Lords to debate the menace of dangerous cyclists.

[cycle tramp]

To quote Terry Pratchett 'the police would rather like everyone to stay indoors all of the time, with their hands plainly in view of everyone else'...
..just because a ex-chief wants something, doesn't mean it will happen.
.

[cycle tramp]

"More people die from X than Y" does not logically lead to "We shouldn't debate Y".

Jonathan

...um, if the figures are very low for y then yes it does.. it marks you as being closer to the box marked 'fascist'*. I am more of a risk to myself through suicide, than I am at being in a collision with a cyclist...
..at which point I would argue that our time would be better used in discussing the availability of mental health treatments.

*that is to say you are more concerned with the laws being broken, even if the consequences for doing so do not result in any harm....

Incidentally I believe more people die getting out of bed than being struck by cyclists, I look forward to the Lords debating whether laws should be passed to outlaw untidy sheets, and other tripping hazards..
..then there's that whole 'stair' problem..

..indeed soon it will be established that only the living can die, at which point the house of Lords will have to debate whether or not to stop people from having children in case they die later in life....

[Jdsk]

...
I hope they don't confuse it all with illegally modified e-bikes, which are a topic in their own right.

It isn't clear what the HoL debate will include. That briefing paper includes the new government's position on product safety, as stated on 31 July 2024.

Jonathan

[Carlton green]

To quote Terry Pratchett 'the police would rather like everyone to stay indoors all of the time, with their hands plainly in view of everyone else'...
..just because a ex-chief wants something, doesn't mean it will happen.
.

I look at my own local police force and shake my head. What they do I’m not so sure of anymore and whereas I once thought that they were there to help ordinary people that view is quite shaken. As a child my parents told me that you can always trust a Policeman but I think such faith to be misplaced. In this modern world they seem to be there to enforce civil order as defined by the ruling classes, anyone remember their role in covid …

One might also say that that ex-chief is London-centric and as such he has lost sight of what happens in the rest of the country. London isn’t at the top of the list of places that I wouldn’t want to live in, but it’s well up the list.

[simonineaston]

Someone email Lord H-H & tell him how much (the perfectly legal) tier e-scooters weigh and what it’d be like getting one of those hit your tib/fib. Then in the next paragraph, tell him how fast the balaclava’ed dude goes past me in Riverside Park, on his Kaabo, then in the closing paragraph, tell him about the bloke who lives in St Werbs who is prone to glide silently about on a ‘leccy unicycle, in a world of his own, wearing over-the-ear phones and a spliff…
Ah life’s rich tapestry, eh?!

[cycle tramp]

Someone email Lord H-H & tell him how much (the perfectly legal) tier e-scooters weigh and what it’d be like getting one of those hit your tib/fib. Then in the next paragraph, tell him how fast the balaclava’ed dude goes past me in Riverside Park, on his Kaabo, then in the closing paragraph, tell him about the bloke who lives in St Werbs who is prone to glide silently about on a ‘leccy unicycle, in a world of his own, wearing over-the-ear phones and a spliff…
Ah life’s rich tapestry, eh?!

..yeah, absolutely... .. its an annoyance.... a couple of months ago, someone riding a bike came out of a t junction into my right of way, without even looking in my direction.. I was driving at the time and could tell what was going through this mind so I had already come of the gas and had both clutch and brake covered....
..that's not enough to suddenly decide that all bikes should be registered, and to sink the millions of pounds in public funds setting up a system to keep track of registered bike riders...

[Cugel]

"More people die from X than Y" does not logically lead to "We shouldn't debate Y".

Jonathan

...um, if the figures are very low for y then yes it does.. it marks you as being closer to the box marked 'fascist'*. I am more of a risk to myself through suicide, than I am at being in a collision with a cyclist...
..at which point I would argue that our time would be better used in discussing the availability of mental health treatments.

*that is to say you are more concerned with the laws being broken, even if the consequences for doing so do not result in any harm....

Incidentally I believe more people die getting out of bed than being struck by cyclists, I look forward to the Lords debating whether laws should be passed to outlaw untidy sheets, and other tripping hazards..
..then there's that whole 'stair' problem..

..indeed soon it will be established that only the living can die, at which point the house of Lords will have to debate whether or not to stop people from having children in case they die later in life....

