The dust is just starting to settle on the story from last night that the House of Lords heard a suggestion to tackle apparently "dangerous" and "entirely unaccountable" cycling by putting number plates on bicycles. And while I'm sure there's plenty said
in the Lords that can be ignored, put away at the back of the mind with all the other ramblings of politicians of a certain ilk, it is always going to be slightly more concerning/infuriating/facepalmingly depressing coming from the man who was in charge
of the Metropolitan Police for five years...
Cycling lawyer Rory McCarron, who works for Leigh Day and assisted British Cycling in its recent call for an end to "hazardous leniency" in sentencing of drivers who kill or injure cyclists, picked apart Lord Hogan-Howe's comments, in particular the bit
about how "on occasion they [cyclists] have terribly injured people and on some occasions killed them".
"Yes," he replied. "And these very few cyclists have been identified and held accountable? Ermir Loka, Charlie Alliston etc. How many unaccountable cyclists are killing/seriously injuring people? Not many. He has also failed to outline what he considers
dangerous cycling by giving an example. I'm guessing he woke up this morning and felt dangerous."
Another said it was "classic looking for a solution to a problem that doesn't exist", Andrew Buss adding: "Just wait until he hears about the huge number of KSIs [killed and seriously injured] due to car drivers. If only they had a system of registration
and licensing. Oh…"
Over on Facebook, road.cc reader Stephen Ward commented: "Ignoring how well it works for cars and other vehicles I can't help but think the Met have bigger issues to deal with than getting inundated with reports of cyclists riding two abreast or ignoring
cycle lanes."
eburtthebike: "[Quoting Hagen-Howe]...'On occasion they have terribly injured people, and on some occasions killed them.'
"When? How often? How many compared to cars? How many people are killed by drivers who are not arrested or punished or who are let off with such pathetic excuses as 'the sun was in my eyes' or 'I thought I hit a sack of potatoes'? No, let's attack an out
group whose transgressions are so minor that they barely register."
Here in the road.cc website comments section, some of our standards are clearly a tad lower...
Clem Fandango: "At least he acknowledged that cyclists are actually people. Baby steps fellow evil lobby members, baby steps."
Every cloud...
https://road.cc/content/news/cycling-live-blog-24-november-2023-305281
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