Number plates for cyclists...

Richie said:
Example - if the cyclists fails to stop at a red light and gets hit by a car (non fatal) - yes, they will come worse off physically but does that negate the potential psychological harm to the driver or any repair costs to the car?
Click to expand...

I agree that cyclists should have insurance and I have

fez said:
I would love to know how many of the driving related pedestrian deaths are deemed the drivers fault and how many of the cyclists ones. When I am cycling in areas with pedestrians I have to be super careful because so many people don't even look before they walk out. I assume because they can't hear a car coming and don't bother to look. I've had more near misses with pedestrians in 6 months on my bike than in 6 years of driving.
Click to expand...

I've been off my bikes 3 times because of pedestrians walking straight out into the road, luckily I wasn't going too fast.
One woman looked at me on the floor and said "Watch where you're going" while her partner told her it was her fault and she had a right argument with him :)
 
I'll tell you what, it's going to be fun when the Government forces all of us cyclists into our cars then you'll be moaning about not getting anywhere.
I asked a bus driver in Cambridge a couple of weeks ago what he thought of all the cyclists and electric scooter brigade and his answer was "Imagine an extra 35,000 cyclists in cars".
I asked the same question in Berlin and got roughly the same answer.
I can't imagine what London would look like with all those extra cyclists.
 
SexyGreyFox said:
I agree that cyclists should have insurance and I have



I've been off my bikes 3 times because of pedestrians walking straight out into the road, luckily I wasn't going too fast.
One woman looked at me on the floor and said "Watch where you're going" while her partner told her it was her fault and she had a right argument with him :)
Click to expand...
Typical woman
 
SexyGreyFox said:
I'll tell you what, it's going to be fun when the Government forces all of us cyclists into our cars then you'll be moaning about not getting anywhere.
I asked a bus driver in Cambridge a couple of weeks ago what he thought of all the cyclists and electric scooter brigade and his answer was "Imagine an extra 35,000 cyclists in cars".
I asked the same question in Berlin and got roughly the same answer.
I can't imagine what London would look like with all those extra cyclists.
Click to expand...
This is the mad thing about this country. They government says they want to encourage the use of public transport so make London (for example) unfriendly and expensive for cars. But then allow train prices to rise so drivers stay in their cars. They say they want to encourage people onto bikes by making cycle lanes everywhere. Then threaten to bring in extra bicycle regulations like this. It's all about tax money rather than really trying to do the right thing.
 
Thekwango said:
what's that got to do with cyclists?!
Click to expand...

Surely you have noticed by now that pretty much every time Boris/Tories do something underhand, they put out crazy ideas/stories like this cycling plates article, to get people harping on about the distraction... Instead of this corrupt government's actions.
 
chaparral said:
Will we be seeing coppers giving out on the spot fines to 8 year olds for doing wheelies and having an under sized number plate :cry:
Click to expand...
The worlds gone mad and what people are too stupid to realise is they are empowering and voting for further restrictions on their freedom.
Why is an ebike limited to 15.5mph yet I could go and buy a sports car that will do over 200mph.
Heck even a Golf will accelerate faster than super cars used to not so long ago.
 
UTmaniac said:
Surely you have noticed by now that pretty much every time Boris/Tories do something underhand, they put out crazy ideas/stories like this cycling plates article, to get people harping on about the distraction... Instead of this corrupt government's actions.
Click to expand...
right, but what's it got to do with cyclists or the possible change in laws to cycling?
 
fez said:
This sort of thing just boggles the mind. Anyone who thinks this is anything more than the Tories pandering to their scummiest of supporters needs their heads checking.
Click to expand...
Seems that it's worse than that. He's pandering to their scummiest Daily Mail supporters whilst also saying something completely different to The Times:
Grant Shapps in The Times said:
I'm not attracted to the bureaucracy of registration plates. That would go too far
Click to expand...
 
Thekwango said:
right, but what's it got to do with cyclists or the possible change in laws to cycling?
Click to expand...

It's a load of nonsense that will never happen, but it's got many frothing over the idea instead of things of real urgency like the cost of living, surging utility bills; inflation; wage increases well short of matching inflation etc.
 
UTmaniac said:
It's a load of nonsense that will never happen, but it's got many frothing over the idea instead of things of real urgency like the cost of living, surging utility bills; inflation; wage increases well short of matching inflation etc.
Click to expand...
right, but again, why are you posting it in a thread about cycle laws?
 
