Mr Loophole: Petition for cycling crackdown gathers momentum

The government is set to respond to a campaign by celebrity solicitor Mr Loophole to crack down on nuisance cycling.

Nick Freeman, who has successfully defended David Beckham and Sir Alex Ferguson, wants cyclists to wear a registered tabard or bib.

The lawyer also wants mandatory use of cycle lanes, and penalty point punishments for misdemeanours.

His petition calling for the moves has now gained 10,000 signatures.

It means the government must respond to the call and outline its stance.

The Manchester-based solicitor, who focuses on traffic matters, also wants a licensing system for e-scooter riders.

Mr Freeman said: "We are all delighted with the results of the petition since something must be done to make road space safer for everyone.

"Without some kind of registration scheme we have no idea who might be riding a bike or an e-scooter.

"Those who use them can recklessly flout the law with impunity - say, jumping red lights, weaving on and off pavements and even knocking down pedestrians."

He added: "This is not about a war between drivers and others but the need to have one law for all. To improve safety and create harmonious shared road space.

"While there are many responsible cyclists there are still too many who ride with little respect for the rules of the road."

The Covid-19 pandemic saw a boom in sales of bicycles and a huge influx of riders on the streets.

The only e-scooters that can be legally used on public roads are those rented as part of government-backed trials.

The Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety has found that in the first 10 months of 2021 there have been nine deaths involving e-scooters and more than 300 casualties.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-59649900

About time i say, i'm sick of cyclists going through red lights when i'm trying to cross the road and riding on pavements when it suits them!

Norpig wrote:About time i say, i'm sick of cyclists going through red lights when i'm trying to cross the road and riding on pavements when it suits them!

I think most of us feel the same.

The problem though is how can you ever enforce such a law if happens?

People can't be arsed to wear facemasks in shops or on public transport and there's not enough police to make them do so, so how can they stop all the idiots with cycles and e-scooters whizzing around wherever they please?

Agree 100% Norpig. They should also pay Road Tax.

I'd also ban horses from the public highway.

Sluffy wrote:

I think most of us feel the same.

The problem though is how can you ever enforce such a law if happens?

People can't be arsed to wear facemasks in shops or on public transport and there's not enough police to make them do so, so how can they stop all the idiots with cycles and e-scooters whizzing around wherever they please?

They could issue us pedestrians with a cattle prod or similar so we can enforce it ourselves 

It would be great if there was an enforceable law to prevent cyclists from riding on pavements, but given that roads are dangerous for cyclists there would have to be a massive extension of the cycle lane/path network - an enormous investment that gets no mention - notwithstanding the considerable problems with planning/land acquisition/road narrowing etc etc that would have to be faced especially in urban areas to create them.
I'm all for encouraging folk to cycle to work where feasible - it would certainly help in reducing pollution/carbon emissions and may even go some way to cutting the burden on the NHS from obesity, pollution and other health problems, but poorly thought out proposals like this one create as many problems as they solve.

If however, they were prepared to go as far as banning cars from towns and cities, making all existing roads cycle paths and public transport only, and backing it up with out of town park and ride and park and cycle schemes we might get somewhere but there is no way in hell that is going to happen on a large enough scale to be viable.

wanderlust wrote:It would be great if there was an enforceable law to prevent cyclists from riding on pavements, but given that roads are dangerous for cyclists there would have to be a massive extension of the cycle lane/path network - an enormous investment that gets no mention - notwithstanding the considerable problems with planning/land acquisition/road narrowing etc etc that would have to be faced especially in urban areas to create them.
I'm all for encouraging folk to cycle to work where feasible - it would certainly help in reducing pollution/carbon emissions and may even go some way to cutting the burden on the NHS from obesity, pollution and other health problems, but poorly thought out proposals like this one create as many problems as they solve.

If however, they were prepared to go as far as banning cars from towns and cities, making all existing roads cycle paths and public transport only, and backing it up with out of town park and ride and park and cycle schemes we might get somewhere but there is no way in hell that is going to happen on a large enough scale to be viable.

Around where I live the councils have provided extensive cycle lanes and made the towns and villages cycle friendly.

Do people bother to use them if it means taking five seconds longer using them than rather ride on the pavements - no they don't!

At the end of the day it all boils down to human behaviour and sadly there seems to be an irreversible and rapidly growing numbers of people who put themselves above everyone else.

You can see them everyday in every town and city up and down the country - the ones who don't wear masks in the shops or on public transport, the ones who ride their e-scooters knowing that technically they are illegal, the cyclists going through red traffic lights, people who can't be arsed to put their phones down when they are being served, the ones who flouted all the Covid rules - remember the knob who was Covid positive yet still went to the pubs in Bolton, infecting all his knobheaded mates and kicking off that big wave in the town!

The list is endless.

There certainly were self centred knobheads back in my day too but not to the scale we have these days.

Unfortunately it now is what it is and we've got what we've deserved I guess.

I think I made it clear that the strategy would necessitate a BAN of vehicles in towns and cities to work. Yes the country is self-evidently full of numpties given where we are but a well-enforced ban on cars would have a considerable impact on human behaviour IMO.

wanderlust wrote:I think I made it clear that the strategy would necessitate a BAN of vehicles in towns and cities to work. Yes the country is self-evidently full of numpties given where we are but a well-enforced ban on cars would have a considerable impact on human behaviour IMO.

