Cambridge cyclists to face course or fine if they break law

[deptfordmarmoset]

Right, just like law-breaking motorists give ammunition to people who are anti-motorist

Yes indeed. Motorists need someone else to project road naughtiness onto. It wouldn't stop even if every cyclist rode like a saint.

And, having watched a woman prevented from walking along the pavement outside my window last night because the cars were driving at her on the pavement as there was no room for 2-way traffic with parked cars on one side of the road, I think of all those slalom bollards that they put on some road edges for cyclists to practice their riding skills and I wonder when I see some of them leaning over or even ripped out of the ground just how hard those cyclists must be hitting them.

 

[shouldbeinbed]

What a great idea. Genuinely interested to understand how they plan to enforce this...or rather how they plan to identify and catch offenders...this always seems to be the weak link in this type of reform

Have a Google for Op. Grimaldi & it's renamed no change Op.Considerate in Manchester. They've been doing exactly the same thing as Cambridge for a couple of years now. Accomplished by hoardes of Hi Viz flagging people down on bikes and paying barely lip service to motoring misdemeanours.

I've seen the figures presented by GMP to my local cycling forum and compared them to the figures GMP presented at the same meeting for the scheme in London that they largely mirrored. Didn't seem as keen on chatting when I showed that by their own numbers and TfGM's figures for cycle traffic in Manchester and London Standard reports of TfL's figures for cycling in London, that a Mancunian cyclist is approx 80x more likely to be stopped pro rata than one in London and just on the most superficial assessment of the numbers of cars and bikes stopped, cyclists in Manchester 10x more stops per car than in London.

I'm moderate and not anti police or a rabid bikes can do no wrong type but if Manchester's law enforcement example of this type scheme is anything to go by, Cambridge cyclists have a lot to be concerned over.

 

[glenn forger]

Have a Google for Op. Grimaldi & it's renamed no change Op.Considerate in Manchester. They've been doing exactly the same thing as Cambridge for a couple of years now. Accomplished by hoardes of Hi Viz flagging people down on bikes and paying barely lip service to motoring misdemeanours.

I've seen the figures presented by GMP to my local cycling forum and compared them to the figures GMP presented at the same meeting for the scheme in London that they largely mirrored. Didn't seem as keen on chatting when I showed that by their own numbers and TfGM's figures for cycle traffic in Manchester and London Standard reports of TfGM's figures for cycling in London, that a Mancunian cyclist is approx 80x more likely to be stopped pro rata than one in London and just on the most superficial assessment of the numbers of cars and bikes stopped, cyclists in Manchester 10x more stops per car than in London.

Yep, London cyclists reported cops stopping cyclists who had no hi vis while ignoring drivers jumping reds or abusing ASLs. Soft policing. Taking the easy option. A meaningless box-ticking exercise.

 

[subaqua]

Yep, London cyclists reported cops stopping cyclists who had no hi vis while ignoring drivers jumping reds or abusing ASLs. Soft policing. Taking the easy option. A meaningless box-ticking exercise.

Sadly Glenn is right on this bit. Aldgate last week and along white chapel road. I got asked why I wasn't wearing a hi viz jacket, while in a red night vision jacket FFS . It was a PCSO that asked though and some of them are little more than security guards who were too crap to be security guards.

Never mind the car that ended up half in the ASL after the lights were Red .

 

[Racing roadkill]

They should do what the driver of the big SUV thing did to a red light ignoring tool / douche bag cyclist on my way home tonight. He passed the idiot, then gently drifted left as he approached the next red light, leaving red light jumper no where to go, other than onto the pavement, which he did, right in front of two police officers, who didn't appreciate the knob cyclists choice. I believe that would have got the cyclist an on the spot fine.

 

[classic33]

They should do what the driver of the big SUV thing did to a red light ignoring tool / douche bag cyclist on my way home tonight. He passed the idiot, then gently drifted left as he approached the next red light, leaving red light jumper no where to go, other than onto the pavement, which he did, right in front of two police officers, who didn't appreciate the knob cyclists choice. I believe that would have got the cyclist an on the spot fine.

That could be classed as seeking safe refuge, in order to avoid a collision.
Did the driver hang around by any chance?

 

[screenman]

Right, just like law-breaking motorists give ammunition to people who are anti-motorist

Can you be anti motorist if you are a motorist.

 

[robjh]

All cyclists in Cambridge should be rounded up and branded.... they're all evil!

We'll start with you then!

 

[Racing roadkill]

That could be classed as seeking safe refuge, in order to avoid a collision.
Did the driver hang around by any chance?

I wasn't clear enough in my description. The driver of the SUV wasn't squeezing the cyclist, he was well in front when he moved over. The cyclist could have just stopped behind him, but the cyclist was being a knob, so chose to try and get by on the pavement.

 

[Dave 123]

We'll start with you then!

I'm not sure you'd like to see where they branded me..... it made my eyes water!

 

[Shut Up Legs]

They should do what the driver of the big SUV thing did to a red light ignoring tool / douche bag cyclist on my way home tonight. He passed the idiot, then gently drifted left as he approached the next red light, leaving red light jumper no where to go, other than onto the pavement, which he did, right in front of two police officers, who didn't appreciate the knob cyclists choice. I believe that would have got the cyclist an on the spot fine.

I don't find that the slightest bit funny. If the police officers didn't book the SUV driver on the spot, then they were clearly negligent in their duty.

 

[CopperCyclist]

The police only have a finite amount of resources. If that weren't the case I'd agree.

So, if they can spare a team for the day the best use of those tesources is to either stop dangerous cyclist and maybe prevent a future scratched knee. Or stop dangerous car drivers and maybe prevent a future serious injury or death

As a tax payer I know which I'd find a better use of resources.

I couldn't agree more.

The 'problem' (I use the quotes as it's also in a way the solution) is that UK policing is based on the neighbourhood model, where the priorities for the neighbourhood police are set by the community.

When you see these one off operations I can guarantee you they aren't being run by what you would think of as front line response police officers' - more likely to be the neighbourhood team.

The community priorities will be set in local meetings, where the residents most likely to attend would not (I would suggest) be keen cyclists and as such there may be an underrepresentation. They probably will be motorists though.

The solution is either to turn up at those meetings en masse and stay demanding something be done about anti social drivers, or somehow convince the government to abandon the (in my humble opinion) flawed concept of neighbourhood policing as it stands.

 

[mjr]

The community priorities will be set in local meetings, where the residents most likely to attend would not (I would suggest) be keen cyclists and as such there may be an underrepresentation. They probably will be motorists though.

It's actually far worse than that. I've been to a couple in my neighbourhood. Firstly, the places which flag up problems with cyclists seem to be those which are where cyclists ride through or to (not where they live) AND where residents generally walk rather than cycle because it's close enough to destinations (so just-off-centre areas) AND where there's manufactured conflict from confusing multi-user paths that start and stop (widespread in Cambridge). Secondly, these neighbourhood meetings often reject any calls for priorities related to on-carriageway traffic because that's a job for roads policing, not neighbourhood policing.

I hate to say it, but the "ignore multi-user paths, stay on the road" approach is one way of avoiding a lot of rubbish "crackdowns" - but this one in Cambridge sounds like it's got roads policing involved too.

 

[Racing roadkill]

I don't find that the slightest bit funny. If the police officers didn't book the SUV driver on the spot, then they were clearly negligent in their duty.

The SUV driver did nothing wrong, the idiot on the bike rode on the pavement rather than wait behind the SUV. Why on earth do you think the SUV driver should get a rollicking?

 

[glenn forger]

The driver used two tons of metal to punish perceived wrongdoing and you see nothing wrong with that?