Absolutely. The law is an ass!
'Road rage' van driver [Adrian Burrows] punched cyclist in the face for not using a bike path
- Thread starter wiggydiggy
- Start date
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Absolutely. The law is an ass!
The difference of attitude to cyclists here is that it’s never been adopted as a form of transport.
It’s seen either as kids on bikes as a plaything or a hobby of Lyra riders which are getting in the way of me driving my beloved car, how dare they!
It’s not helped by cycling targeted as a pro sport instead of a way of transport.
In the days gone by many people used a bike for work and to get around so these were common on the roads, now people want a car straight away and so cycling is seen as it is.
It’s seen either as kids on bikes as a plaything or a hobby of Lyra riders which are getting in the way of me driving my beloved car, how dare they!
It’s not helped by cycling targeted as a pro sport instead of a way of transport.
In the days gone by many people used a bike for work and to get around so these were common on the roads, now people want a car straight away and so cycling is seen as it is.
lazybloke
Ginger biscuits and cheddar
- Location
- Leafy Surrey
Yeah that's probably most of the problem, although a pedestrian holding up a car will also make drivers 'a bit cross'. Cyclists aren't the only target.
ebikeerwidnes
Guru
- Location
- Z’ha’dum
mjr
Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
- Location
- mostly Norfolk, sometimes Somerset
I rode in both within a couple of weeks and that was what I experienced. I think it may even have been before I had a handlebar camera at home in the UK, let alone taken one away with me on a non-cycling trip!
mjr
Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
- Location
- mostly Norfolk, sometimes Somerset
I did answer. You just don't seem to agree that reporting that the only punishment for assaulting a cyclist after a "disagreement with the cyclist over the laws of the road for cyclists and where they should be positioned on the road" is some unpaid work and the cost of repairing the bike, and no penalty fine or compensation for the injuries, with no attempt to explain that the disagreement seems to have been completely unsupported by the law or highway code, and no driving sanction (whether due to prosecutors not even charging a driving offence, or to the judge not using whatever replaced the old section 146 driving bans allowed for any relevant Crown Court offence) sends a message that the assault wasn't punished seriously. Just don't break their bike when you hit them(!)
I don't disagree that it looks like it was a valid outcome within the sentencing guidelines, or that the reporting maybe doesn't often point out when the mitigation is full of shoot, but that doesn't matter: it still sends a message that this is not seen as a serious offence.
Alex321
Guru
- Location
- South Wales
Bristolian
Über Member
- Location
- Bristol, UK
Take a look at photos or video from between the wars of workers streaming out of factories and other places of work and you'll see bikes by the thousand being used as "a form of transport". Indeed, until the advent of affordable motoring the bicycle was the main form of transport for the working man and woman. In this respect, the bicycle suffered the same fate as the railways; motor cars were more convenient.
I well remember racing many of the workers leaving Rolls Royce in Filton (cycling to places like Winterbourne, Frampton Cotterell and Iron Acton) in the late 1960's. One of my training rides used to take me past the factory just as the day shift finished a couple of time each week. Great fun
