Do We Need Tougher Cycling Laws?

[ToraToraTora]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-41028321
After this case there have been calls for tougher cycling laws but I don't think we need them, we just need to more rigorously enforce the more than adequate ones we have. Eg stop riding on the pavement, through red lights, no lights, no brakes, non road bikes etc. All we have to do is get serious with what we have not introduce more to ignore. This guy was riding an illegal bike for example and should not even have been on the road. Lets start prosecuting cycling offences.

[gness]

I did look back to see who had mentioned a car, Chill.... :-)

Ellipsis.......this thread has gone along as conversations in the pub or the sitting room do......
Considering and discussing whether we need tougher cycling laws is bound to bring the full experience of cycling into the conversation and that must include motorists and pedestrians.
Some interesting information has been posted.....in particular Chill's video and the last paragraph of Jno's link...
You could read, consider and still hold your views and that'd be fine as long as you at least consider the experiences or views of others.....
You don't though....you come along with your....hey ho hobby horse comment which adds nothing to the thread.....x

[beso]

MickeyMcfinnegan // If you press the front brake at speed you'd fly over the handlebars.//

Rubbish. When properly operated, the front brake supplies the vast majority of the stopping power.

[Ellipsis]

What added nothing to the thread, gness, was the stuff about motorists, VED, Road Tax, etc. It could have been a good thread about cyclist laws, archaic references to coachmen, what if it had been a skateboard, did he deserve prosecution, etc.

[ChillDoubt]

I do sympathise alba, honestly.
I didn't get the number of the driver who almost ran me over(that's the one on YouTube) nor the van driver who thought it funny to shout abuse as he drove past me at speed, which was quite frightening.
I did get the one of the driver who's female passenger thought it funny to do the same days later but for some inexplicable reason the young lad driving couldn't remember who was in the car with him when contacted by the Police.
How odd.

Why DO some motorists find it funny to abuse cyclists for no other reason than 'fun'?

[albaqwerty]

gness, those motorists are utter scuzzbuckets and should be thrown in the oubliette.

(I do wish we had oubliettes) xx

[angie55]

//Why DO some motorists find it funny to abuse cyclists for no other reason than 'fun'?//

Another off topic comment which is not necessary on this thread..........unless of course it's to support your tirade against anything on the road other than cyclists.

Let's not forget the original subject, this arrogant irresponsible idiot was on the road on an illegal bike. If he wasn't there, the lady may have been hit by someone else, or more hopefully still be alive today.

[gness]

Not on my driving days, Albs......but say.....one day a week....all of them .......so I could cycle happily and safely..... ;-)

[ChillDoubt]

angie55
Just recounting instances and experiences, as alba did.
As for my tirade against anyone but cyclists that would be me too then, as a car owner, yes?
We ALL must share the road responsibly, that's my argument.

[angie55]

//We ALL must share the road responsibly, that's my argument//

Does that include the idiotic cyclists I encounter everyday when I'm walking on pedestrian only pavements?

[gness]

I guess most cyclists are also motorists.....and we see it from both sides....but as most motorists are not cyclists too the solution is.....

You only pass your driving test after having spent...say...a month as a cyclist?.... :-)

[gness]

Well I can't see a good reason for excluding them, Angie......x

[FinnyMick]

You only pass your driving test after having spent...say...a month as a cyclist?.... :-)


That must be the daftest thing I have ever read.

[gness]

Ahhhh.....so you'd not pass then, FM...... :-)....x

[FinnyMick]

Of course I would, suggesting it should be mandatory is ridiculous beyond belief.

[gness]

No....it would make the roads much safer for pedestrians, cyclists and motorists if you didn't get your driving licence until you had spent a month using a bicycle and gained your cycling proficiency badge to be displayed on your windscreen.....lots of problems solved.....if of course you pass..... ;-)

[beso]

gness //You only pass your driving test after having spent...say...a month as a cyclist?.... :-)//

What about skaters. They are road users too. Everyone should have to skate for a month. And unicyclists ......

[FinnyMick]

Words fail me. The ability to ride a bike being a prerequisite to driving a car. Must be something in the water.

[FinnyMick]

Absolutely beso. I look forward to gness on a unicycle proving she is fit to drive a car.

[gness]

If they were going to use the roads as cyclist do, Beso...and we motorists had to encounter and consider them as we do cyclists....then yes...but I don't see that many on the road....and you know that...... ;-)

No.....you're not looking at it the right way, FM....I am not talking about the ability to ride a bike....I'm talking about being a cyclist...x

[angie55]

Gness, I don't think it would have the desired effect. A lot of drivers don't drive in the same way when they were learning (crossed hands, etc.) and I doubt a lot of cyclists cycle in the way they did when they passed their proficiency test, e.g. I rarely see a cyclist do hand signals.