Bicycles to have numberplates and to ride be trained and be policed just as motorbikes are.
IE: an obligatory test, and subject to all fines, speeding restrictions, and laws of the road that cars are, and to be policed as such.
( Je suis un vagabond is an unfunny, up your own arse middle class knob, Fri 23 Sep 2011, 11:23, 18 replies)

What about
Children on bikes?
(flimflam_machine, Fri 23 Sep 2011, 11:24, closed)

They don't get to ride bikes until they're old enough.

( Je suis un vagabond is an unfunny, up your own arse middle class knob, Fri 23 Sep 2011, 11:25, closed)

Are you a qualified fungineer?
(flimflam_machine, Fri 23 Sep 2011, 11:28, closed)

Hahahahahahaha
Kids can have all sorts of fun without bicycles.

Especially at Uncle Vagabond's Fun House!

Ahem.

Actually.
( Je suis un vagabond is an unfunny, up your own arse middle class knob, Fri 23 Sep 2011, 11:43, closed)

They are already subject to the same laws as cars.
Although I agree it's not policed, more's the pity.
( CQ Knows the truth, all of it., Fri 23 Sep 2011, 11:33, closed)

A careless cyclist is a danger to themselves, only.
Thus, if they can't navigate their way through traffic, they'll quickly get creamed.

It's self-policing, really.
( monster munch person, man, woman... camera... TV?, Fri 23 Sep 2011, 12:00, closed)

I beg to differ.
They're a massive danger to pedestrians.
( Je suis un vagabond is an unfunny, up your own arse middle class knob, Fri 23 Sep 2011, 12:07, closed)

Totally Agree
Trickle down road safety. Cars look out for the big bad lorries and don't give a shit about cyclists or pedestrains, Bikes look out for big bad cars and don't give a shit about pedestrians. Pedestrians take their lives in their hands going anywhere near a road.
(Designated Slagger, Fri 23 Sep 2011, 12:21, closed)

Bikes belong on the road, pedestrians on the pavement.
In the event of a bike hitting a pedestrian, the pedestrian gets, at worst, a bruised shin; the bike rider, more than likely, falls of and breaks his/her teeth on the tarmac.
( monster munch person, man, woman... camera... TV?, Fri 23 Sep 2011, 12:27, closed)

I beg to differ.
A 6' 2" 12 stone man on a bike travelling at 20mph through a pedestrian crossing on the green man will do rather more to a pedestrian than give them "a bruised shin".
( Je suis un vagabond is an unfunny, up your own arse middle class knob, Fri 23 Sep 2011, 12:31, closed)

20mph?
Most cyclists struggle to get above 10.

Nevermind the fact that stopping distances are minimal, so the odds on actually clobbering a pedestrian are tiny.
( monster munch person, man, woman... camera... TV?, Fri 23 Sep 2011, 15:02, closed)

Really?
True, many can't get above 10mph, but I would say that pretty much all the cyclists that I encounter on the walkways around London don't even attempt to stop when flying towards you.

If they are on a collision course with me they do stop, rather abruptly, but that's only because I'm a 6' 17st ex-karate instructor. Most pedestrians tend to scatter because they know that there's the possibility that they are going to get more than a bruised shin. But why should they even have to put up with that??
(Kliper Filllets Getting noticed by twats on the internet since, Tue 27 Sep 2011, 11:39, closed)

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-12816829
( Pig Bodine., Fri 23 Sep 2011, 16:02, closed)

That wouldn't be the same girl
who was allegedly pissed and playing 'chicken' with the cyclist by standing in the road now would it?

Yes, the guy on the bike should have been less bullish, but frankly there's shared responsibility there.

www.bikeradar.com/news/article/cyclist-fined-after-collision-death-17458/
(Monchberter Can't go wrong with Doom, Sat 24 Sep 2011, 13:43, closed)

I'm happy to be corrected and hadn't seen that side of the story put across before.
I wasn't so much intending to draw attention to who is responsible for the accidents though - the wider point I was trying to address is that a bike being rode dangerously can, surprise surprise, present a real danger.

There don't appear to be that many cases reported in the media and this was the only one I could recall off hand. Anecdotally though there are loads of cases I've heard about from colleagues and friends in what is really quite a small town with low cyclist numbers.
( Pig Bodine., Tue 27 Sep 2011, 13:45, closed)

(sigh2)
And the motorcyclist who's just dumped his bike trying avoid T-boning the cockmonkey who's just run another red light because he's too busy singing along to "Fairytale of New York" on his Ipod to open his damn eyes ? (St. John's road Islington. Sometime last spring, can't rememebr the date.)

Or the guy with the broken foot who's just been thrown down the isle of the number 288 bus to Edgware station after the driver had to stamp hard on the anchors to avoid utterly murderising a child (12, perhaps 14) on a bicycle shooting across the junction between Broadfields Ave. and the A41 ?
(about 2 weeks later)

Can I get away with just a bruised shin please ?
Can I have some kind of legal redress against these people ?

Currently, No. I just have to bend over and take it.
( DukeEuphoria Comes highly reccomended, Fri 23 Sep 2011, 16:52, closed)

As a smug, self-righteous cycling prick I agree with this.

( drimble he'd been white, he'd been black, Fri 23 Sep 2011, 13:10, closed)

Er
No.

ipayroadtax.com/licensed-to-cycle/licensed-to-cycle/
(Monchberter Can't go wrong with Doom, Sat 24 Sep 2011, 13:38, closed)