Pale Rider]

I am surprised at the number of posters who think a couple of decent lights is a licence to wear dark clothing.

Contrasting, light or reflective clothing is an enormous help to a driver in picking out a cyclist, particularly from the front or 'in the mirror'.

 

[Davidsw8]

[QUOTE 2781267, member: 1314"]Couple of bored and cold coppers at crossroad of Kennington Lane and Kennington Road. Traffic jam as the traffic, well, just refused to obey the lights and had to stop in the middle of the junction, bikes having to semi-circumnavigate them.[/quote]

Yes! Just by the Dog House pub? I passed them this morning about 7.30. I saw them just after coming out of White Hart Street and having to avoid a ped strolling across the road not paying any attention to me or any of the backed up traffic cos he was on his phone.

The PC's didn't seem to be interested in anything going on particularly but the other day one of them was having a word with a few RLJ'ers and ASZ encroachers. I know a kid died at this junction not that long ago so maybe it's been identified as a hot spot but I think there are much better places for them to station themselves...

 

[glasgowcyclist]

I am surprised at the number of posters who think a couple of decent lights is a licence to wear dark clothing.

Contrasting, light or reflective clothing is an enormous help to a driver in picking out a cyclist, particularly from the front or 'in the mirror'.

My bike has excellent German lighting (with good backups) and is well decked out in reflective material, as are my panniers. My clothing is generally dark with very little in the way of reflective material, as it really doesn't need it.
If a driver can't see my bike with all this on it, it won't matter a damn what colour clothing I'm wearing.

GC

 

[Pale Rider]

My bike has excellent German lighting (with good backups) and is well decked out in reflective material, as are my panniers. My clothing is generally dark with very little in the way of reflective material, as it really doesn't need it.
If a driver can't see my bike with all this on it, it won't matter a damn what colour clothing I'm wearing.

View attachment 32875
GC

It may matter because the clothing can give you a distinctive silhouette in the eye of the driver, as opposed to being a collection of lights among many.

The reflective material on your bike must help, although I wonder how much is visible from the front, ie, when the driver is pulling out of a side junction in front of you.

 

[glenn forger]

The urban realm is a maelstrom of hi vis, yellow signs, bollards, lit shop fronts, street lights etc. Black can actually stand out better, assuming the bike is lit like Glasgow cyclist's.

 

[Dan B]

Clothes licence?

I used to have an artistic licence, but I forgot to renew it and it expired

 

[glenn forger]

I paint monochrome, the artistic licence is cheaper.