news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/5225346.stm
Number plates for cyclists!! now that's a good idea!
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Sorry Stu - I'm normally with you on most things but this is one of the most ridiculous things I've ever read; and when you consider I've had to read over some of my own work from time to time, that means it's pretty ridiculous.
We have a city. We have increasing traffic numbers. We have a ridiculous scheme of charging drivers to enter a city in an effort to put people on less polluting modes of transport such as 20 year old diesel buses and bicycles.
But wait - charging drivers forty squillion pounds isn't enough. Best come up with another plan chaps - Let's biz the cyclist? We'll give them numberplates and then do them for riding on a pavement - that'll be a nice money earner.
It's got sod all to do with safety - and why shoudl it? Name me three people who've been killed by a bike on the pavement.
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Sorry Stu - I'm normally with you on most things >>>
Oh Adam! my post was pure sarcasm . I don't agree with it at all. I just wanted to hear the backroom's views.
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Your post read as being sarcastic - it was the title that threw me!
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Arthur Jones - Altringham 1911 details unknown
Albert Trotter was knocked down the cellar steps of the dog and duck in Dock Road, Portsmouth by a cyclist and fatally injured under a pile of Sheppard and Neame brown ale crates. The cyclist was from Southampton.
Maude Simpkin was kocked into the path of a no 15 bus in Rathbone Street , Canning Town during the second world war blackout. In the ensung chaos the clippie was mugged of her takings.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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Nice try Algy.
None of those made up people died on the pavement though. Or from injuries off the bike.
Must try harder next time. You get a sad face today :-(
C-
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TBO since the debate started it was a no no,before this it was increasing congestion charge for 4x4`s (as was mentioned due to extreme pollution)nothing to do with congestion,somewhat shakilly opposed of by K/L,Its also been mentioned that congestion in this area has not got any better.
I agree it has not been any easier traveling through congestion area,than it was before,in fact I have found it worse.So where is the benefit of having this charge apart from making money and making travel in this zone worse than it was before.
also the thought of having this charge extended to chelsea area and environs makes you wonder whats going on,ie not so much traffic in this area so why charge
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Steve
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Being serious, I applaud Kens thougts in trying to bring some semblance of legality to all those two wheeled maniacs who jump red lights specially at pelican crossings,and think no road laws apply to them
If they dont think road traffic acts apply to them, then motorists should be legally allowed to leave them as a claret stain on the road when they disobey the most simple laws like red traffic lights.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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RF, I agree with you. But you can't honestly believe they're "his" motives can you?
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you may be suprised to know, Ken does not ride a bike.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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I'm shocked.
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There is an alternative.
Don't license them. Just ensure that EVERY time the idiots who think they are above the law are stopped, they are taken to court and their bike confiscated. If they just stopped every cyclist riding without lights, they would have thousands of bikes (perhaps tens of thousands) after a few weeks. Use the fines to paint them luminous orange and put lights on them and have them as "pool" bikes for anyone to use. You're forbidden to chain them anywhere, and if one's not in use, anyone can use it. Result, thousands of people on bikes around London rather than in cars and taxis.
Oh, hang on, it wouldn't raise any cash, so it'll never happen....
V
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Re KL.
If you lived in the North and someone came up with the ideas that this man did, then they would be given very short shift.
What is so incomprehensible is that Londoners keep re-electing him - and to expand the brief, those that make up New Labour - is beyond belief.
People with massive chips on their shoulders are not the right people to elect to lead us.
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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Why not? And while you're at it, why don't you also confiscate cars every time a driver commits a minor offence, e.g. speeding, bus lane use etc?
Makes about as much sense...
As for a pool idea of free cycles, that does make sense. But I fear you'd get everyone wanting to use them on the downhills and a huge rack of them that nobody wants at the bottom of a hill... ;)
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He dont like cars of any discription either,Though he does use public transport and has been know to be late for interviews with london radio stations that offer him car transport to interview...dont know which is worst really?
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Steve
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20 year old buses in London?? Not likely, certainly not on any TfL service, with the exception of the Routemasters on the 'Heritage' routes.
London has one of the newest bus fleets in the country.
Most modern buses put out less fumes than your average courier van for example...... Try counting those in London.....