[PH]

The updated briefing from the House of Lords Library:
"Cyclists and the law":
https://lordslibrary.parliament.uk/cycl ... d-the-law/

Jonathan

That link includes the Labour Government's policy. There's also a fair bit in it about E scooters.
The Lord's debate might result in some questions for the Transport Minister, they're not proposing any legislation, the Labour Government are unlikely to be swayed from their present position, even if they were there's no parliamentary time to do anything this session. I might listen to the debate, or read a summary, but I'm not expecting anything to change as a result of it.

[Carlton green]

The updated briefing from the House of Lords Library:
"Cyclists and the law":
https://lordslibrary.parliament.uk/cycl ... d-the-law/

Jonathan

That link includes the Labour Government's policy. There's also a fair bit in it about E scooters.
The Lord's debate might result in some questions for the Transport Minister, they're not proposing any legislation, the Labour Government are unlikely to be swayed from their present position, even if they were there's no parliamentary time to do anything this session. I might listen to the debate, or read a summary, but I'm not expecting anything to change as a result of it.

Good post.

Figure one in the link would suggest - to me at least - that either the Police aren’t doing their job properly (eg. pursuing offenders) or that cycling behaviour has actually improved over the last decade. Maybe that’s a simplistic view but if reducing death and injury is the objective then I’d suggest that there’s much much more potential to do so elsewhere.

[simonhill]

All this will do is bring 'the problem' to the public's attention for a short time when it is reported by the media - probably with a biased spin by plenty of them.

This will do nothing to solve the problem, real or perceived. It will only fuel the existing anti cycling feeling that pervades much of society.

Lose, lose.

[Psamathe]

Given the massive benefits of cycling to society it beggars belief how elements of an unelected section of our legislature want to impose hindrances, restrictions and costs.

Ian

[Cugel]

Given the massive benefits of cycling to society it beggars belief how elements of an unelected section of our legislature want to impose hindrances, restrictions and costs.

Ian

The "elements" you mention don't live in the same society as most of us. It's something of a myth, surely now plain enough, that Blighty consists of one integrated society. There are several sub-societies growing ever more apart; and this has been the case for a long while but is perhaps now more obvious, paradoxically, because of the "common" mass media efforts to all pretend that they represent this mythical single society, thereby illuminating the fact that it doesn't exist.

Those "elements" that have made you aghast live in a rarefied place where activities such as cycling and walking are quite unusual, seeing as they all go about in an official car, plane or helicopter (although The Bollard seems to have scrapped the latter .... but not the planes).

And, as you know, The Powers That Be always need a list of pariahs and scapegoats to whip, since this distracts from their own ongoing, numerous and highly damaging-to-society antics.

[Carlton green]

The "elements" you mention don't live in the same society as most of us. It's something of a myth, surely now plain enough, that Blighty consists of one integrated society. There are several sub-societies growing ever more apart; and this has been the case for a long while but is perhaps now more obvious, paradoxically, because of the "common" mass media efforts to all pretend that they represent this mythical single society, thereby illuminating the fact that it doesn't exist.

And, as you know, The Powers That Be always need a list of pariahs and scapegoats to whip, since this distracts from their own ongoing, numerous and highly damaging-to-society antics.

^^ This is actually much much more the truth of the matter that darn near all of us realise, it’s certainly taken me years. I could give a recent example of the fragmentation of society and the vilification of an element of it but it’d badly divert the thread and get us into difficult territory so I won’t do that.

[Stevek76]

This guy did the same last year didn't he?

Think he's going to be one of those who perennially introduces an anti cyclist debate/private bill into parliament that nearly no-one pays attention to.

Everyone needs their hobbies I guess.

[cycle tramp]

This guy did the same last year didn't he?

Think he's going to be one of those who perennially introduces an anti cyclist debate/private bill into parliament that nearly no-one pays attention to.

Everyone needs their hobbies I guess.

....can we have a discussion to dismiss him from the House of Lords for being a sad old fascist?

https://www.buzzfeed.com/patricksmith/c ... es-time-as

If you scroll down to the very bottom of the link, where he defended his in car entertainment I think we can see where is priorities are - definitely pro car, and probably anti cyclist as a result...