There's a ban on all vehicles and cycles in the local town centres.

It doesn't stop the self entitled of the area cycling an e-scootering up and down them every day in full view of the CCTV cameras and passing police and PCSO's.

It's all well and good having a strategy but it doesn't mean it will work in practice particularly when there is little to no practical enforcement of it.

Fwiw the local council implemented a largescale installation of bus lanes on the major local roads last year funded by the government, in order to 'design out' the use of car usage in and through the town, and with the intent to 'push' people towards use of public transport and cycling/walking instead of car usage.  The scheme was/still is policed by a "well enforced" use of cameras and fines.

Whilst it was highly commendable in its endeavours it was catastrophic in practise leading to unimaginable traffic chaos and jams.

So much so that bus lane (and taxi and motor bike) usage only was suspended at off peak times, firstly on some stretches, then some time later on all stretches - and now the council is costing how much it will take to revert some stretches to how they originally were!

I'm sure in time people will eventually move to being more environmentally friendlier in how they travel but for now human nature and self entitlement prevails.

I’ve cycled since I moved to London (about 7 years now). Less so since COVID as I don’t have to go to the office everyday. I tend to follow the rules, unless I hit a red light and there’s no traffic or pedestrians (normally late at night) and I know the roads well. You’re all right though many cyclists don’t and charge through regardless.

I don’t see Mr Loophole’s solution as offering any value though, we need to encourage more people to cycle not creating barriers to doing so. Jumping red lights is a violation so the please need to start enforcing it, it would soon stop. A bit like masks on tubes it’s been getting less and less common since summer then Omicron kicks off and there are staff at stations reminding commuters to wear them and now 99% are wearing again.

Enforce the existing rules before creating new ones.

I'm actually amazed when i see a cyclist stop at a red light, it really is that rare!

T.R.O.Y. wrote:I’ve cycled since I moved to London (about 7 years now). Less so since COVID as I don’t have to go to the office everyday. I tend to follow the rules, unless I hit a red light and there’s no traffic or pedestrians (normally late at night) and I know the roads well. You’re all right though many cyclists don’t and charge through regardless.

I don’t see Mr Loophole’s solution as offering any value though, we need to encourage more people to cycle not creating barriers to doing so. Jumping red lights is a violation so the please need to start enforcing it, it would soon stop. A bit like masks on tubes it’s been getting less and less common since summer then Omicron kicks off and there are staff at stations reminding commuters to wear them and now 99% are wearing again.

Enforce the existing rules before creating new ones.

It isn't that simple.

It's all down to resources, priority and punishment.

You simply can't have a policeman / police woman on every on every street corner just in case...

You arrest them or give them a warning or fixed penalty then what - lock them up / they say they won't do it again / they never pay the penalty.

What about people not wearing their masks in Morrisons, or driving without insurance, or knife crime?

Where do you use best use the police resources we have?

Clearly riding a cycle where people shouldn't is low down on the list.

And I don't think anyone could disagree with that.

I happened to be in the police station the other month (not a regular occurrence I assure you) and there was a south Asian gentleman raging to the desk officer for some considerable time - so much so that in the end I walked out and called back another day.

His story - which everybody there heard - was the previous night he was stopped a short distance away from where some crime had just been committed and asked by a policeman to identify himself as he fitted the description of the person they were looking for.

Apparently he refused to (which I understand is your right) and decided to walk away despite the officers asking him not to.  In the end it seems they arrested him for not cooperating and only unrested him when he finally did (I don't know the technicalities in all this but that's how I was understanding things).

He was in the station when I arrived and was banging on and on about it for at least twenty minutes or more before I gave up and left.

It seems like he believed the police had acted beyond their powers and were simply being racist.

The desk officer had the patience of a saint as he was accused by the man of being racist himself and being screamed at for long periods of time.

The desk officer explained the law to him (multiple times) and advised him of the police complaints procedure (multiple times too).

I'm not sure what the bloke ultimately wanted the desk officer to do - other than what he did.

I don't know the ending as I left because the bloke - even if he had a good case - was acting totally unreasonably and certainly verbally aggressively.

My point to this tale is the police have to deal with all sorts, and not everybody is reasonable and helpful to them at times - and takes up resources and manpower.

Could the bloke just have said yes officer here's my id, I live at number 1 High Street and I'd be happy to help you with your enquires, of course he could but for his own reasons he didn't and carried on the same way the next day at the police station.

People are people, maybe it's the 100th time the bloke had been stopped, I don't know but what does he achieve by venting to the desk officer the next day?

It is what it is and we have to accept it and make the best of it we can.

Some cyclist can be annoying but in really isn't the end of the world if they are - is it?

Norpig wrote:I'm actually amazed when i see a cyclist stop at a red light, it really is that rare!

To be honest, they’ve got it right in London and it’s only improving with the amount of bike lanes and roads shut off to vehicles other than bikes. So your sharing roads with traffic and having to deal with red lights less often (that’s been a noticeable change since I moved here anyway).

I wouldn’t cycle at home in Birmingham the roads are chaos and there’s not enough space - hopefully that will change soon too though.