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London has one of the newest bus fleets in the country.
They are also talking about getting rid of these,the long ones are a pain and can hold up the traffic,also have problems steering round tight bends-also good for traffic holdups
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Steve
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I'm shocked.
Not as shocked as you'd be if he did. Just look at the man's complexion. Listen to his discourse on transport.
When was he sober last?
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Today on my walk to the gym and back in London I encountered 3 cyclists (all grown adults of middle age) all on the pavement and expecting me to stop and stand while they keep going around me on a pavement of barely normal width...It is really annoying that they think that as they are on a bike somehow you as a pedestrian should give way or stand aside then it's them that are breaking the law...
Congestion charge has speeded up my jouney to work alot as I am a bus user...the buses are all less than 18mths old (and they used to be much older), there's more of them (I now have 4 bus routes passing the end of my road instead of 3 and now have nightbuses running on all 4 routes rather than the 1 there was before...) that's why I voted for Ken.
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>>that's why I voted for Ken>>
So purely for selfish reasons then?
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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yes just like I am sure car drivers vote the other way.
Also I could see the congestion charge was going to benefit bus users both by improving the reliability and speed of services and also to in my minds "rebalance" the use of valuable road space to a wider range of the population - car drivers in inner london are a minority, alot more people use public transport.
Bus users who typically are the lower end of the socio economic scale (near me in "inner South London" bus use is high even though there are directly comparable tube routes - the tube is twice the cost of the bus and that matters to people on limited incomes)
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Name me three people who've been killed by a bike on the pavement.
An elderly neighbour of mine was knocked down by a cyclist on the pavement as she walked out of her drive. It broke her hip. She subsequently contracted gangrene from which she died. Enough said?
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L\'escargot.
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You know what, i agree with Ken on this one. And i'm not in London. Whether or not it's a practical idea or not though....
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Even in rural idyll - LA spends thousands o a beautifully surfaced and graded cycle path, result cyclepath deserted
cycles on the road. How hard is this - do I ride my bike on a nice quiet path or ride it in the middle of the shiny smelly things that might kill me as the driver juggles an iPod, mobile Mc Flurry and a fag. (who when arrested siad "yeahbut, nobut, nuffink to do with me")
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Numberplates on bikes ? Something our friends on the continent have been doing for years.
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Numberplates on bikes ? Something our friends on the continent have been doing for years.
No, PU, no.
Those continental cyclists you see on telly with numbers on their bikes are RACING! That was the Tour de France, not a documentary on French transport. ;-)
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Robin Reliant, formerly known as Tom Shaw
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The numbers on TdF riders bikes indicate what performance enhancing drugs they are using that day
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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>> >> -- Robin Reliant, formerly known as Tom Shaw
Why aren't you Reliant Robin, eh?
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>> >> >> -- >> Robin Reliant, formerly known as Tom Shaw >> Why aren't you Reliant Robin, eh?
i wondered if his dad was called percy? as in cats eyes?
will the real tom shaw stand up?
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Our cycle paths are token only, and those that exist terminate when it gets dangerous, e.g. at junctions and roundabouts! Thats if you can ride on them as they're usually occupied by vehicles, whose other two wheels are on the pavement, street furniture, discarded junk and glass.
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We have a dual carriageway near where I live which has always had a dedicated cycle lane on both sides.
However most cyclists don't use it for the simple reason that planted alongside some stretches of the cycle lanes are those very sharp thorn bushes, hence not infrequent punctures..
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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Safer riding on pavement than road. Believe me, I know. Have never hit a pedestrian either... except when one stepped into the road without looking.
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It is estimated that 1 in 250 motor vehicles in Central London is running on false or stolen plates, and thereby completely immune to camera enforcement systems, and as many as 1 in 15 are uninsured.
Perhaps they should sort this out first??
DP
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The day Livingstone says anything I agree with I must be deaf.
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Bad habits learned in ignoring, and having no regard for the law whilst a young cyclist, with no consequences, are carried into adulthood and transferred to powered vehicles, where laws are often treated with utter contempt. The trouble is, boundaries of social acceptability change, and one man's fog lights on is another man's no insurance, and dreckless driving, drink driving, and before you know it.............
Mike
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