Anti Social Cycling to be targetting in Cambridge

[Vikeonabike]

Meanwhile in Peterborough there is a crack down on driving. Catching drink drivers, drivers without insurance, licenses etc.
As some body has already mentioned the Police do regular crackdowns on various offences. They (we)can't stop and deal with every little offence they see because there are not enough officers to go around. So, operations are put in place to run for a week on average.
A lot of operations are based on what the public percieve to be an issue rather than what the Police actually want to be doing. However that is the problem with the Public having a Police SERVICE to do their bidding rather than a Police FORCE enforce the law. Forces are now (even more so since the Commissioner elections) being run to appease the public rather than actually catch criminals. So if you live in the leafy suburbs of Hampshire. Your Constabulary are probably more intersted in dog fouling than burglary or drug dealing!
Which is why Anti Social Cycling (anywhere else in the country this would be refered to as cycling without lights or pavement cycling) is such an important issue in Cambridge.

 

[kevin_cambs_uk]

well there catching them, 54 just in one night !

http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/New...ers-put-brake-on-errant-cyclists-19122012.htm

 

[Vikeonabike]

From the CambsCops twitter account:
Cambs police‏@CambsCops
Two motorists were stopped and fined this morning for driving in the wrong lane along Newmarket Road in response to #opPedalo feedback

 

[MisterStan]

From the CambsCops twitter account:
Cambs police‏@CambsCops
Two motorists were stopped and fined this morning for driving in the wrong lane along Newmarket Road in response to #opPedalo feedback

Success!!

 

[pshore]

To add a bit of balance on the Policing in Cambridge, their November Think campaign was more even handed and therefore attracted a lot less criticism. It was a poor decision to go back to just targeting cyclists in a single operation. They have also stopped 8000 cars in their seasonal anti Drink Drive campaign. There has been a number of standard campaigns like mobiles and speeding but they are few and far between when spread across the county. They gave up Policing the 20mph zone in Cambridge due to signage problems, and gave up in my village saying it needed infrastructure changes.

One of their campaigns in the summer that involved checking of motor vehicles had some rather interesting consequences, like finding drugs in cars and catching a wanted man. Just like in those fly-on-the-wall cop shows, those who are criminals don't bother looking after their car or their car's paperwork.

 

[pshore]

That's right on the button. My dad is a bus driver in Cambridge and he tells me that Stagecoach Cambridge has by far the worst accident record throughout the company because a large proportion of undergrads have the road sense of bacteria. Driving wise, it's even worse for him than where he used to work down in East London.

That's a fairly one side view.

I spend a lot of time in central Cambridge observing traffic. It is true that we have an endlessly replenshing supply of inexperienced young people on bicycles, but I think the biggest issue is as somebody else pointed out, squeezing bicycles and buses together in a small road space. Regent Street going out of town from John Lewis is a classic.

StreetView: http://goo.gl/maps/uY4fF (its a 20mph zone).

Most cyclists gutter hug their way up Regent St at 10mph or less. Buses coming from the bus station follow, many of them overtaking with their right wheels touching the centreline. The amount of space between the cyclist and side of overtaking bus is commonly less than 2ft.

It seems a bit risky to be getting so close to inexperienced cyclists, so why do it ? Is it timetable pressure, the gotta-get-past-cyclist state of mind or something else? Cranky's observations at Pattisserie corner are not isolated either, what makes a few drivers go round there so fast, risking pedestrians? I don't get it.

 

[outlash]

That's a fairly one side view.

I spend a lot of time in central Cambridge observing traffic. It is true that we have an endlessly replenshing supply of inexperienced young people on bicycles, but I think the biggest issue is as somebody else pointed out, squeezing bicycles and buses together in a small road space. Regent Street going out of town from John Lewis is a classic.

*cough* that was my observation...

Another thing to take into consideration is that there is a bit of an 'us & them' mindset when it comes to students and natives (for want of a better word) in towns and cities dominated by universities. I think it's fair to say that most bus drivers/people who drive for a living aren't postgrads but don't see the benefits while a lot of students don't see where they study outside of the bubble of the university life. Aberystwyth has similar problems albeit on a smaller scale.


Tony.

 

[pshore]

Sorry for not quoting, I was lazy when I wrote that.

Ah the ol' Town versus Gown issue. It's not quite as bad as it used to be.

 

[outlash]

I was unaware there was a history behind it, thanks for that .


Tony.

 

[russ.will]

well there catching them, 54 just in one night !

http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/New...ers-put-brake-on-errant-cyclists-19122012.htm

It's worth playing the picture slide show in that article. Count the number of people with no lights AND dark clothing.

Russell

 

[summerdays]

I remember one crackdown on cyclists in Bristol, the TV crew had been brought in to film it - they parked on a one way road with a cycle contraflow (marked with solid white lines), blocking the lane. I always regret not going back and photographing the van - it would have been good to send in to add to the coverage on TV that day!

 

[Drago]

I recently phoned up our Parish Council to censure the road safety bloke who felt it completely acceptable to park his van completely blocking the only footpath while he moved the SID.

 

[maat1976]

I am always amazed at the patience of drivers in Cambridge. I cycle commute in Cambridge daily and it is the ignorant other cyclists that are a menace rather than the drivers *most* times. I've been almost hit twice by other cyclists texting on their phones, or dressed as ninjas.

I also cycle in London all the time and while drivers aren't quite as patient, I don't find them as much of a menace as pedestrians who aren't paying attention as they cross the road, again texting.

I will admit to the occasional light hopping if it is safer than the alternative (ie waiting for the light to turn and having an angry speeding driver 6 inches from your wheel because you can't accelerate at car speeds). I wish cyclists would be able to share the "walk" signal or get a few seconds before the light turns to get moving, which I think they are trialling in France. Sitting at a light with revving engines behind me leaves me feeling more than a bit vulnerable. Maybe this is "bad", but I'm not going to get squished!