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but like Insurance or VED, or bicycle licencing, the people that you really need to do it will still ignore it.
You beat me to it by two minutes. It's a solution looking for a problem.
For the majority of people on bikes it will be a pointless exercise and, no doubt, expensive. For the hooligans they'll just go 'screw that' and disappear down a ginnel at the first whiff of being caught.
Case in point: I was outside the house at the weekend and watched three lads shoot out of the side street on off-road motorbikes, cross the road with nary a pause or even a glance sideways, and carve corner-to-corner across the grass opposite before disappearing off into the distance down another road. Zero shits given about anyone but themselves and not a licence plate between them. I have no doubts that the legal requirement for insurance / tax / MOT / driving licence was an equally pressing concern to them.
However you slice it, a tabard isn't going to prevent random tossbaggery. The thing about people who don't care about the law is that they don't care about many other laws you care to propose either.
You also seem to have bought the ‘anti-cycling’ lobby lie that you don’t already ‘help fund tarmac’.
I think you missed the sarcasm.
Question, are lawyers allowed to knowingly tell untruths, especially whilst be listened to by hundreds of people? Or is just the same as their day job but a bigger audience?
They aren't allowed to mislead the court, but saying silly stuff on the radio or tv is normal.
This is the real crime, perpetuating myths and unsubstantaited anti-cyclist bigotry from the national broadcaster.
I think everyone's overreacting a bit. It's an utterly impractical idea, but part of the media's job is giving crackpots an opportunity to air their ideas, even if they are silly. Assuming the petition gets a massive number of signatures and parliament looks into it, they will ask for comment from all the relevant ministries (and the public). The ministries will all want nothing to do with it because they won't want to be saddled with trying to enforce it. A lot of people grumble about cyclists, but most of them don't really care that much. Nobody is going to change their vote on this issue, except for cyclists, so no political party will want anything to do with it because it will only alienate voters without attracting any new ones.
Every criminal bad person they use to justify scheme will ride with no or fake plate / ID…
Every stolen bike will get stripped or shipped to a country outside of the scheme.
May keep some people who otherwise can’t find a job employed though.
Would hope the average cyclist would reject a plan that makes them pay to ride their bike.
They used to have registration for bicycles in Zimbabwe n the mid 80s. But it wasn't with a registration plate. The office had a stamp and mallet an whacked a number into your BB housing. No compo if your bike shattered during the process. $10zim/year I think it was.
Freeman is pond life; anyone who specialises in getting dangerous drivers off the hook… One might also wonder whether his angle is that if cyclists are more easily done then he can expand his practice…
HMG have repeatedly said this isn't happening so god alone knows why it's been given airtime on R4.
I wonder if Nick Freeman is just trying to drum up business.
Probably the effect of the Covid19 pandemic is a lot fewer people needing his dubious services. This is a way to get free publicity.
It's what Trump discovered - you can get free publicity by saying something shocking.
If so, it's actually quite encouraging that his business is doing so badly that he has time to spend on this rather than getting his clients off the hook for breaking the law. Clearly not very many clients, too many motorists have switched from driving a car too fast to cycling.
$10zim/year I think it was.
So about 2p/year then.
For the first time since I was 18, I actually don't pay road tax*. Which is a bit annoying since I've lost my best comeback "I pay more road tax than you do".
* Electric car. And yes yes, I know: "VED"
I agree with everyone, but if it does come to pass may I please have reg 007 or 666? Ta.
I will have a registration plate on my bike as long as pedestrians also have a registration plate.
...and dogs?
Nope, dogs are fine as the owner will be wearing their registration tabard.
Once we've all got our sub-cutaneous gps tracking chips, number plates for bikes or riders probably wont be necessary.
I agree with everyone, but if it does come to pass may I please have reg 007 or 666?
Personalised reg plates for cyclists? This forum would spontaneously combust!
Once we’ve all got our sub-cutaneous gps tracking chips, number plates for bikes or riders probably wont be necessary.
You mean the Covid jab, right?
I don't think it's enforced as such.
A relative of mine once 'failed to stop' for Police, didn't speed, just drove home, opened the gates at the end of the drive and locked the Police out behind him, well for about 5 mins.
When they finally knocked on the door his answered with a bottle of Scotch in his hand and said "oh I didn't see you, and look I've just had my first drink" smart arse.
He was banned for 18 months and given a big fine, it was the reason he never got to be a Judge, didn't stop him being a Barrister, or indeed becoming a QC.
