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Richard Goodman
  
According to the Metro, private security guards and street wardens are going to be licenced &
empowered to impose £30 fines on pavement cyclists...

http://www.metro.co.uk/metro/standard/article.html?in_article_id=15404&in_page_id=1

Meanwhile, the Evening Standard has a sob-story piece on more drivers being jailed than burglars...

http://www.metro.co.uk/metro/standard/article.html?in_article_id=15404&in_page_id=1

And finally, a colleague has bought a new bike. While not wishing in any way to deride this noble
accomplishment, indeed she has been cycling to work for a lot longer than I have, I think the
description "light weight frame" may well be a false description under the Trade Descriptions Act!
It doesn't half weigh a lot ;-)

http://www.giant- (http://www.giant-/)
bicycle.com/uk/030.000.000/030.000.000.asp?dealerid=&dealercountry=&lYear=2003&bikesection=8786&ran-
ge=78&model=9859

Rich

Richard Goodman
  
"Richard Goodman" <rsk@NOSPAM.homechoice.co.uk> wrote in message
news:0398421ad6362e6ff0977c1945a9829e@news.teranews.com...
> Meanwhile, the Evening Standard has a sob-story piece on more drivers
being
> jailed than burglars...
>
>
http://www.metro.co.uk/metro/standard/article.html?in_article_id=15404&in_page_id=1
>

Whoops, that URL should have been:
http://www.eveningstandard.co.uk/news/articles/8692815?source=Evening%20Standard

Rich

Peter Clinch
  
Richard Goodman wrote:
> According to the Metro, private security guards and street wardens are =
going
> to be licenced & empowered to impose =A330 fines on pavement cyclists..=
=2E

Don't have any particular problem with that. It's dangerous and=20 illegal, better not to do it.

> Meanwhile, the Evening Standard has a sob-story piece on more drivers =
being
> jailed than burglars...

I imagine motorists kill and maim rather more people than burglars, as=20 well as being easier to
catch when they've done so. A case of sheer=20 weight of numbers rather than the justice system
being the cause, I think=
=2E

> for a lot longer than I have, I think the description "light weight fra=
me"
> may well be a false description under the Trade Descriptions Act! It doesn't half weigh a lot ;-)

Frame probably is not *too* heavy in itself. However, the chaincase,=20 hub gears, built in lights,
heavy duty mudguards, rack will rather add=20 to the net weight of the whole thing!

Pete. --=20 Peter Clinch University of Dundee Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Medical Physics,
Ninewells Hospital Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK net p.j.clinch@dundee.ac.uk
http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

Simon Brooke
  
"Richard Goodman" <rsk@NOSPAM.homechoice.co.uk> writes:

> Meanwhile, the Evening Standard has a sob-story piece on more drivers being jailed than
> burglars...
>
> http://www.metro.co.uk/metro/standard/article.html?in_article_id=15404&in_page_id=1

I should hope so too. Motorists do more harm than burglars. The incidence of people being injured or
killed by burglars is pretty low.

> And finally, a colleague has bought a new bike. While not wishing in any way to deride this noble
> accomplishment, indeed she has been cycling to work for a lot longer than I have, I think the
> description "light weight frame" may well be a false description under the Trade Descriptions Act!
> It doesn't half weigh a lot ;-)
>
> http://www.giant- (http://www.giant-/)
> bicycle.com/uk/030.000.000/030.000.000.asp?dealerid=&dealercountry=&lYear=2003&bikesection=8786&r-
> ange=78&model=9859

Well, it is a giant bike.

--
simon@jasmine.org.uk (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/ Windows 95: You, you, you! You
make a grown man cry...
M. Jagger/K. Richards

Richard Goodman
  
"Peter Clinch" <p.j.clinch@dundee.ac.uk> wrote in message
news:400E7E33.3080508@dundee.ac.uk...
Richard Goodman wrote:
>> According to the Metro, private security guards and street wardens are
going
>> to be licenced & empowered to impose £30 fines on pavement cyclists...

>Don't have any particular problem with that. It's dangerous and illegal, better not to do it.

I agree that it's dangerous and illegal and better not to do it. However the idea of criminal law
enforcement by private companies does worry me somewhat. I also wonder how many they'll be able to
catch if they're on foot and the offenders don't stop?

>> Meanwhile, the Evening Standard has a sob-story piece on more drivers
being
>> jailed than burglars...

