Given a girly slap by a motorcyclist on the railway path.

[Bmblbzzz]

There's virtually zero chance of tracing the rider through DVLA. I did mention charred remains? Search Youtube for "bristol bike takers".

[NUKe]

I'd consider reporting this to the operators of the path. As this incident shows, motorcycles being ridden on routes of this kind are anti-social. Preventing this isn't easy and is behind all the access barriers which are a PITA to bona fide users. You have decent evidence. I see that the owners of this path include three local authorities who may have an interest in firm action here and may have a tad more influence than an individual rider.
http://www.bristolbathrailwaypath.org.u ... bout.shtml

Thirdcrank You may be able to clear something up for me not totally related, But my father always used to say that Cycles paths could be used by Mopeds, This conversation took place back in the early 70s before I had a licence for any vehicle. I think the conversation came about when we saw somebody on Honda P50 riding along side the A1. I never being able to find a reference to it I since I got my licence, but always wondered if this was true and if the law was changed at some point.

[mjr]

Thirdcrank You may be able to clear something up for me not totally related, But my father always used to say that Cycles paths could be used by Mopeds, This conversation took place back in the early 70s before I had a licence for any vehicle. I think the conversation came about when we saw somebody on Honda P50 riding along side the A1. I never being able to find a reference to it I since I got my licence, but always wondered if this was true and if the law was changed at some point.

I'm not Thirdcrank but I do know that it used to be commonplace for Avon's cycle lanes to be open to mopeds, but after its abolition, the replacement councils steadily removed the permissions by updating the TROs or simply removing the signs on a case-by-case basis. One of the last cycles+mopeds signs I saw was on one of the railway bridges, which was missed because it wasn't one specifically mentioned in the TROs, but that seems to have been removed between 2006 when I know it was there and the first Google Streetview in 2009. I suspect this was following some change in national guidance.

[thirdcrank]

... Thirdcrank You may be able to clear something up for me not totally related, But my father always used to say that Cycles paths could be used by Mopeds, This conversation took place back in the early 70s before I had a licence for any vehicle. I think the conversation came about when we saw somebody on Honda P50 riding along side the A1. I never being able to find a reference to it I since I got my licence, but always wondered if this was true and if the law was changed at some point.

Once upon a time, a moped was a pedal cycle with a bit of motor assistance and on that basis was considered to be a pedal cycle in some circumstances. In the late 1950's when I started cycling the comic had the title Cycling and Mopeds. The rationale for that changed when Japanese(?) manufacturers squeezed much more power out of the maximum engine allowed (50cc?.)

The law re mopeds on cycle tracks was changed in s 1 Cycle Tracks Act 1984
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1984/38

I'm not certain but I think this was to deal with a development overlooked by the people who wrote the Highways Act 1980, which is the current legislative basis for cycle tracks. There are various definitions under s329 including "cycle track" and this was amended by the 1984 act.
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1980/66/section/329

A rather long-winded way of saying your dad was right, as is so often the case with dads.
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There used to be an American sitcom in the 1950's Father Knows Best. I don't know if was ever on the box in the UK but when I lived in France 1963 - 1964 and dined most evening in a café a bit like 'Allo, 'allo without the Germans, it was shewn nightly on the tiny b/w set with subtitles. The title of the sitcom was rendered Papa a raison a phrase both my sons are familiar with.

[NUKe]

Brilliant thanks TC and MJR too.
Funnily enough for the first time in years tonight on short section of cycle path I use tonight I came across a person on a moped using the cycle way along side the A12. The rider was courteous and pulled up to let me past.

[Spicy]

There's virtually zero chance of tracing the rider through DVLA. I did mention charred remains? Search Youtube for "bristol bike takers".

Sadly this will probably be the case here. The police notified me today the the motorbike had been reported stolen a few days before. The owner's pride and joy, and possibly only transport was taken for a short bit of fun.

[Cyril Haearn]

Brilliant thanks TC and MJR too.
Funnily enough for the first time in years tonight on short section of cycle path I use tonight I came across a person on a moped using the cycle way along side the A12. The rider was courteous and pulled up to let me past.

