Things I Hate - A Comedic Rantesse

[notdeadyet]

These cyclists are also not operating with "due care and attention". If caught they risk a fine up to £1,000.

They know they aren't going to get caught. Roads in the area are really popular as training routes, even Bradley Wiggins used to train round here, but the behaviour is appalling and the plod have zero interest in it. The dual carriageway that I used to live next to is used on Wednesday nights in summer for time trials and it's carnage. The club officials are total arseholes, they'll block junctions so cars can't enter the dual carriageway, they'll block the gaps for right hand turns, they'll stand in the carriageway with flags to force vehicles into the outside lane, they'll jump out at vehicles at the roundabouts either end of the loop they race on (one of which is a motorway exit). Loads of near misses, loads of complaints from residents. I never once saw the plod on the training nights. The irony is there is actually a separated bike path either side of the road.

Where I live now isn't as bad but still a pain at weekends. I've had people in my front garden watching club cyclists (presumably some race was on), the road at the top of the hill is regularly blocked with cyclists gathering en masse so they can bomb down the hill in a group. People complain all the time. I'm yet to see the police ever interfere in any of the races or time trials when the times and dates are known. No chance of catching random bad cycling behaviour.

[Chrisch]

My reading of that situation is the same - the onus is on the driver of the motorised vehicle to ensure that they are travelling at a speed suitable for the road and conditions. If you can't come to a halt before hitting them or moving over the white line, you are not driving with "due care and attention"

These cyclists are also not operating with "due care and attention". If caught they risk a fine up to £1,000.

Sadly a lot of road users habitually operate without really giving due care and attention to what they are doing. Whether four or two wheels and - just for balance - pedestrians as well.

It is how we operate as a species. We are preoccupied by something or another and our poor decisions are often habitual as we have not suffered as a result of them. Equally some massive fuck up can make people over cautious or scared. This is why using a phone while driving is illegal. You are thinking about the conversation not the travel. Hands free helps (and is legal) but the distration is real.

The motorist versus cyclist thing is bullshit culture war twaddle and stoked up by the car lobby. There are bad drivers and bad riders but - more often - one person can be good at times and bad others. Vulnerable groups of road users need to be vigilant at all times and accept that they will encounter poor driving. Defensive riding is very important and can annoy people as you take road positions and so on, but better to piss someone off than be dead.

For one of my my (MTB) rides we cover just under a kilometer of tarmac. It is a 40 limit (widely ignored) and a turn off at the crest of a gentle hill. The level of stupidity of some drivers is hard to comprehend. Some folk are fine and give us room some are total twats that should be banned for life. It is the most I venture out on tarmac. Much safer off road.

[Divemouse]

Just had some woman pull her rear car door open in front of me and lean into the back seat. I shouted 'Bang!' as I went by to indicate that I'd just ridden straight into the door and she jumped and fell in. Kept me going all the way home.

[Neilwood]

They know they aren't going to get caught. Roads in the area are really popular as training routes, even Bradley Wiggins used to train round here, but the behaviour is appalling and the plod have zero interest in it. The dual carriageway that I used to live next to is used on Wednesday nights in summer for time trials and it's carnage. The club officials are total arseholes, they'll block junctions so cars can't enter the dual carriageway, they'll block the gaps for right hand turns, they'll stand in the carriageway with flags to force vehicles into the outside lane, they'll jump out at vehicles at the roundabouts either end of the loop they race on (one of which is a motorway exit). Loads of near misses, loads of complaints from residents. I never once saw the plod on the training nights. The irony is there is actually a separated bike path either side of the road.

Where I live now isn't as bad but still a pain at weekends. I've had people in my front garden watching club cyclists (presumably some race was on), the road at the top of the hill is regularly blocked with cyclists gathering en masse so they can bomb down the hill in a group. People complain all the time. I'm yet to see the police ever interfere in any of the races or time trials when the times and dates are known. No chance of catching random bad cycling behaviour.

Unless there is a change in road safety policy (which seems to concentrate on cameras) with a change to more police on the roads, there is very little chance of prosecution hence I did say IF caught. Cameras will catch speeding (at the camera - not before or after), driving without insurance & MOT (if equipped with ANPR) but they can't catch the rest of the gamut of driving laws such as mobile phones, alcohol/drug driving, driving without due care and attention, etc which require police judgement. People know Plod will not be on there to catch them therefore the risk assessment for misbehaving on the road (even for high danger practices) generally works out as low risk so they feel free to do it.

