Halfords survey 59% call for cycle number plates.

[snorri]

Halfords survey results reveal that more drivers than cyclists responded.

http://www.bikebiz.com/news/read/halfords-floats-idea-of-number-plates-for-cyclists/022026

We can only hope this one gets buried quickly!

 

[jefmcg]

Boris bikes have unique identifying numbers on them. Last time I heard (several years ago, admittedly) no one had ever gone to the police with a complaint and a bike number.

 

[mjr]

I wonder whether this will make any of the organisations break with halfodds (deliberate misname to stop the automatic link... I know it gives CC money but even Evans are a less nasty chain).

 

[confusedcyclist]

It's a good job we rely on the evidence of scientific and rigorously designed studies to plan and devise our laws, rather than rely on survey responses and gut feelings of motorists and politicians... oh wait!

 

[I like Skol]

It is very disheartening to read such twaddle

This is purely a marketing exercise, dreamt up by a non-cycling marketing person who wants to justify their job. It's a shame they don't have enough intelligence to see what damage they can do by publishing this tripe. Sure it may raise their[Hellfrauds] profile and even increase sales for a while but it is divisive and damaging because it increases the distrust and intolerance between the two groups of road users it involves and there will only be one loser, the vulnerable cyclists. I note that there was no mention of pedestrians in the report, surely a bigger road user group even than cyclists? EDIT: presumably pedestrians aren't included in the report because they don't typically visit the retailer to buy much stuff for walking around?

 

[Illaveago]

Are they also going to come up with the idea of fitting roof boxes?

 

[Noodle Legs]

Is that so the police can catch speeding cyclists by ANPR?

It is very disheartening to read such twaddle

This is purely a marketing exercise, dreamt up by a non-cycling marketing person who wants to justify their job. It's a shame they don't have enough intelligence to see what damage they can do by publishing this tripe. Sure it may raise their[Hellfrauds] profile and even increase sales for a while but it is divisive and damaging because it increases the distrust and intolerance between the two groups of road users it involves and there will only be one loser, the vulnerable cyclists. I note that there was no mention of pedestrians in the report, surely a bigger road user group even than cyclists? EDIT: presumably pedestrians aren't included in the report because they don't typically visit the retailer to buy much stuff for walking around?

I couldn't agree more. It's bad enough in this day and age that cyclists and motorists can't seem to exist harmoniously which is somewhat ironic as a lot of cyclists are also motorists (me included) and in an ideal world I'd love the infrastructure to facilitate getting cyclists off the road altogether but alas its easier said than done. So the law is the law and whilst I advocate having insurance to cover liability in the event of an accident, the idea of number plates seems nothing more than a money making racket to me.

 

[mjr]

What's the betting that Cycling UK won't have the integrity to bite one of the hands that feeds them...?

10 to 1 on? And Brutish Cycling even worse?

 

[LCpl Boiled Egg]

This survey is news to me. Presumably I would have heard about it by buying something from them online or in one of their awful shops?

 

[snorri]

I note that there was no mention of pedestrians in the report, surely a bigger road user group even than cyclists?

No, not according to Chief Customer Officer at Halfords Helen Bellairs who says ..."What our new research makes very clear is that the car is still the nation’s favourite means of getting around”
Little doubt as to which side of the fence Ms Bellairs sits.

 

[Dan B]

I've just unsubscribed myself from halFUDs marketing emails giving this survey as the reason, though in truth I spend a lot less there anyway with an 18 month old car than I did with the ten-year-old one - so not a particularly lucrative customer for them these days.

 

[smutchin]

There was no survey result – or, presumably, any question – about the compulsory wearing of helmets for everyday journeys, either for cyclists or motorists. However, there were questions and answers about cycle servicing. A perhaps surprising 48 percent of those asked said they could mend cycle punctures. And, in what will be news to independent bike shops, 43 percent of Brits can “tighten a loose chain”; 37 percent “know how to adjust their own brakes”; and 31 percent “can clean their gear mechanisms.” (Those answers should make one wary of all the others.)

I presume everyone here knows how to "tighten a loose chain", right?

 

[Aravis]

Reading through the linked article, I see that 45 percent of survey respondents said there ought to be “dedicated cycle lanes on all roads”.

That's all roads, including, presumably, single track lanes in the Highlands of Scotland, Dartmoor, and other such areas of cycling heaven. If that's indicative of the depth of thought given to their answers by a sizeable proportion of respondents, it shouldn't be too hard to dismiss the findings of the survey.

 

[petek]

Halford's also commissioned a report and survey -conclusions doc entitled 'Share the Road' but that Bikebix link takes you to Dropbox. Anyone got an open-able link to that without Dropbox?

 

[Milkfloat]

Anyone thinking of giving these idiots your hard earned money should think again.