Police Action Over Pavement Cyclist!

[youngoldbloke]

Made Radio 4's PM programme this evening... a crap debate about pavement cycling and road safety followed.

Yes - heard that. Kept wanting to shout FFS, we're talking about a 4 year old! (They weren't)

 

[MontyVeda]

we've got nobbers in police cars and nobbers on the radio.

does a police officer (plastic or proper) have to authority to just confiscate something, such as a four year old's bike?

 

[glasgowcyclist]

The basic situation is a reasonable number of people in uniforms don't actually know the law (in this case).

GC

 

[Tim Hall]

View attachment 82180

GC

Wifi enabled SD cards or Photorec are your friend.

 

[Big Nick]

Most organisations employ some fcukwits, why would the police be any different?

 

[Racing roadkill]

You'd have thought the plod would have some common sense about that. He must've been having a very slow day.

 

[400bhp]

does a police officer (plastic or proper) have to authority to just confiscate something, such as a four year old's bike?

No

I wonder what I would have done in the circumstances. Part of me says fight or flight, but part of me says roll over and watch the carnage ensue as the story unfolds when I went to the press.

 

[buggi]

Can somebody make clear what was wrong with the CTC case? I assume we are talking about the man on BBC Breakfast. I know that there is a difference between a child breaking the law and whether they can be prosecuted for it. Was that it?
My understanding is that the only real law on this is the one from the 1860s that forbids velocipedes being ridden on a footway beside a carriageway. The (presumably) CTC guy on TV said this had been modified by a Home Office ruling in 1999 that permitted cycling on the pavement as long as it was done considerately. Is that about right? This is all a bit theoretical as I do not, personally, ride on pavements, but I would like to know what the rules actually are.

It is illegal to ride on the footpath unless it is deemed a cycle path. However, the Home Office have given the Police guidance that if the rider is considerate and riding on the pavement because they feel the road is dangerous, the PC can use his/her discretion to not give a ticket. This would have been an appropriate time to use that guidance.

 

[davefb]

Yes.

They can 'break the law' but they cannot be charged with anything?

https://www.gov.uk/child-under-10-breaks-law

"Children under 10 cannot be charged with committing a criminal offence. However, they can be given a:

• Local Child Curfew
• Child Safety Order"
  

 

[winjim]

Is an adult who encourages or allows a child to break the law committing an offence? Conspiracy to cycle on a footway maybe?

 

[raleighnut]

Is an adult who encourages or allows a child to break the law committing an offence? Conspiracy to cycle on a footway maybe?

Nearly spat my tea over the keyboard then.

 

[jayonabike]

The whole thing just shows how inept the police are. The police force are a bunch of f**kwits.

 

[summerdays]

Is an adult who encourages or allows a child to break the law committing an offence? Conspiracy to cycle on a footway maybe?

Not sure in a general sense but when I spoke to a local police officer that I sometimes chat to, he said that if there was persistent dangerous cycling by a young child they they would speak to the parents but possibly also to social workers as there may be wider issues.

 

[youngoldbloke]

Just a thought ... is it against the law to ride a scooter on the pavement - and if not, why not?

 

[raleighnut]

Just a thought ... is it against the law to ride a scooter on the pavement - and if not, why not?

Vespa or Lambretta.