>I imagine motorists kill and maim rather more people than burglars, as well as being easier to
>catch when they've done so. A case of sheer weight of numbers rather than the justice system being
>the cause, I think.

Ah, but surely motorists who do it by accident aren't "criminals"? And even motorists who break some
laws in relation to motorvehicle use aren't _really_ criminals? The State should only be banging up
"real" criminals don't you think? The papers all seem to think so......

>> for a lot longer than I have, I think the description "light weight
frame"
>> may well be a false description under the Trade Descriptions Act! It doesn't half weigh a lot ;-)

>Frame probably is not *too* heavy in itself. However, the chaincase, hub gears, built in lights,
>heavy duty mudguards, rack will rather add to the net weight of the whole thing!

True, but I doubt the frame is 'light weight' as compared to genuinely 'lightweight' frames - or
even bog standard aluminium ones!

Rich

Thomas
  
"Richard Goodman" <rsk@NOSPAM.homechoice.co.uk> wrote in message
news:d58b831646a952be837eeb4b0a82d715@news.teranews.com...
> "Peter Clinch" <p.j.clinch@dundee.ac.uk> wrote in message news:400E7E33.3080508@dundee.ac.uk...
> Richard Goodman wrote:
> >> According to the Metro, private security guards and street wardens are
> going
> >> to be licenced & empowered to impose £30 fines on pavement cyclists...
>
> >Don't have any particular problem with that. It's dangerous and illegal, better not to do it.
>
> I agree that it's dangerous and illegal and better not to do it. However the idea of criminal law
> enforcement by private companies does worry me somewhat. I also wonder how many they'll be able to
> catch if they're on foot and the offenders don't stop?

Scary, but it's already happening and has been for some time. Just think of Group 4 and the prisons,
sell out of customs & excise property to companies based in tax havens... this Government's
thoroughly corrupt and yet, God only knows why (hello Mr. Murdoch) the papers don't give a ****.

Must admit, I was also wondering how fit the enforcers would be - surely even I could out-
cycle 'em :-)

Tom.

Anonymous
  
Read medialens and you will see what the papers are upto.

Thomas wrote:
> "Richard Goodman" <rsk@NOSPAM.homechoice.co.uk> wrote in message
> news:d58b831646a952be837eeb4b0a82d715@news.teranews.com...
>
>>"Peter Clinch" <p.j.clinch@dundee.ac.uk> wrote in message news:400E7E33.3080508@dundee.ac.uk...
>>Richard Goodman wrote:
>>
>>>>According to the Metro, private security guards and street wardens are
>>
>>going
>>
>>>>to be licenced & empowered to impose £30 fines on pavement cyclists...
>>
>>>Don't have any particular problem with that. It's dangerous and illegal, better not to do it.
>>
>>I agree that it's dangerous and illegal and better not to do it. However the idea of criminal law
>>enforcement by private companies does worry me somewhat. I also wonder how many they'll be able to
>>catch if they're on foot and the offenders don't stop?
>
>
> Scary, but it's already happening and has been for some time. Just think of Group 4 and the
> prisons, sell out of customs & excise property to companies based in tax havens... this
> Government's thoroughly corrupt and yet, God only knows why (hello Mr. Murdoch) the papers don't
> give a ****.
>
> Must admit, I was also wondering how fit the enforcers would be - surely even I could out-
> cycle 'em :-)
>
> Tom.

Congokid
  
In message <0398421ad6362e6ff0977c1945a9829e@news.teranews.com>, Richard Goodman
<rsk@NOSPAM.homechoice.co.uk> writes
>According to the Metro, private security guards and street wardens are going to be licenced &
>empowered to impose £30 fines on pavement cyclists...
>
>http://www.metro.co.uk/metro/standard/article.html?in_article_id=15404&i n_page_id=1

Do the police already impose these fines?

I ask because I braked and stopped for a red light at one of the pedestrian crossings on the Mall
this morning. There were no peds in sight and the road was clear, so I was tempted, but I obeyed my
instincts. Several cars stopped alongside me.

Seconds later another cyclist whizzed past me and through the red, only to be flagged down about
50 yards further down the Mall by a policeman who appeared from behind one of the trees or flag
poles there.

In recent months I've often I've seen cyclists deep in conversation with police bods around there,
presumably for cycling on the pavement rather than the road, or for hopping on the pavement at the
squeeze point at Admiralty Arch.

