Guess who got done?

[Cab]

A little puzzle for you.

I cycled down to Mill Road in Cambridge at Lunchtime. Had to get something from a shop.

I encountered (approximately) eight mototists going through red lights.

Three motorists who ignored a zebra crossing where someone was trying to cross.

At least 30 motorists who passed cyclists (other cyclists, I took and kept primary position on such a narrow, busy road) far too closely.

At least half a dozen motorists who crossed a solid yellow line to overtake cyclists on a bridge, making traffic on the other side squeeze right over in places.

One motorist undertaking another (right turning) motorist by driving on the pavement.

At least four motorists parked on the pavement.

At least two dozen motorists leaving insufficient space between them and the car in front.

Two motorists on mobile phones. One eating a baguette and drinking from a bottle of coke that he had clutched between his knees.

One cyclist on riding on the pavement.


Guess which one got stopped by Plod and handed a ticket/fine?

 

[alecstilleyedye]

i take it you're not plod yourself?

 

[domtyler]

Er...ummmm....nope, come on, give us a clue mate.

 

[Jacomus-rides-Gen]

Thats all because of the pavement cyclist who knocked down and killed the bloke he hit.

All the KSI peds that have been hit by cars on the pavement don't count because they haven't been in the news recently.

 

[Fab Foodie]

C'mon Cab, stop riding on the pavement, There's a good boy...

 

[Cab]

i take it you're not plod yourself?

Your take is correct, I'm not plod

 

[Cab]

Thats all because of the pavement cyclist who knocked down and killed the bloke he hit.

Implying a correct guess

It isn't uncommon to see plod here talking to pavement cyclists, often while motorists speed past at the very same time

 

[Cab]

C'mon Cab, stop riding on the pavement, There's a good boy...

You will of course note that I made it clear that I kept a primary position down that road. It wasn't a primary pavement position, although if I were a pavement cyclist I think thats the kind I would be.

 

[ChrisKH]

And your offence was what?

 

[Cab]

And your offence was what?

My offence? Errm... I often cause offence, but I don't think I committed any at lunchtime.

 

[Maz]

Cab, are you that mentalist naturist who cycles around Cambridge in the buff? No wonder you got fined, even if you were riding in primary...

 

[ejls2]

Cab,

I completely agree with you on this but you've got to admit that the average standard of cycling in Cambridge is abysmal and a crack down would be bloody welcome!

If I go back over the last few months and think of near misses I've seen actually in Cambridge itself, all but two of the ones I can remember were caused by cyclists (one bus, one ped).

Cycling along devonshire road way yesterday evening I passed 18 bikes in a row without any lights, I saw at least four of them ride the wrong way down a one way street and two of them go straight through a red light with a busy crossing as people were crossing.

Cambridgeshire police are pretty good at stopping motorists who act dangerously (though obviously not on Mill Road!) I wish they'd stop a few more cyclists, if drivers in Cambridge thought a little bit more of us then they might not treat us with such dangerous disdain on the roads.

 

[Cab]

Cab,

I completely agree with you on this but you've got to admit that the average standard of cycling in Cambridge is abysmal and a crack down would be bloody welcome!

We get those crack downs all of the time, its a more or less constant crack down. You see plod out all of the time ticketing or advising cyclists. The problem is that we've got a very large transient cyclist population. It ain't even just students here for three years, we get a vast number of foreign kids over studying English for a few months, exchange students, tourists, etc. on top of the high number of students. They're novices, they come here, get on a bike, and promptly get scared right off the roads and on to the pavements. Plod comes along and 'cracks down' every single year, and achieves nothing.

You'll note that said 'crack down' never includes stopping these cyclists and telling them to get out from the kerb, take an assertive and safe road position so that the buggers can't overtake dangerously close to you, then you and your mates will all feel safe enough on the roads to cycle within the law. It includes stopping them, telling them to get on to the road, and then 'getting tough' and ticketing everyone for another few weeks. And then back to the beginning again...

If I go back over the last few months and think of near misses I've seen actually in Cambridge itself, all but two of the ones I can remember were caused by cyclists (one bus, one ped).

Errm... Yep, you're right, there is some terrible cycling here. Although the last near misses I saw were caused by a van turning right through a cloud of cyclists between a lecture, the number of emergency stops from bikes there... I dunno, might have been fifteen cyclists had to take evasive action? So all of the recent near misses I've seen were caused by a van

Cycling along devonshire road way yesterday evening I passed 18 bikes in a row without any lights, I saw at least four of them ride the wrong way down a one way street and two of them go straight through a red light with a busy crossing as people were crossing.

Yep, frustrating isn't it? I entirely agree. Try standing by a road in Cambridge and count how many motorists are speeding, going through red lights, overtaking too closely, etc. If stopping people and ticketing them is meant to make them better cyclists, I'd have thought it should work for motorists. Have you ever seen anyone stopped by plod in Cambridge and dealt with for bad driving?

Cambridgeshire police are pretty good at stopping motorists who act dangerously (though obviously not on Mill Road!) I wish they'd stop a few more cyclists, if drivers in Cambridge thought a little bit more of us then they might not treat us with such dangerous disdain on the roads.

Thats where I take issue with what you're saying, and its the only place I really disagree with you strongly. I don't believe that Cambs police really do take motoring infractions seriously, I've never seen nor heard of any motorist here being done for going through a red light or for having dodgy lights. Happens to cyclists though; in itself that should be a good thing, but the way it is handled seems out of proportion to the risk it causes, when compared with policing of motorists.

 

[ejls2]

I live out newmarket road way and you do see quite a few cars pulled over along there (normally for running reds), certainly see more there than I do in London (not that that's really saying much!)

A couple of my friends are with Cambs police and I know they take it pretty seriously, but then again they are both keen cyclists!

 

[Cab]

I live out newmarket road way and you do see quite a few cars pulled over along there (normally for running reds), certainly see more there than I do in London (not that that's really saying much!)

A couple of my friends are with Cambs police and I know they take it pretty seriously, but then again they are both keen cyclists!

I guess when I see plod out in town nearly every day stopping cyclists for offences that aren't likely to cause harm (not having lights when its nearly dark is one that bothers me most; it ain't dark yet, why hold the cyclist up when they might be trying to get home before it is?), and at the same time there are motorists doing outlandishly stupid things on the same road, I find it hard to believe that plod here take this kind of thing seriously. Take, for example, crossing over a solid white line into oncoming traffic. Outlandisly dangerous, responsible for a lot of accidents, and Plod could catch hundreds of offenders every day if they just went through a few hours of CCTV footage from, say, the Mill Road bridge. Seems to me that they don't have their priorities right.