[Chrisch]

Unless there is a change in road safety policy (which seems to concentrate on cameras) with a change to more police on the roads, there is very little chance of prosecution ...t.

So very true. All the problems that are frequent moans are all made worse as they are not "cheap" to police and put right. I think the biggest grumble about push bikes is the inconsiderate users that are on pavements in cities. Given how dangerous the roads are the pavement is a better bet IMHO and worth the risk. Of course that pisses off the pedestrians. When a real answer - dedicated, seperated cycle lanes - are put forward the car addicts scream blue murder and whine endlessly how "unfair" that is.

Of course e-scooters could be a good way forward but the grumblies don't want them either. Moaning old farts just want to sit in a huge traffic jam breathing carcinogenic fumes it seems.

[notdeadyet]

Unless there is a change in road safety policy (which seems to concentrate on cameras) with a change to more police on the roads, there is very little chance of prosecution hence I did say IF caught. Cameras will catch speeding (at the camera - not before or after), driving without insurance & MOT (if equipped with ANPR) but they can't catch the rest of the gamut of driving laws such as mobile phones, alcohol/drug driving, driving without due care and attention, etc which require police judgement. People know Plod will not be on there to catch them therefore the risk assessment for misbehaving on the road (even for high danger practices) generally works out as low risk so they feel free to do it.

Yep. But there does seem to be a policy of not doing anything that might show cycling in a negative light, at least round here. These events are all known in advance and some even happen at a regular time on a regular day every single week. You don't exactly need to invest much in intelligence gathering and the local plod love nothing better than an easy win. But nothing. Not a single attempt is ever made at policing these events. It may well be just limited resources even though it's been going on for years, there's regular accidents and occasional fatalities. The more cynical minded might see that as a policy of not getting involved and the only reason I can think of is don't do anything that might acknowledge there's twats in cycling because we're all supposed to be pro-cycling.

[Chrisch]

..the local plod love nothing better than an easy win. ....

I would guess that it is not an easy win. The Highways Authority not the police are the body responsible. If cycle club marshals are blocking the road they can be charged with obstruction. The question therefore is whether the cycle club has got permission to run the event? Who is in the club? Some bigwig and the coppers are looking at a big problem. I don't like the police very much but they have a very hard job to do in truth and there is a lot of interference that is not always obvious. If it is a routine event email the police and ask them why it is allowed.

When we lived in London there was a nearby gyratory system which was part of a red route. The locals parked on it every day. On one occasion I saw a fire engine (blues and siren) stuck, as there were two of the three lanes blocked by parked cars. The local traffic wardens walked past that location every working day to get back to the police station. One day I met them as they walked past and asked them why they did not ticket the cars (red remember - no 10 min rule), They said it was not part of their "route". I wrote to the chief warden, then the chief constable then the local MP all of whom "looked into it" but no one could determine whose responibility it was. When we left about 3 years later there were still cars parked there daily. The local tube station also had a parking issue but no one could agree who owned the land. I can only think things have got worse since then......

[notdeadyet]

I would guess that it is not an easy win. The Highways Authority not the police are the body responsible.

There is no Highways Authority. There was Highways England/Highways Agency which is now National Highways and is only responsible for certain roads (motorways and a handful of A roads, which this one isn't part of -- most aren't) and only have limited powers. There is also the local authority highways department but they don't have a policing responsibility.

The question therefore is whether the cycle club has got permission to run the event?

They don't need permission for time trialling, they just need to have informed the police in advance that it is happening and how it will be marshalled. It is then the police's responsibility to decide how to police it, if at all.

[Energy58]

Cameras will catch speeding (at the camera - not before or after), driving without insurance & MOT (if equipped with ANPR) but they can't catch the rest of the gamut of driving laws such as mobile phones, alcohol/drug driving, driving without due care and attention, etc which require police judgement.

Lots of people flouting ANPR round here - stick a bit of electrical tape on the number plate and it confuses the ANPR enough that it can't identify the vehicle and it doesn't "ping" as no tax/MOT. Plod seem to just ignore it as that would require doing something and actually getting out of the car (and presumably there are easier targets - "oh I can't understand it - kids must have done that" and then you are in a world where you need actual evidence rather than just turn the handle) so you see it more and more. Same with fictitious numbers - ANPR can't match it so thinks its forrin or something ergo no ping - and the "check your MOT" website lets you find unused numbers easily. I guess the probability of being caught is more or less zero

[Chrisch]

So after many years of voting for the party of law and order we are all agreed that the UK is now the wild west and no one follows the rules or gives a shit.

[smug]Looks like I have been right all along.. [/smug]