malumbu

A pretty awful incident. Thankfully from my time in London fairly rare. There was a time, particularly in North London in the 00s when moped gangs would come up behind cyclists and grab their bags. There were also scare stories about riders being pushed off at the top of the hill and the bike grabbed, or cyclists being pushed into a canal such as the Grand Union. I think these were very exaggerated. In recent times, cyclists, in particularly women, have been mugged, on cycle routes when other riders are not around, such as Deptford/Millwall https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cm27x5klxxlo But I expect that crimes involving threats/violence by criminals against cyclists are less likely than in other areas of life. Mobile phone theft being one of the obvious examples. I was told many years ago following a burglary that criminals would rather not have any contact with their victims, and bike theft would sound to be less risky to them by stealing locked up bikes (far too common) rather than attacking the rider. The spate of thefts from builders vans in broad daylight knocks this a little on the head, as the criminals are often confronted. @Rockets as a regular cyclist in the past did you experience threats etc? My worse experiences were being knocked off by dangerous drivers, once being left for dead in a hit and run, and road rage where drivers chased me or threatened me after they had passed to close, turned across me etc. You learn from this and do your best to avoid such conflict.

A repeat of my views from earlier discussions, based on four people I know/know of who have had it happen to them - all women, but not all with young children which is often the MO. This has also happened in Lewisham - I've tried to get Safer Neighbourhood Teams to coordinate (thanks to others on this Forum) The insurance details and the name of the rider will be false. It sounds like the same or similar people, most likely Brazillian due to the false names adopted. May be one, or a gang. Newish bikes, little obvious damage following the crash, snood covering face, mobile in hand recording. If challenged, particularly if you have a witness, then the other party will say words to the effect that they don't speak English. Please try to 999 straight away - report that someone has crashed into you on purpose, and you feel threatened (even more so if you have young kids with you). If there are any bystanders, even if they are not witnesses, you may wish to ask them for support - noting that the scammers pick on quiet roads, quiet times of the day and the like Also report as dangerous riding - the 999 call should be to report the scam and then on-line dangerous riding. By law you only have to give your name, address and registration to the other party. But I expect giving your number is less intimidating. Do not give a copy of your license or your insurance. By law you can actually report your details to the police rather than the other party https://www.gov.uk/vehicle-insurance/if-youre-in-an-accident "You must report the accident to the police within 24 hours if you do not give your details at the time of the accident." If/when you get the calls coming in, and this could be fairly soon after, I'd not answer and but check the number. You will find that it is one or more of those 'no win no fee' ambulance chasers with many reporting that they are supporting the scammer. You will not hear from the insurers as they are using false details. If and when you do pick up a call from one an ambulance chasers tell them you are only dealing with the other party's insurers, don't call again and you will block their number. You may not wish to inform your insurer straight away. Government advice (above) is that you "You must also report the accident to your insurance company, even if you’re not planning to make a claim." But there is no timing on this. Some insurers roll over and pay up which is what the scammer wants (or you to pay them off with cash yourself as you don't want to risk your NCB); some insurers seem to be more aware that this is a scam and will dig in. I am not a police officer, judge, solicitor, CPS, insurer, etc, this is just from knowledge where one or more of the scammers quickly gave up. You should eventually get a letter from the police saying that the other party is untraceable/uninsured. They probably wont take it any further. Hopefully by this point you will hear no more from the other party, and there is therefore no basis for any personal injury claim against you. I understand that this is a difficult and intimidating matter, it helps of course if you have witnesses and a friend or partner to handle the follow up hassle.

I'm not getting into debate on crime in LTNs. Life is too short. Just to say that I'm for the bigger picture and agree with measures that encourage active travel and reduce driving. And I definitely like Dulwich Square which I use fairly frequently. But my take is that a number of you are after anything that discredits LTNs and the authorities that have introduced them. I'll be posting elsewhere about cycle safety. The sad reported crimes against cyclists on some of the newish cycle routes, aka Quietways, does not mean that they should not be introduced or worse still got rid of. The bigger picture is that overall they have great benefits. Parallels with the LTNs whether you believe crime is marginally worse or not. Interestingly one way of discouraging burglary is to turn off street lights. But most would see the wider benefits of lighting urban streets at nighttime.

I understand that this work is being done by workers who do not identify as men.

You can make cider from a variety of varieties of apple. If course the best is west country/SW Midlands which is predominantly cider apples, that can be so tart it knocks your head off. But cider producers often add desert apples, and Breton and Normandy ciders are sweeter.

in this case they block the road meaning pedestrians who have the right of way have to squeeze through gaps. It's a bike crossing too. We shouldn't be saying it's ok to block pedestrians but not ok to block cars. Either way it's poor/inconsiderate driving and you'd fail a driving test if you did this under these circumstances.

Some drivers who are normally polite go through a metamorphosis when there is congestion. A classic you see commonly is driving nose to tail over pedestrian crossings, the on Rye Lane being a good example. Even the police will do this at times, although I don't see them issuing points and a fixed penalty when they are blocking pedestrians crossing on green.

