UK Cyclists may need number plates and insurance...

[RipGroove]

Cyclists could face speed limits and may need number plates, reports say

The transport secretary told the Daily Mail that we should not "turn a blind eye" to cyclists who break road laws, speed and "bust red lights" and "get away with it".

news.sky.com

Speed limits for road cyclists I totally get, if a car has to do 20mph on a certain road then so should cyclists but the whole notion that all cyclists (assuming MTBs as well) have to display number plates that are readable from a distance like car plates is just ridiculous imo

 

[Cb750stu]

In Aberdeen cyclists don't know what red lights are especially the food delivery rides on their wee electric bike things , this is probably the same everywhere you go though !!!

 

[RipGroove]

In Aberdeen cyclists don't know what red lights are especially the food delivery rides on their wee electric bike things , this is probably the same everywhere you go though !!!

Yeah, I feel like some road cyclists are causing issues on the roads so MTB riders are going to get caught up in silly blanket rules for all cyclists.

 

[Peaky Rider]

Wow! Does this mean they're going to raise our limiters to twenty miles an hour?

 

[RipGroove]

Wow! Does this mean they're going to raise our limiters to twenty miles an hour?

silver lining.

 

[Bomble]

“Daily Mail,” “ Could,” “May,”

 

[The EMF]

I’d be over the moon if I could reach 20mph pedalling my bike

 

[RipGroove]

“Daily Mail,” “ Could,” “May,”

It's Sky News but yeah, it's not a done deal but it's a glimpse into the ideas that some people are pushing for.

 

[RustyMTB]

Never happening. It's just another bit of red meat for the Daily Mail crowd from the zombie government hooked on whipping up confected culture wars.

Happy 10th birthday son, enjoy your new BMX & don't forget your number plates & insurance!

ETA: In 2020 by government figures, 141 cyclists were killed on UK roads & 4215 were seriously injured. In 2021, 531 pedestrians were injured by cyclists, 3 were killed & 120 seriously injured. As a group, we are the cohort at risk.

 

[Hobo Mikey]

If it has number plates will it have to have a MOT.

 

[RipGroove]

If it has number plates will it have to have a MOT.

And then indicators And road tax, and instant fines for riding on the pavement etc Seriously though where would they draw the line because street BMX and Street Trials bikes pretty much always ride out in public areas on pavements/concrete public spaces etc.

Also potentially having to display plates means any member of the public who takes a disliking to a BMX, MTB or Street Trials bike or whatever riding on a pavement could just call their plates into the Police for wreckless endangerment. Cyclists loosing their anonymity could be a real pain in the ass, I've passed plenty of walkers in wooded areas who look disgusted at the sight of MTBs and mumble things under their breath.

 

[RipGroove]

Totally agree
As you have mentioned what age limit would the rules start also are they going to supply all cyclist with free speedometers calibrated of course otherwise whats the point of the speeding rules
Its Helmets then or no road access allowed and so on
And where are these number plates going to fit ?
Also whos telling the DVLA that every single push bike in the country now needs registration documents , Crickey they cant keep up with vehicles .

IKR, that's why it's shocking that these ideas are even being banded around.

 

[RipGroove]

They're on the radio now saying cyclists should be fined for speeding and like you said, that entales bikes having calibrated Speedos and numberplates. Most BMXs nowadays don't even have brakes let alone Speedos

"I can't risk trying a tailwhip off that ledge in case I break my Speedo again"

 

[Beekeeper]

I can see where this is going. Some humans can run 23mph so therefore the next step is to make joggers / walkers carry registration plates and have insurance or perhaps we will all be QR coded / chipped at birth

 

[Zimmerframe]

All of this seems crazy, at a time when they should want more people to be using bikes ...

In a world where you can buy a 1000hp car, with no limits on it's road speed, which does 3mpg at a time when the world needs to be more energy efficient.

When people seem to have no idea how fast they are driving or even what the speed limit is - most don't even care.

People have cars with indicators - but never use them because they're too important, don't know how, it requires thinking whilst you're driving - or if they do use them, it's after the manoeuvre - the little flashing lights to tell people what you just did ...

Bicycles are stolen. Either when parked or even when forcibly taken from their owner - yet the police are too occupied and under resourced as they deal with social work.

Meanwhile, when there's so many urgent things to address, people dream on and think up more new rules when the existing ones aren't implemented.

 

[RustyMTB]

Everywhere you look here, you see a country on the brink of rapid decline. This government has a long history of throwing out distraction nonsense to make people look anywhere except at them & so to get through another days news cycle. This guff is just another one on the pile.

 

[Swiss Roll]

This crap comes around every few years/months, along with road tax blather, red light running harrumphing, and pavement pedalling whinging.
This is just Grant Sharts trying to raise his profile, and distract from the looming and ongoing disasters bearing down on UK plc.
I am from uk, but I live in switzerland, we had a bike register scheme for many years, largely ignored, cops don't check, a waste of time really, even the ultra organised swiss dumped it.

 

[Swiss Roll]

I’d be over the moon if I could reach 20mph pedalling my bike

We can try.

 

[2WheelsNot4]

Number plate(for taxation purposes i imagine) No probs
Speed limit - No probs.
But im fooked if im riding the gutter.I'll be in the primary position pottering along at 12mph on average. Lets see what that does to your average car journey time in rush hour morning and evening traffic. Or any journey for that matter.