In Germany there are little motorbikes that can only reach 25 kmh
Not sure if they may use cyclepaths, but they do
Noticed a couple riding sensibly

[brooksby]

The cycle path from Pill near Bristol and up over the Avonmouth motorway bridge is flagged up as no motorcycles over 50cc. You'd never know it.

Explains why I'm constantly getting tailgated on there by motorscooters and large motorcycles, obviously.

Usually people who don't have a full licence so can't drive on the motorway itself, won't cycle, but want to commute across the bridge to the docks in Avonmouth.

[thirdcrank]

Perhaps the reason is that there's more than one way of creating a cycle route. Using the Highways Act / Cycle Tracks Act method, motor vehicles including mopeds are banned under blanket legislation. Mopeds - AFAIK motorcycles under 50cc in this context - are banned from motorways so allowing them to use associated provision for cyclists has a certain logic but obviously doesn't cater for the rest of the prohibited traffic like agricultural tractors, horses (with or without carts,) or learner drivers. Where mopeds are permitted to use a cycle route for whatever reason, then there must be a traffic order specific to the location.

[foxyrider]

Brilliant thanks TC and MJR too.
Funnily enough for the first time in years tonight on short section of cycle path I use tonight I came across a person on a moped using the cycle way along side the A12. The rider was courteous and pulled up to let me past.

In Germany there are little motorbikes that can only reach 25 kmh
Not sure if they may use cyclepaths, but they do
Noticed a couple riding sensibly

They are called Mofas and as far as i'm aware, unless specifically banned (typically pedestrian zones) can use cycle infrastructure. Think you'll find that top speed is 25kph mot mph - equivalent to an ebike. My German friends tell me that you can ride one licence free from 16.

[VanDriver]

While "girly slap" is a bad name for it, I assume the OP was attempting to avoid the even more offensive name involving a term for a female dog

Who's offended, and why?

[eileithyia]

While "girly slap" is a bad name for it, I assume the OP was attempting to avoid the even more offensive name involving a term for a female dog

Who's offended, and why?

Not me just trying to ID what a girly slap is..... having never heard the expression before and how it differs from any other slap....

[Mistik-ka]

Not me just trying to ID what a girly slap is..... having never heard the expression before and how it differs from any other slap....

While one might dispute the severity of the action (and I'm not saying one should), or describe it in terms that make light of it, surely this is an assault — unprovoked, unwarranted, and inexcusable.

Or is striking a stranger socially acceptable in Britain as long as there is no serious injury and the recipient is someone unimportant — say a child … or a woman … or a cyclist? (Which, by extension, would make it pretty much open season on any female under the age of 18 who is riding a bicycle.)

[eileithyia]

Not me just trying to ID what a girly slap is..... having never heard the expression before and how it differs from any other slap....

While one might dispute the severity of the action (and I'm not saying one should), or describe it in terms that make light of it, surely this is an assault — unprovoked, unwarranted, and inexcusable.

Or is striking a stranger socially acceptable in Britain as long as there is no serious injury and the recipient is someone unimportant — say a child … or a woman … or a cyclist? (Which, by extension, would make it pretty much open season on any female under the age of 18 who is riding a bicycle.)

It's not acceptable. I have been on the receiving end of a slap on the rump by a passenger in a passing vehicle... fortunately the traffic was slow enough that I got the registration and went directly to the police station to report it. All 4 car occupants were rounded up and all agreed it had not happened (no photographic evidence). They were all warned that should evidence come to light, they were making statements under oath and it would not look well. It was also pointed out that they were at risk of being placed on the sex offenders register. I might add the police did take it seriously just we had no clear evidence, and a runner had had a similar issue earlier in the day.

[Tangled Metal]

It's a stretch to say one recorded assault makes it open season on females under 18. It could make it open season on boys under age of 13 who don't associate as any gender. Or indeed open season on anyone.

Or just one assault that has no effect on increasing or decreasing the rate of such assaults on others, including any special category you choose to highlight.

Unless you have evidence that there's a girly slap issue involving motorbikes in that area with the incidences spreading into other areas indicating a potential effect. Or something like that.