Cycling UK Forum

seems some of the younger generation wont be living very long?

one way of controlling the population I supose and removing the "stupid" gene from the gene pool?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-43330195/swerve-the-car-footage-shows-dangers-of-stupid-game

crikey - one even did it to a POLICE CAR

Alternative cycling proficiency scheme for a Darwinian Award [death] Certificate?

Makes you wonder if their parents had any brains as well.

Old news.

It was the big thing last summer, that and wheelieing for miles at a time in groups. Lots of people complaining on the local FB pages about the yoofs. At one point a gang of yoofs completely blocked one of the roads and wouldn't let anyone past.
I think the plods started picking them up and taking them home.

To be fair to them at least they were out on their bikes getting exercise and some of them were *really* good at wheelies...

The local road safety officer was discussing it with a local community warden in January.

Community warden explained it was dangerous, frustrating motorists, raising tensions, somebody is going to end up in hospital, etc.

Road safety officer said they are well aware that it happens, that it's frustrating and anti-social but it's not on their radar so far as reducing KSIs are concerned. Collisions are very rare, collisions that lead to KSIs haven't occured.

There are bigger fish to fry.

Whilst not condoning the actions of the individuals in the video.
Please don't generalise its not all youngsters. And these are some extremes. And doing stunts can help learn bike control, they just need to be done in a safer environment. I did many a stupid thing on bikes, Skateboards homemade go Karts or any combination of the three in my teens and often ended up with the bruises to prove it.

September time last year I cam across 3 youths practicing a wheelie stunt, which involved having the front wheel loose, so it rolled out as they lifted the front. It was a bit fun, but another dog walker, Stopped and told me they should be locked up. Why they were on a path in local seafront gardens, in the evening hurting no one. Now I don't know if it was related but the following night, local plod were patrolling the area.

kwackers wrote:Old news.

It was the big thing last summer, that and wheelieing for miles at a time in groups. Lots of people complaining on the local FB pages about the yoofs. At one point a gang of yoofs completely blocked one of the roads and wouldn't let anyone past.
I think the plods started picking them up and taking them home.

To be fair to them at least they were out on their bikes getting exercise and some of them were *really* good at wheelies...

Reads a bit like a 'critical mass' demo, anything that slows the motons is good

kwackers wrote:To be fair to them at least they were out on their bikes getting exercise and some of them were *really* good at wheelies...

Yes. I have mixed feelings when I see this sort of behaviour. It's dangerous, but they are having fun on their bikes. Related to the 'How far cycling has fallen...' thread - most children are safely locked up in their homes, schools, ballet classes, extra tuition, or parents' cars, and would never have an opportunity to do anything like that. It's only the children from bad homes, with irresponsible parents, who have any fun these days.

Cyril Haearn wrote:Reads a bit like a 'critical mass' demo, anything that slows the motons is good

Warm nights and the ability to indulge in a bit of anti-social behaviour so beloved of yoofs looking for their personal version of anti-authoritarianism that makes the middle classes despair which in turn fed back to the yoofs.
Viscous circle. But temporary and with the upshot that bikes are cool with youth again.

Of course it means you have to put up with folk whining about anti-social behaviour, how it's all gone pear shaped, how they all nearly ran over a youth on a bike, how they're nearly invisible under the street lights dressed in dark clothing, no helmets etc etc.

I used to read all that and wonder if I lived in the same place. Lots of kids on bikes but for the most part they're polite and move out of the way, they indulge in the occasional 'mass wheelie' and simply get in the way of drivers who were probably well over the 20mph speed limit anyway.

In an attempt to show my solidarity I practised riding with no hands...

Viscous circle
Positive thread alert, +1!

Sticky?

Phil Fouracre wrote:Sticky?

I quoted kwackers, maybe he meant vicious or virtuous..

The kids out in the evening are learning, growing, having fun, interacting, not taking drugs one hopes

I do pity the kids imprisoned and strapped into cars on the way to the gym

BTW Hunter Davies wrote about 'youths' and 'young people', are they two quite different groups? I used the word 'kids' without thinking, is that ok?

So despite even the cars being there has anyone actually being seriously harmed? Certainly not car owners, if we didn't have motors at all this wouldn't be a problem, yet another good reason for banishing motors to 'motorways', after all that's what they are built for.

It's basically an easy distraction tactic to focus on a handful of people that don't do much harm, present it as a massive problem and continue to ignore the behaviour of those in masses of metal and plastic that kill 6, maim another 60 and slightly injure around 435 every single day.
yup, this has been the tactic by the powers that be, turn the focus away from that which kills at worse than terrorist levels and focus on that which is a minor irritation for the most part!

A fair way from home last summer with a multi-hour motorway journey ahead of me, kids on the local access road were doing this in front of me. I slowed and covered the brake. The whole group span around and cycled slowly (several doing wheelies) ahead of me. So I maintained a slow speed, smiled and shrugged. The one cycling beside me called out, they all got off the road and let me through (and got a thumbs up out of the window when I was past). In that case they were (I believe) deliberately slowing cars in their area, using cycling skill to do so.

AlaninWales wrote:In that case they were (I believe) deliberately slowing cars in their area, using cycling skill to do so.

I wasn't expecting that final conclusion.

This is worth pursuing - promoting children's naturally disruptive tendencies to challenge antisocial adult behaviours.