£30 fine for no lights

[e-rider]

I was amazed to see tonight Police dishing out £30 fines outside the university campus for cyclists with no lights. Although there is a saftey issue here, I thought the government was A. trying to get more people cycling, and B. cutting spending on police - surely the remaining police have much more serious crimes to focus on!

 

[Mike!]

Good on them, the sooner the no lights / jump red light brigade get dealt with the sooner our image will improve to the average cage driver

 

[summerdays]

Don't they normally do that thing where its a £30 fine or produce a set of lights and a receipt instead? And if they hit the students at this time of year then they might have lights for the darkest part of the winter.

 

[MattHB]

Damn right. I rode past Bournemouth uni this evening and nearly got flattened by about 10 ninja's in 2 minutes

 

[Norm]

... surely the remaining police have much more serious crimes to focus on!

That was irony, wasn't it?

 

[ianrauk]

Have no sympathy for them what so ever.....

 

[Cubist]

They may be trying to get more people cycling, so that they can fine them for riding without lights, which will fund the cops operation to stop them all and fine them.

Or, and far more likely, they will have been given the problem of unlit cyclists near the university as a PACT (Neighbourhood) priority, and will be dealing with it as requested by the people who attend PACT meetings and help them to set the priorities.

Check the Neighbourhood Policing website for the ward the campus is in and I suspect you will find mention of the initiative, and the reasoning behind it. If you can think of a more pressing priority, and in your opinion a better use of police resources, then you owe it to yourself to attend the next PACT meeting and help them set a more useful agenda. The time and place of the meeting will be on the NPT website.

 

[jonathanw]

Damn right. I rode past Bournemouth uni this evening and nearly got flattened by about 10 ninja's in 2 minutes

+1

I am constantly amazed by the stupidity of ninja's. We need to be seen and act responsibly if we wish to be taken seriously as road users.

700 lumens ( whatever they are) on the front, 2x 1 watts ( again not exactly sure) on the back. That combined with an obscene amount of reflective gear makes me less likely to be a victim of SMIDSY. But, motorists can sometimes be just as stupid as us cyclists.

 

[growingvegetables]

Good on them ...

+1

 

[doog]

I was amazed to see tonight Police dishing out £30 fines outside the university campus for cyclists with no lights. Although there is a saftey issue here, I thought the government was A. trying to get more people cycling, and B. cutting spending on police - surely the remaining police have much more serious crimes to focus on!

what like preventing road death ?

 

[400bhp]

+ another 1.

It seems to be a common theme for "students" to ride without lights.

 

[dawesome]

what like preventing road death ?

Unlit cyclists are not a major proportion of KSI stats.

 

[Davidc]

Excellent.

Now go and fine the RLJs.

And the pavement cyclists.

Zero sympathy from here for those paying the fines.

 

[Hacienda71]

You can get a cheap set of lights for a pound or two. The really is no excuse for not having them. I will quite often leave my rear light on my bike when I plan to be back home well before sunset just in case. In your early twenties though you don't always think of the consequences of your actions so a bit of short sharp shock to get the message across is not a bad idea imho.

 

[doog]

Unlit cyclists are not a major proportion of KSI stats.

of course they are not a major proportion, as cyclists only represent a very small percentage of road traffic. However are you denying that cyclists without lights dont get hit and killed / Injured?