malumbu

Most car collisions are due to driver error. Not sure why this is difficult to comprehend. Making it us and them doesn't help any sensible argument. I am happy to be labelled as pro safe roads, for all users. Surely nobody can argue against that?

You have been asked who should stump up Rockets rather than farmers (obviously most are stumping up due to tax thresholds being frozen). It seems like you champion every group that is unhappy with action from a Labour government or a Labour local authority. It would be great to know how revenue would be better raised, beyond your support to part privatisation of the NHS. Or are you small state when the government should cut everything and people should stand up for themselves. Of course that would include cutting all winter fuel payments. Clarkson similarly didn't answer that question yesterday playing to the audience and making the usual lazy stereotypical comments, woke BBC, useless civil servants. It was like I saw Johnson making it a pantomime rather than responding to fair questions. Not that I am labelling you as either of course 😊

You can also direct message them on this forum and save a lot of repetitive posts.

Why on earth is there so much interest, and negativity, after a 100 days of a Labour government when we had 1000s of days of dreadful government before this with hardly a chat on this Website? What is it that is suddenly so much greater interest? Here's part of a list of what they have done in a 100 days - it's from a Labour MP so obviously there is some bias, and mainly new Bills so yet to deliver/put into law. This reminds me of the US election where the popular view was that Biden had achieved nothing, rather than leading the recovery after Covid, a fairer tax system, housing, supporting workers, dealing with community unrest following high profile racist incidents, So if we think Starmer is ineffective and Labour incompetent then we are all going to believe it? I do feel sick after seeing Clarkson on Newsnight, playing to the gallery. Surely Trump must have a high profile role for him on the environment and climate change

In deed, doesn't matter if he is a talented presenter he is, in my view, an rrrrrrsss. Interestingly Farage was pronounced with a hard g. But he affected the continental soft g. Similar to the UK and US pronunciations of garage. I've worked with people who were at school with him

Friend had an uninsured driver pull out of a side road many years ago. He got twice the value of his written off car, maybe 4k in today's money. He thought he'd get a kosh over the head. The driver clearly didn't want the old bill involved.

And no mention of hippy chicks either. A well done to anyone who gets that reference. Get orrff my land.

It's highly likely that (a) there was driver error and (b) the driver did not want to be caught at the scene. Not sure why we would want to come up with excuses for either.

You brake and stop pdq under control if a pedestrian walks or runs out in front of you. One reason most of the inner London boroughs have adopted 20 mph.

Lammy was right on both accounts. That is not incompetence. Kim Darroch, the then US Ambassador was also correct with an assessment of the last Trump presidency. I don't want to be the 51st state

I'd seriously consider some training. That goes to many of us. There is no snow today, a couple of minutes of sleet virtually all cars have ASB and some sort of traction control. We have wet leaves every autumn. I grew up in snowier parts of the UK and it was great fun driving in fresh snow. Now I have little experience so simply avoid driving in ice and snow. Not much fun cycling either!

If the Tories considered it unworkable why would this government go for it?

Re: cycle and cyclist registration/licensing Jesse Norman, Minister of State at the Department for Transport (DfT) confirmed the government’s position in response to a question from Jim Shannon, DUP MP for Strangford. The question had asked whether the Secretary of State for Transport, Mark Harper, had “made a recent assessment of the potential merits of requiring electric bike users to (a) have a number plate and (b) be insured.” In his reply, Mr Norman wrote: “The Department considered issues including a mandatory registration and insurance system for cyclists as part of a cycling and walking safety review in 2018. “The review concluded that restricting people’s ability to cycle in this way would mean that many would choose other modes of transport instead, with negative impacts for congestion, pollution and health,” he added. Calls for cyclists to be licensed and insured are regularly made by those who perceive cyclists as a menace on the roads. They have been regularly rejected by the government. In December 2021, the government rejected calls by motoring lawyer Nick Freeman to display identification – his suggestion was hi-vis tabards bearing a registration number – after a petition he launched on the subject and plugged for several months in newspaper articles and on TV appearances gained 10,000 signatures. The rejection for cyclists to be registered, due to the complexity and cost of running such a scheme, is based on real-life precedent, with jurisdictions around the world that have implemented such measures quickly scrapping them afterwards. As for insurance, most adult cyclists will be covered for third party liability while riding a bike, whether through membership of organisations such as British Cycling and its affiliated clubs, or Cycling UK, or in most cases under their household contents cover. Or is he part of my cohort who just ignores calls for licensing/registration? He did buy me a drink once......

Because it is impossible to deliver. End of story. See the other thread.

This thread disappeared quietly well over a year ago, but as the spin the wheel your turn to do a cycle-phobia story hit the Telegraph in the last few days here is an alternative view: https://road.cc/content/news/cycling-live-blog-18-november-2024-311281 The arguments why cyclist/bike registration will not be practical are in the discussions above. Now if you want to discuss delivery riders being on PAYE, having their (road legal) bikes provided by their employer, having training and adhering minimum standards of cycling, compulsory lights, then I'm your person. Oh no? Why not, surely we'd all prefer to pay a little more for our Deliveroo takeaways?