Most main roads in the UK are effectively single lanes for moving traffic. Utterly clogged with bikes, there would be little chance of overtaking
With our bikes slowing down traffic from its normal 30mph to next to nothing, the knock on effect is huge lines of traffic, with further back at a standstill( think caravan/country road )
Workers get held up and arrive late, delivery for businesses gets massively delayed.

The Daily Mail gammon's might be cheering now, but with a little RIDE TO RULE, we collectively can wipe that smirk right off their gammony faces.

Business opportunity for someone. - Riding jackets with BLAME GRANT SHAPPS emblazoned on the back, his email address below

 

[congerball]

Sky news….
Daily Mail….
I bet the “radio” was Jeremy Vine….

 

[RustyMTB]

All you need to know is Truss was exposed last night calling British workers lazy & inflation topped 10% The Daily Mail's front page today? Well. How anyone doesn't see through this is a mystery but I'm willing to help them tie their laces.

 

[Swiss Roll]

Number plate(for taxation purposes i imagine) No probs
Speed limit - No probs.
But im fooked if im riding the gutter.I'll be in the primary position pottering along at 12mph on average. Lets see what that does to your average car journey time in rush hour morning and evening traffic. Or any journey for that matter.

Most main roads in the UK are effectively single lanes for moving traffic. Utterly clogged with bikes, there would be little chance of overtaking
With our bikes slowing down traffic from its normal 30mph to next to nothing, the knock on effect is huge lines of traffic, with further back at a standstill( think caravan/country road )
Workers get held up and arrive late, delivery for businesses gets massively delayed.

The Daily Mail gammon's might be cheering now, but with a little RIDE TO RULE, we collectively can wipe that smirk right off their gammony faces.

Business opportunity for someone. - Riding jackets with BLAME GRANT SHAPPS emblazoned on the back, his email address below

Then you need Critical Mass!
I live in Zürich, Switzerland, we have an evening once a month, last friday of the month, where we all go for a little evening ride at 6pm. By all, I mean 3500 riders in April. It's not a demo, just a little bike ride, therefore no permit needed. It's an absolute blast, loads of bike trailers with djs, drummers, you can easily stop for a beer, and join up again, there so many bikes. And of course it causes a massive traffic jam.

 

[Swiss Roll]

All you need to know is Truss was exposed last night calling British workers lazy & inflation topped 10% The Daily Mail's front page today? Well. How anyone doesn't see through this is a mystery but I'm willing to help them tie their laces.

View attachment 95050

The best thing you can say about Liz "cheese" Truss is, she is not the thickest person in the cabinet.

 

[Swiss Roll]

All this flies in the face of the Thatcherite "get on your bike" ethos, if you can't just get on yer sturmy archer 3 gear with dynamo, and pedal 200 miles to Wigan, for t'job int t'mill. Now it will be get taxed, buy gigantic flappy licence plate, take test, buy goverment approved helmet, then pedal to Wigan.

 

[#lazy]

It’s Grant Shapps’ idea however I doubt he’ll be head of transport in a month so forget it , it’s probably just a distraction from the crisisisis’s’s that’s happening atm !

 

[Beekeeper]

If we have to install registration plates then Muc Off will be out of business within a month as nobody will want to clean their bikes

 

[#lazy]

Does this mean @Gary will have to wear an L plate

 

[2WheelsNot4]

Then you need Critical Mass!

I've ridden with critical mass in the past, but in conversations with affected drivers I(at the time) felt it was causing too much bad blood between us.

These days, and in light of this nonsense, I might just do it. The problem is that critical mass break the law, they ride through red lights, and do the type of thing that DM gammon's accuse them of. So if there was to be a protest, then it must be 100% legal as to the rules of the road.

We should be looking for other road users, drivers, delivery companies, police even, etc to complain to the government, not look to start fights with individual riders.

All this flies in the face of the Thatcherite "get on your bike" ethos

That was specifically to do with the unemployed finding a job.
the policy for me personally led to a number of years of homelessness, moving about from city to city, unable to stay longer than a fortnight, before having to go somewhere else. Aged 16 i traversed the whole of the UK over two or three years and accommodation was difficult to find, leading me to be forced to sleep on the streets, which believe me is not a safe environment to be in.

I hate the tories so much from the experiences of that time.

 

[ShinySideUp]

Inflation at over 10%, food shortages, the war in Ukraine, drought, crime levels, over-population, climate change and now speeding cyclists; how will we cope? I know, let's start with the cyclists, that's got to be the important one. Honestly, some politicians can't see the wood for the trees.

 

[Swiss Roll]

I've ridden with critical mass in the past, but in conversations with affected drivers I(at the time) felt it was causing too much bad blood between us.

These days, and in light of this nonsense, I might just do it. The problem is that critical mass break the law, they ride through red lights, and do the type of thing that DM gammon's accuse them of. So if there was to be a protest, then it must be 100% legal as to the rules of the road.

We should be looking for other road users, drivers, delivery companies, police even, etc to complain to the government, not look to start fights with individual riders.



That was specifically to do with the unemployed finding a job.
the policy for me personally led to a number of years of homelessness, moving about from city to city, unable to stay longer than a fortnight, before having to go somewhere else. Aged 16 i traversed the whole of the UK over two or three years and accommodation was difficult to find, leading me to be forced to sleep on the streets, which believe me is not a safe environment to be in.

I hate the tories so much from the experiences of that time.

I see your point, and I stick to the rules scrupulously (well, not on a cm ride obviously).
This Shapps scheme is pretty well unworkable anyway. I am resigned to people ignoring the evidence right in front of their faces, so to me CM is largely an enjoyable car free evening which is a right laugh.