A lack of lights can increase risk, but does not necessarily make cycling dangerous. Most Dutch bikes come with lights built in – the Dutch police frequently fine cyclists on old bikes where the lights have broken after many years of use.

Removable, battery powered lights are forgotten – especially when trips start out in daylight. How many cars would be driven with no lights if drivers had to remember to put car headlights into their pockets each morning, when the driver may (or may not) be returning home after dark?

I read that the cycle shops in Oxford are complaining that people are buying lights to beat the fines and then returning them for a refund… So, why do the UK/Oxford bike shops not do what the Dutch shops do and fit a dynamo and lights as “standard”?

If the bikes are part of the bike they cannot be forgotten, and dynamo lights are not subject to batteries running out – though there can still be issues in the extreme cold and wet.

Utility Cycling is a system. Whist we rightly complain about the poor provision of cycle lanes and other facilities, few mention the fact that most bikes sold in the UK are simply not suitable for utility cycling.

The bicycle industry is as much at fault for low cycling rates as our councils.

True- plus some police seem to offer a ‘stern warning and let them off’ principle in a few cases which is not good. As long as there’s a real penalty then that’s ok. Attending courses in your own time (espectially if you have to pay the course fees) may well be more effective than 3 points and a £60 fine- £60 being not too much more than a tank of fuel these days and well within the ‘just another cost of motoring’ budget for a lot of people.

@ Dan.

I don’t agree. Poeple who drive inconsiderately tend not to ride at all- that’s part of the reason they drive so badly wrt cyclists- they don’t understand what it’s like.

It’s not just the formal ‘rules of the road’ I meant- things like road positioning just get ignored. People I know from work who (like me) are trained in defensive driving techniques and should know better ride far too close to the kerb, fail to anticipate etc, just what they’re trained not to do in a car.

When is a law not a law – when I choose ? No

When is breaking a law not the real issue? – when I can get away with it ? No

Get on the road, on yer bike, behave appropriately and follow the rules for vehicles on roads (Highway Code ring a bell?). Anything you don’t understand? No.

Breakdowns in society start at very basic level. Disregard the Rules – pay! Be warned.

End

Actually, I’m pretty convinced that it’s the same people who drive inconsiderately and dangerously who also cycle inconsiderately and unsafely.

Cambridgeshire police have a similar but extensive spot check scheme that they run at about this time every year, at key locations in town (mostly to catch students). In contrast to Thames Valley’s plea of poverty, they say it’s a big priority for them because the public asks them to. But the public (or at least the portion of the public who ride bikes) also ask them to enforce against motor vehicles parking in and driving along MCLs, but they never seem to quite manage that one.

Not strictly correct. There’s a well established practice among some police forces to waive speeding fines providing the driver consents to, and attends, an advanced driver training course run by the police. My local force runs regular training days for motorcyclists whom they’ve caught.

I’ve been on several! Not because I got caught, but because I was, at the time, involved in a motorcycle training scheme (this was before CBT training was introduced) and us instructors were invited to attend.

The courses were so much fun, especially the on-road observed rides (those motorcycle cops are amazingly skilful and enthusiastic) that I and my wife volunteered to attend for several years and we became great friends with some of the motorcycle traffic cops. The important thing is that we learned a lot and I sure we became better road users as a result.