Personalised reg plates for cyclists?
SHR3D, STR47A, GN4R?
S4RC1N ?
jimdubleyou
Solicitors Code of Condunt, rule 1.4
Nicely conflated! 😀
1R M3NACE
STR47A
For the geologists on bikes?
I'd have such a dilemma when I ride to my local shops... do I go on the footpaths and tracks like I do now without a reg plate/tabard, or do I change my route to the roads to be legal and wear my tabard/reg plate. If it's a reg plate, do I have one for each bike? What about the loaner bikes? Man oh man.. great, superb! fantastic!! idea, but it's such a minefield.
How would it even be enforced? How many of us on here purchase a full bike as opposed to building from bits. Load of bollocks.
It’s completely unenforceable.
And even if it was, the cost of setting it up and processing it makes it unviable.
It’s just Freeman seeking publicity.
I'd be interested in hearing what our resident handful of gammons think of this. They pop up quickly enough on other threads...
It’s just Freeman seeking publicity.
This.
I’d be interested in hearing what our resident handful of gammons think of this.
Outraged, I’m betting they’ll feel outraged and think it’s to do with those foreign types or something
Just tried explaining this to 11 year old minidts, “has that man had a knock to the head” was her reply.
Personalised reg plates for cyclists?
Has anyone got EPO720 yet?
Might look good on a high end Trek.
(OK not strictly accurate I know, but close enough)
STW could do a hi viz tabard for the merch section with that muppets car reg in reflective print on the back.
part of the media’s job is giving crackpots an opportunity to air their ideas, even if they are silly
Of course it's not - unless it's the clickbait bullshit media you're on about. The job of proper journalists is to explore/challenge those ideas, not just sit and listen as pepople spout shite. (I admit, the BBC is drifting away from this definition fairly alarmingly)
It makes me very angry when this comes up so regularly.
Less cyclists means less congestion,
It's fewer, this place is going to the dogs. . . I can remember when it was all fields. . . Whippersnappers . . .
Mumbles off.
How about something properly useful like MOT for caravans which sit doing nothing for 80% or so, of the year before being dragged down the road at 50mph.
Will there be E-Tabards or will it be fewer hassle just having one for all cyclists?
Approximately what time was this on? I can't be bothered to trawl through the whole 3 hours of the Today programme
Whenever I come across someone on Social Media demanding that cyclists have insurance/licences/plates/training etc I always ask the same simple question:
At what age do cyclists need these?
Never yet got an answer.
STW could do a hi viz tabard for the merch section
£99 +p&p ... 2% discount for subscribers? 😆
It makes me very angry when this comes up so regularly.Less cyclists means less congestion,It’s fewer, this place is going to the dogs. . . I can remember when it was all fields. . . Whippersnappers . .
Mumbles off.
Less cyclists means fewer congestion! 😉
Whenever I come across someone on Social Media demanding that cyclists have insurance/licences/plates/training etc I always ask the same simple question:
At what age do cyclists need these?
Never yet got an answer.
Not sure why, easy enough to provide an answer. 8 years old.
The better question is "why do you need them, what problem is it solving"
"Not sure why, easy enough to provide an answer. 8 years old."
So kids over 8 need to carry insurance papers with them and kids under 8 need to carry their passport or birth certificate to prove that they don't need insurance?
But as you say, what problem is it trying to solve? I think it's 1. That lawyer bloke feels he hasn't had his name in the press enough, and 2. Some people hate people on bikes so they want to make things more awkward for them
Not sure why, easy enough to provide an answer. 8 years old.
So kids below 8 aren't allowed out in public on cycles?
Who gets the fine/points, their parents?
So kids below 8 aren’t allowed out in public on cycles?
Yep
Who gets the fine/points, their parents?
Yep
See, easy enough isn't it. I don't have to get it into law or police it so very easy for me to pluck a number out of the air. It is just an arbitrary number just like any other age limited activities in law.
And somehow we're now arguing about some arbitrary bollocks rather concentrating on the fact the whole idea is not needed, impractical, unenforceable and contrary to stated government policy.....
So kids below 8 aren’t allowed out in public on cycles?
No, under the wise new law, they have to drive cars.
The Swiss gave up on the idea because it was unworkable. In Switzerland. That should be enough of a clue for anyone seriously considering the idea ( as opposed to a man publicizing his "get speeding drivers off their charges" firm).