--
congokid Good restaurants in London? Number one on Google http://congokid.com (http://congokid.com/)

Richard Goodman
  
"congokid" <newsabuse001@congokid.com> wrote in message
news:$PE+AlOpJFEAFwtE@congokid.demon.co.uk...
> In message <0398421ad6362e6ff0977c1945a9829e@news.teranews.com>, Richard Goodman
> <rsk@NOSPAM.homechoice.co.uk> writes
> >According to the Metro, private security guards and street wardens are
going
> >to be licenced & empowered to impose £30 fines on pavement cyclists...
> >
> >http://www.metro.co.uk/metro/standard/article.html?in_article_id=15404&i n_page_id=1
>
> Do the police already impose these fines?
>

I think cyclists are most likely to get warnings, but surely some must occasionally get nicked for a
fixed penalty. Not often enough to be any effective deterent though - if you cycle through dozens of
red lights every day, one £30 fine every few years, if that, is probably going to be in couldn't-care-
less territory.

Rich

Jan Wysocki
  
Richard Goodman wrote:
>
> "Peter Clinch" <p.j.clinch@dundee.ac.uk> wrote in message
[snip]
>
> I agree that it's dangerous and illegal and better not to do it. However the idea of criminal law
> enforcement by private companies does worry me somewhat. I also wonder how many they'll be able to
> catch if they're on foot and the offenders don't stop?
>
[snip]

As a pedestrian (well you can't cycle all the time:) have you never tried grabbing their front brake
as they go past? It's a delightful way of both stopping and punishing them.
--
Jan

Richard Goodman
  
"Jan Wysocki" <jan@SUPERFLUOUS_BITductape.net> wrote in message
news:401063AE.D2DE928@SUPERFLUOUS_BITductape.net...
>
>
>
> As a pedestrian (well you can't cycle all the time:) have you never tried grabbing their front
> brake as they go past? It's a delightful way of both stopping and punishing them.
> --

No, and I wouldn't. Apart from the fact that some of the individuals I've seen doing it are bigger
than me and, for all I know, might be pyschopaths, I think it would be stupid thing to do, and, if
they fell off and got injured would probably constitute assault.

Rich

Dave Kahn
  
"Richard Goodman" <rsk@NOSPAM.homechoice.co.uk> wrote in message news:<7942833476d1afb0fcbf7cd462024bbf@news.teranews.com>...
> "Richard Goodman" <rsk@NOSPAM.homechoice.co.uk> wrote in message
> news:0398421ad6362e6ff0977c1945a9829e@news.teranews.com...
> > Meanwhile, the Evening Standard has a sob-story piece on more drivers
> being
> > jailed than burglars...

Of course. There are more dangerous drivers than there are burglars.

> Whoops, that URL should have been:
> http://www.eveningstandard.co.uk/news/articles/8692815?source=Evening%20Standard

"Watchdogs today claimed motorists are being dealt with too harshly by the courts and that
alternatives to custody are needed."

I think Guy might be able to help them there. :-)

--
Dave...

Just Zis Guy
  
"Dave Kahn" <dkahn400@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
news:57db8bde.0401230257.134f885e@posting.google.com...

> "Watchdogs today claimed motorists are being dealt with too harshly by the courts and that
> alternatives to custody are needed."
>
> I think Guy might be able to help them there. :-)

Perhaps all those watchdogs could be used to bite the offending articles off?

--
Guy
===

WARNING: may contain traces of irony. Contents may settle after posting.
http://chapmancentral.demon.co.uk (http://chapmancentral.demon.co.uk/)

Pmailkeey
  
On Thu, 22 Jan 2004 22:44:57 +0000, congokid
<newsabuse001@congokid.com> wrote:

:)Do the police already impose these fines? ) )I ask because I braked and stopped for a red light at
:one of the )pedestrian crossings on the Mall this morning. There were no peds in )sight and the
:road was clear, so I was tempted, but I obeyed my )instincts. Several cars stopped alongside me. )
:)Seconds later another cyclist whizzed past me and through the red, only )to be flagged down about
:50 yards further down the Mall by a policeman )who appeared from behind one of the trees or flag
:poles there.

I hope you stopped and assistedsupported the officer in his actions ?

--
Comm again, Mike.

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