Cyclist gets turned away from green transport event because of his Brompton.

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steveindenmark

Legendary Member
I have two Bromptons. Having a folding bike is not an automatic entry into anywhere and you should check wherever you are going if you are allowed in with them. Brompton owners get very shirty about this. They feel entitled. Bikes make great IED devices and I am pleased to hear that they refused something they could not scan.
 

ColinJ

Puzzle game procrastinator!
Bikes make great IED devices and I am pleased to hear that they refused something they could not scan.
The IRA killed 5 people in Coventry in 1939 using a bicycle bomb. That bomb was in a basket rather than hidden in the tubing, but there obviously is the potential for hiding a bomb in the tubing of a bike.

So, yes - it is ironic that the cyclist couldn't get through to that particular event, but the security people were just doing what they were supposed to do.
 
The Vetcon used bike bombs very effectively.

Was the bomb in the frame of the bike?

I've only heard of one instance of a bomb being hidden inside a bicycle frame; apparently when detonated it fired the saddle skywards but the bike was still intact apart from this. Bombs in bags or baskets make sense, but a bike isn't necessary for that.

I'm not saying that the security team did anything wrong; I'm trying to work out how a bicycle could be used for such nefarious practices.
 

Joffey

Big Dosser
Location
Yorkshire
Statistically you are 10 times more likely to be hit by a car walking to the event than to be killed by terrorism in the UK. That risk is probably higher in London! Safer to take the bike!!

I get that the HoC needs security though, but the walking stat is an interesting one.
 

mustang1

Guru
Location
London, UK
Are these environmentally green bombs we're talking about here? ^_^

I reckon missiles in the future will need to be battery powered rather than that toxic fossil fuel! Our new generation of e-missiles are environmentally friendly causing no pollution.

Funny stuff eh.
 

PeteXXX

Cake or ice cream? The choice is endless ...
Location
Hamtun
Were wheelchairs banned from the event, too, as they don't fit through scanners either. (But there will be a protocol for their security check that could probably be applied to Bromptons as well)
 
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Cycleops

Cycleops

Legendary Member
Location
Accra, Ghana
Lack of forethought by the flat footed plod. Surely it's not much of a stretch to imagine that some people might turn up to a green transport event on the most popular urban form. If explosives are the fear a hand held device would counter that.
 

tom73

Guru
Location
Yorkshire
It's a bit of none story really some lunch do for some grand idea that really wont fix the problems.
The bigger story is holding such events in a building that for most people is not exactly accessible, convenient or reinvent.
As for the bike they must have been an explosives dog around the place that they could have used.
 
Statistically you are 10 times more likely to be hit by a car walking to the event than to be killed by terrorism in the UK. That risk is probably higher in London!

The chances of a bomb being smuggled in also drop significantly if cyclists is an accredited press person.

It's dumb - the exact opposite of intelligence-based policing. A variation on using Elf-n-Safety to justify any selfish inflexible arrangement 🤦‍♀️
 

steveindenmark

Legendary Member
I doubt if they can ban wheelchairs as they are aids for the handicappede. Bromptons are not, regardless what arguement you would like to make for them.

I agree that the chance of being blown up by an IED made from a bike in the UK. Is as likely as two aeroplanes flying into the Twin Towers. But who would of thought?

The P.E is put inside the frame and the frame fragments and becomes shrapnel.

But the point of my tale is just because you have a folding bike dont think you have a right to take it into places. You dont.
 
But the point of my tale is just because you have a folding bike dont think you have a right to take it into places. You dont.

This is quite a weird statement to make, at first glance. Has someone hurt you with their Brompton? Left an oil-stain on your office floor??

Many things are not documented as a "right", and are not protected by laws (such as anti-discrimination) but would be considered reasonable; do you have a "right" to wear a black T-shirt, or call yourself "steve" inside any building?? Or maybe carry a man-bag (I've heard some people object quite strongly to the things)?:P
 
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Cycleops

Cycleops

Legendary Member
Location
Accra, Ghana
You're missing the point Steve. Sure, security must uppermost when entering any place especially a government building. Nobody has a right entry to anywhere without screening, but the point in this case is the irony of trying to get into a green transport event with an item of probably the most widely used piece of green urban transportation and being refused because it's too large. As I've said a bit of proper planning would have avoided this laughable situation.
 
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