Oh dear; and I alway had a great deal of respect for Robert Winston 😔

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-47616286

So do I, although in fairness he is only asking a question, can you troll the Houses of Parliament? The logical conclusion of such a discussion would be that the issues he highlights are already illegal but very rarely enforced. Licenseing would not help unless policed and if you are going to police why not just enforce the existing law first.

if you are going to police why not just enforce the existing law first

Quite so. New laws because you can’t be bothered to enforce the existing ones only penalises the law abiding. I made that point to the National Park when they banned wild camping around L Lomond because people were leaving rubbish, being drunk & disorderly, damaging live trees, etc.

He’s always had an agenda against people on bikes, not sure why, but he’s very fingers-in-the-ears-la-la-la-can’t-hear-you about it.

Speeding, tailgating, using a mobile phone, not indicating and jumping red lights. These are thing things drivers do on a daily basis that break current laws and could cause serious injury to other road users. Drivers already have licenses and are generally not being policed, why not start here to try to improve road safety and police all other road users at the same time.

He cited a Freedom of Information request showing, of the 38 police forces who issue fines to irresponsible cyclists, 30 issued fewer than five last year, and 12 of those issued none.

Maybe, they didn’t need to issue any more!

I think the bigger issue which needs addressing first is the appalling death toll on our roads daily.
Whilst licencing and taxing cyclists may fulfill a knee jerk reaction, are you really telling me that chavs wheelying up the high streets and goign to sign up for this? Its similar to gun and knife possesion, those that actually register and play along aren’t the problem in the first place.
All this does is bow to the anti cycling rhetoric on social media and it will achieve the square root of FA.

Had the ‘pleasure’ of interviewing him once. Arrived in foul mood, surly and uncommunicative. Microphone on – transformed as if by magic into genial science grandpa. Microphone off – immediately back into miserable old git mode.

It was fairly clear which one was the carefully crafted persona, and which one the default state.

Looks like the idiot’s calls were dismissed anyway. Hmm, lost any respect I had for that man.

Just goes to show how deeply embedded car-culture is, even among v clever folk that you would hope would have broader perspectives.

A while ago his issue was that the cycle lanes caused pollution. When some annoying evidence turned up showing that to be nonsense, he resorted to the latest “tax, insurance and license plates!” demand.

This has got him in the news anyway.

I’m sure it’s irrelevant but he’s got a book coming out later this year

Maybe it’s just an ill-fitting bike that’s made him such a grouch.

It’s astounding that someone of such intelligence and firm scientific background can so blatantly ignore the facts.

This is one of the great mysteries of the universe. People are odd.

Brains is brains.

Robert Winston always has been a publicity seeker (the first scientist / doc to engage an agent for publicity) and I take what he says with a pinch of salt. That isn’t from stuff like this – it’s first hand from meeting him and know plenty of people that know him.