You could say that about every road they've closed to traffic, made one way, dead end etc over the last 50 years. They were doing this long before LTNs were introduced. If you are concerned about pollution then simply reduce your driving and other ways you contribute to emissions. Get a seat by the road and see how many vehicles have one person in them. Something going wrong somewhere.

Oh dear, hope you are OK, I've had it three times and it was worse each time, but not a patch on many of those who got it before they vac' role out. Not commenting on the discussion as I got confused many days ago beyond the reminder that Corbyn would not compromise and the harm that could lead to him, the party and regards Brexit pre and post referendum the country. Starmer goes too far the other way at times.

@Sue think this is your quote. It wasn't binary, good Vs bad, and Corbyn had a lot of popular support, as evidenced by the previous election. He had aot of good policies, some picked up by others since. He was defeated by a mixture of a right wing press,good targeting the Johnson 'Get Brexit Done" and for some that Johnson was a funny loveable rogue/fool/liar/philander/opportunist. I wouldn't see choosing the perceived least worst candidate out of the two major parties as being "good sense'. We imagine that Corbyn would have been terrible, but we don't know. He would have taken a stronger line against Israel in Gaza, not sucked up to Trump nut on Russia? Would the UK be better for that?

Rather than sniping do others have any views on this subject? I'm the only one who has actually expressed an opinion. This is a forum. Perhaps the over 60 Oyster card should go. Few other places in the UK give 60 - 67 year olds this benefit.

Surely that depends on the amount. It can be quite piffling.

You may have better things to do with your life. How are you going to start a petition and what are you going to do with it? Ask the government to nationalise Thames Water? Meanwhile scores of people are being killed daily trying to get food and water in Gaza.

I'd get rid of duty free shopping. Nothing to do with tourist tax but something I hate. All that glitz as you try to get through to Wetherspoons in the departure lounge. No great savings over on line or even at times supermarkets, and the hypocrisy of selling cheap cancer sticks. Ok back to tourist tax

The original article is, as said, not surprising. City of London have been carrying out campaigns for the last ten years or so. In a similar vein West Midlands police target illegal ebikes. None of this is joined up across forces, and certainly on the latter this is in the 'too difficult' box despite the real or imagined mass concerns. But turning the figures on their head the vast majority of cyclists do not run red lights, which is a good thing. This has all been discussed to death on other threads, where I will repeat my view on the need to understand who does it and why, how much of a problem this is, and what can be done in terms of education, enforcement and incentives. What is interesting is the suggestions that cyclists should be treated differently and allowed to go through red lights on certain occasions. I've driven in British Columbia where flashing ambers mean you can go through if clear without stopping, and same on flashing reds except you have to stop and check, rather than drive/cycle through carefully. The article on 'speed limits' in the Netherlands, is the proposal for a trail, not introduction. And is as much about increased helmet wearing. As such the article's title is misleading and I see it having little influence in the UK. We've discussed on numerous threads the practicalities of speed limits for cyclists, and there is not a strong case in terms of money spent and reductions in KSIs. The article is as much about increased use of helmets. And experts have commented that improved infrastructure is the best way of reducing deaths. That applies here too. More reading on Dutch vs UK cycling. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214140514000838

It's about smarter transport, supply meeting demand and joined up between the different modes including active travel Historical protectionism of black could be highly inefficient. Others may wish to comment on Uber and minicabs

Or increase tax. The freezing of personal allowances is one way, not what I would choose. On principle I don't care if the rich immigrate. The main parties could have been more honest before the election. Reform is deluded.

If you posted purely for information then you could have explained what is going on.eg TfL has put the prices up for freedom cards, over 50 cards and their renewal. You could ten give the link. By all means express an opinion.

Johnson screwed up funding. It is a factor that has put pressures on TfL finances following COVID. It is therefore very relevant. The Evening standard is a right wing rag as many of the newspapers are. It is virtually impossible to keep politics out of a thread like this.

It's a good deal even with additional charges. Johnson screwed up funding as I have discussed in the past, with evidence.

So sorry to hear and I hope that the cyclist recovers quickly and is not put off cycling. I was left for dead in a hit Nd run many years ago, people stopped and came to my aid and one drove me home with the wrecked bike. There will be CCTV the police should check. If you are in contact with the cyclist then the Motor Insurance Buteau should provide compensation, particularly if there were eye witnesses

Zzzzzzzzzzz 😴 💤

What jab? I had them many years ago to little or no effect. I never went for the allergy testing where they jab you with various pollens to work out what sets you off. Rely of tablets nowadays, so much better than the old days of piriton which sent me to sleep. June use to be hell from mid teens.

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I can do the research but are more people watching cricket on TV now it went to the higher bidder or in 05 when it was on Channel 4? I think that less kids are into cricket since it went off terrestrial. I suppose I should have had TMS on.