Thread discussing undeliverable cycle licensing/registration:

Police should be redirected to stop cyclists. Well that is what is being suggested elsewhere Telegraph journo either put a message on social media that was hate crime, or just plain hate and that did not meet the bar for hate crime. In any case it is a potential hate crime and I'd like my police to respond to this - up to them how and the priority. It's been picked up by the rabid media including GB news, as yet another thing to rant about. Edited, to add. I've been subject to crime over the years and wouldn't like to trivialise it. It's wrong,can be highly personal, and frustrating when the criminals are not caught. One of my early threads here was when a bike was stolen and immediately on Gum Tree I'm not in the hug a hoodie brigade, although we should understand why people may be attracted by criminality and society needs to address this However I detest those who use the opportunity to plug their own agenda, as soon as the Telegraph journo was quoted that set me off

I recommend you stick to GB News following that last comment. Hate crime is still a crime. We all think that we know best.

This is the real police, sorry a serious subject but couldn't help myself

Nice bit of defamation of character Just checked and you said similar about the Head Have you complained or would you prefer to be anonymous and go through social media?

Always nice to be quoted. Not bothered what the Telegraph thinks of cyclists, could guess in any case, particularly with a loaded headline that talks about 'a scourge'. Much more interested in what they say about COP29, Oh dear I just looked - headlines criticising government for sending out so many delegates, a view that it is all a scam and that technology and markets will solve everything (straight out of the Trump playbook), and one, which just talks about it being a vehicle for oil deals - if the Telegraph supported Net Zero then that cynical view would be more relevant. There's also a pervasive thread in recent articles that is very anti-Starmer. It's a sort of grown up Daily Mail. That doesn't excuse the stuff they put out. Interestingly I visited their offices a few years ago, we were shown round by a nice journo who said words to the effect that they tended to live in places like SE London, and you didn't have to agree with the Telegraph's politics to work there. I expect that he cycled in too! Penguin and others interested in cyclists insurance, members of the LCC have free third party insurance. Not that I have ever needed it. I've had successful claims following a hit and run, one against a hire company (box van knocked me off) and one against a bus driver. Also against Southwark of all local authorities for not maintaining the road. But that was all in the past and know do my best to avoid hurting myself, whether self inflicted or otherwise. I keep promising myself I will no longer post in response to anti cycling, anti LTN and pro driver threads. I'll do my best. Happy to discuss Net Zero and climate change. The latter is happening just in case you were unaware.

There are 100s if not thousands of posts here by maybe ten or 15 of you concerned about LTNs. And CPZs. And ULEZ extensions. Certainly with the first and last highly unlikely to change things. Local, Mayoral and National elections have kept or swung to Labour. There has been the odd exception - Tower Hamlets, a stronger car culture, Uxbridge - who cares? I similarly don't care about the outer boroughs who can stay Tory unless Reform split the vote. I'm wondering when you will get used to things/accept the situation and pick battles you may be able to win. A reality check? My last post on LTNs.

Update from our friend - police formally responded - the driver was uninsured and unable to be traced or was riding a foreign registered vehicle. The registration was UK so this is a standard reply. The police then referred to the Motor Insurance Bureau for uninsured claims - damage to the car is negligible. They are tempted to put a claim to his 'insurance company' to see what they come up with; they have a scan of his insurance. Obviously fake. So it looks like they bother you through claims agents hoping for a cash settlement, not sure if they will then take it to your insurer and whether the latter would play hardball, or just cough up. But the sensible thing of reporting it to the police paid off, even if they did not catch the perpetrator and/or the gang. As reported raised separately with local plod in Lewisham and Southwark. So give minimum information, if you have the presence of mind/feel strong enough at the time ring 999 there and then, if not ASAP. Deny everything. Ideally carry out a citizens arrest, but never heard of anyone doing this in real life....

Labour talks about, and hopefully will do something about, the determinants of poor health. They're picked up the early Sunak policy on smoking and vapes. Let's see how far they tackle obesity and inactivity. I'd rather the money was spent on these any other interventions eg mental health, social care and SEN, rather than seeing the NHS as income generating.

If you read my post I expect a compromise with the raising of the cap on agricultural property so that far less 'ordinary' farmers do not get caught Clarkson is simply a high profile land owner who is not in the business as a conventional farmer. Here's a nice article that seems to explain things well https://www.sustainweb.org/blogs/nov24-farming-budget-inheritance-tax-apr/ It's too early to speculate on 2029. I expect that most of us who were pleased that Labour got in were not expecting anything radical. Whilst floating the idea of hitting those looking to minimise inheritance tax, including gifting, like fuel duty they also chickened put. I'm surprised that anyone could start touting for the Tories after 14 years of financial mismanagement and general incompetence. Surly not. A very low bar for Labour but they must be well aware that there doesn't need to be much of a swing form Reform to overturn Labour's artificially large majority. But even with a generally rabid right wing press, now was the opportunity to be much braver.