My thoughts as a car driver, biker and cyclist :-

1) Motorised/Powered vehicles like e-bikes and e-scooters (if ever made road legal) should be registered and insured. Plus there should be strict speed/power limits on them. If they're exceeded they should be subject to the same regulations, licensing as cars and motorbikes.

2) Police need to actually make an effort to crack down and prosecute those caught breaking the law by riding on pavements (whether pedal or e-bikes) or flouting speed/power retrictions.

3) Pedal bikes shouldn't be subject to the same regulations/restrictions as electrically powered vehicles like ebikes, escooters, etc.

To my mind point 2 is the biggest problem. I've never seen police make any effort to stop those who are clearly breaking the law by riding on pavements. Likewise I've never seen anyone riding an e-scooter on the road, which is currently illegal, stopped by the police. Plus I've been overtaken at 30-40mph by pedal ebikes which are clearly unrestricted.
 
SexyGreyFox said:
I'll tell you what, it's going to be fun when the Government forces all of us cyclists into our cars then you'll be moaning about not getting anywhere.
I asked a bus driver in Cambridge a couple of weeks ago what he thought of all the cyclists and electric scooter brigade and his answer was "Imagine an extra 35,000 cyclists in cars".
I asked the same question in Berlin and got roughly the same answer.
I can't imagine what London would look like with all those extra cyclists.
Click to expand...
Noticing this more, the amount of people that walk into the road without looking is on the up. Most common is that they have their head in their phone.
 
SkodaMart said:
Why is an ebike limited to 15.5mph yet I could go and buy a sports car that will do over 200mph.
Click to expand...

It is the maximum speed with a 250 watt motor that we are allowed to do without 'papers', buy a bigger motor that goes faster and they would then be mopeds and liable for all the same regulations as mopeds.
I did have a 1000 watt/30mph motor for 1 month then decided to become legal again.
Of course there is an army of eBike riders with these illegal bikes and they should all be taken off the road, I know six people who have had theirs crushed.
 
SexyGreyFox said:
It is the maximum speed with a 250 watt motor that we are allowed to do without 'papers', buy a bigger motor that goes faster and they would then be mopeds and liable for all the same regulations as mopeds.
I did have a 1000 watt/30mph motor for 1 month then decided to become legal again.
Of course there is an army of eBike riders with these illegal bikes and they should all be taken off the road, I know six people who have had theirs crushed.
Click to expand...
Make them legal then?
Why is it worse for me to ride a 1000watt ebike than a r1250gs?
 
fez said:
No, the argument here is that bad driving is 100x more likely to result in death or serious injury and yet very little punishment is meted out to drivers who behave in this way. The idea that cyclists should be the target of any measures to improve road safety is frankly laughable when they do so little to protect vulnerable road users from cars.

Its the fact that this is nothing but bait for the worst parts of society to vent their anti-cyclist views. I have never felt in danger from a cyclist in my entire life. I feel at risk at least a few times every single time I go out on my bike. I feel at risk from cars when I am walking or crossing a road and I feel risk from other cars when I am driving.

Cyclists are sick of people making out like they are the big issue on our roads, not the frankly awful standards of driving in this country. They are sick of feeling like they are taking their lives into their own hands every time they get on a bike. They are sick of infrastructure completely ignoring them or quite often making it more difficult and dangerous to cycle.

Unsurprisingly when ideas suggesting they should be treated like a car but without any of the protection or infrastructure cars enjoy is put forwards, we get a little narky. There is no issue with amending the law to punish cyclists when they do something that injures or kills someone.

The issue is trying to make it less and less attractive for people to get on their bikes when we as a country are a bunch of fat ***** and our car use is massively damaging to the environment.
Click to expand...

Whilst I agree with you that the punishments given for bad driving are far too lenient, they are irrelevant as this thread is about cyclists, not cars - you're just proving my point that the argument against this is "some people drive badly so lets ignore bad cycling".

I actually agree with most of your points, which is why I very rarely cycle on the road these days - in fact the last time I did, I had a (relatively) polite word with a "charming" young lady who was staring at her phone instead of the roundabout she was pulling out onto, almost taking out me and my son on the back of the bike. Instead of acting a bit sheepish and realising she was in the wrong, she decided to unleash a tirade of very un-ladylike language towards me, as if it was somehow my fault :cry:

Regardless of the above, it doesn't change the fact that there are also plenty of bad cyclists out there who will think nothing of riding off if they happen to crash into you, scrape their handlebars/pedals down your paintwork, or knock your mirrors off as they pass, never mind ignoring traffic lights, pedestrian crossings, etc. - and why would they care? They can't be identified. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom