Northumbria police initiative.....
- Thread starter betty swollocks
- Start date
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Drago
Legendary Member
- Location
- Suburban Poshshire
Excellent, and well done to them. Let's hope that the typical cyclist reciprocates and bucks their ideas up when taking to the Highway.
Yes, we MUST cut down on those no deaths a year. It's a travesty. We should get Bono on stage to do one of those "Every time I click my fingers nobody dies from a cyclist".
Drago
Legendary Member
- Location
- Suburban Poshshire
I was thinking more of setting an example - if we don't set an example then motorists won't have an example to follow. It is wrong and unjust, but it is nevertheless the reality.
Don't ride on paths, use lights at night, observe regulations, signals and lights - exactly the sort of things we would like car drivers to do. I don't think it's an unreasonable hardship for our Brothers and Sisters to set an example in this regard, seeing as these are things they ought to be doing anyway. It's a question of us as a user group enhancing our moral authority and then, who knows, someone might actually listen to us?
Don't ride on paths, use lights at night, observe regulations, signals and lights - exactly the sort of things we would like car drivers to do. I don't think it's an unreasonable hardship for our Brothers and Sisters to set an example in this regard, seeing as these are things they ought to be doing anyway. It's a question of us as a user group enhancing our moral authority and then, who knows, someone might actually listen to us?
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mjr
Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
- Location
- mostly Norfolk, sometimes Somerset
At a glance, Operation Cadence looks like North Wales's Operation Snap, so is to be welcomed - can anyone spot differences that I've missed?
mjr
Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
- Location
- mostly Norfolk, sometimes Somerset
They've even published examples of what they're acting on:
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkdHYLAvDsM
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkdHYLAvDsM
Yeah. It's like I never use a pencil when drunk and swing it around as I'm setting an example to people with knives. Police should spend as much time stopping and searching for pencils as knives. It may seem crazy but it's the world we live in.
Spinney
Bimbleur extraordinaire
- Location
- Back up north
Yeah, cos a cyclist riding with no lights at night is going to cause far more damage than a car at night with no lights, so cyclists should short themselves out first.
Drago
Legendary Member
- Location
- Suburban Poshshire
I absolutely agree the police should do what they are doing.
But do you not think that by setting an example the Daily Mail reading wannabe Ben Hurs who bemoan the lack of bicycle 'road tax' have less ammunition to chuck back at us? RLJ'ing, footway cycling etc, may do little actual harm, but it poisons our image in the eyes of motorised road users, and disincentivises them to listen when the conversation turns to their contribution to the safety of cyclists.
It's childish, but that's the reality, and comments like Spinney's above does zero to make car drivers listen. Car drivers won't listen to complaints about their own behaviour, particularly in environments like London, when so many cyclists visibily misbehave - that the cyclists risk of harm to others is miniscule in comparison is neither here nor there to them - it doesn't matter that they're wrong, they're the majority, and while we keep giving them such excuses not to listen they simply won't listen. "Do as I say, not as I do", won't wash with motorists.
As I've oft said - being 'right' means nothing when you're dead.
But do you not think that by setting an example the Daily Mail reading wannabe Ben Hurs who bemoan the lack of bicycle 'road tax' have less ammunition to chuck back at us? RLJ'ing, footway cycling etc, may do little actual harm, but it poisons our image in the eyes of motorised road users, and disincentivises them to listen when the conversation turns to their contribution to the safety of cyclists.
It's childish, but that's the reality, and comments like Spinney's above does zero to make car drivers listen. Car drivers won't listen to complaints about their own behaviour, particularly in environments like London, when so many cyclists visibily misbehave - that the cyclists risk of harm to others is miniscule in comparison is neither here nor there to them - it doesn't matter that they're wrong, they're the majority, and while we keep giving them such excuses not to listen they simply won't listen. "Do as I say, not as I do", won't wash with motorists.
As I've oft said - being 'right' means nothing when you're dead.
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mjr
Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
- Location
- mostly Norfolk, sometimes Somerset
Basically, no. Many DMRWBHs have little idea of traffic laws as they apply to cycling and will hurl abuse pretty much whatever we do. Also, even if we behave impeccably (in reality or even according to the beliefs of DMRWBHs), there'll still be someone else jumping reds or doing other dodgy things on a bike.
I think the daftest DMRWBH I've encountered so far may be the sole occupant in an oversized saloon who did grudgingly stop for a light-controlled junction with a cycle track and then berated me for cycling across rather than dismounting and staggering across pushing my bike - I did ponder berating him for driving across instead of pushing his car, but I had somewhere else I wanted to be on time.
Fixed That For You. Even if all cyclists were saints, errant motorists would find another excuse.
snorri
Legendary Member
- Location
- East coast, up a bit.
Back to the OP, I've just fallen off my chair.
I scrolled down after reading the article in order to read the angry readers comments, there was only one comment and it was supportive!!!!!!
I scrolled down after reading the article in order to read the angry readers comments, there was only one comment and it was supportive!!!!!!
Well said.
I've posted previously about how being a vulnerable pedestrian for the past year has made me much more aware of just how frequently my safety is threatened by pavement cyclists.
In the past few days.
1. Cyclist passes from behind very close to my left shoulder at around 10mph. Fortunately I did not flinch to my right or I would have been taken out by her companion who immediately passed my right shoulder at similar speed .
2. Passed very close from behind on very narrow pavement on very quite street with not a car in sight.
3 With my wife on crutches and a broken toe, guy on a bike appears round blind 90 degree bend hidden by tall hedge, riding one handed with a sheet of ?plaster board? under the other arm. We both have to take evasive action to avoid him and he gives us a mouthful of foul abuse when I tell him get off the the pavement or off his bike.
Virtually every day I find myself challenged by similarly inconsiderate and dangerous pavement cyclists. One day one of them is going to collide with me and find him or her self sprawled on the pavement.
I find it no surprise that some people detest cyclists.
glasgowcyclist
Charming but somewhat feckless
- Location
- Scotland
That sounds like the old 'collective responsibility' chestnut, which I don't accept.
You're not comparing like with like are you?
West Mid police have it right when they say motorised offenders are a real danger to life and limb, whereas bad cyclists are just an irritation, and that's why they'll direct their efforts where they'll make a worthwhile difference.
(I'm paraphrasing)
The fecking inconsiderate pavement cyclist I have posted about are more than an irritation. They are a very real danger and far far too common.
