#KnivesDownBikesUp

hawkinspeter wrote:

Is this related or just coincidence? https://www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk/news/gloucester-news/police-hit-ba...

My favourite quote: "Honey, call the police. There are kids enjoying themselves on bicycles. They should be inside eating sugar and getting fat."

Tricky, isn't it.  Where I used to live in Essex, all through the school holidays either walking or driving (even at walking pace) anywhere near the local high street was to run the gauntlet of the local 'yoot' treating it like their own BMX park, riding fast on pavements, on and off roads in any direction without the slightest consideration for their own safety or anyone else.  That's the definition of antisocial behaviour in my view and was rightly discouraged.

If these kids were on the wrong side of the road, cycling unpredictably and so on, they should likewise be 'educated' as to why this is not the best idea.

However, if all they were doing was cycling as a platoon along a road that happens to be busy, I've no problem with that whatsoever - and the article suggesting that it's the cyclists were causing the danger to motorists is reprehensible.  If I thought it would change the slightest thing I'd complain to the Press Complaints Commission about that, it's pathetic.

jollygoodvelo wrote:

hawkinspeter wrote:

Is this related or just coincidence? https://www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk/news/gloucester-news/police-hit-ba...

My favourite quote: "Honey, call the police. There are kids enjoying themselves on bicycles. They should be inside eating sugar and getting fat."

Tricky, isn't it.  Where I used to live in Essex, all through the school holidays either walking or driving (even at walking pace) anywhere near the local high street was to run the gauntlet of the local 'yoot' treating it like their own BMX park, riding fast on pavements, on and off roads in any direction without the slightest consideration for their own safety or anyone else.  That's the definition of antisocial behaviour in my view and was rightly discouraged.

If these kids were on the wrong side of the road, cycling unpredictably and so on, they should likewise be 'educated' as to why this is not the best idea.

However, if all they were doing was cycling as a platoon along a road that happens to be busy, I've no problem with that whatsoever - and the article suggesting that it's the cyclists were causing the danger to motorists is reprehensible.  If I thought it would change the slightest thing I'd complain to the Press Complaints Commission about that, it's pathetic.

I think they were on the wrong side of the road and not following rules, so you'd probably disapprove of them. Personally, I'd much rather kids learn about danger and 'sticking it to the man' whilst riding around on bikes rather than copying knife culture or burning doughnuts in stolen vehicles etc.

I don't even mind kids (or adults) riding too quickly on pavements as it wakes people up a bit and acts as a deterrent to iZombies. Strangely though, I hate it when kids zoom around supermarkets on heelys (maybe I just don't identify with them) and often fantasise about sticking out a foot to trip them up.

jollygoodvelo wrote:

Where I used to live in Essex, all through the school holidays either walking or driving (even at walking pace) anywhere near the local high street was to run the gauntlet of the local 'yoot' treating it like their own BMX park, riding fast on pavements, on and off roads in any direction without the slightest consideration for their own safety or anyone else.  That's the definition of antisocial behaviour in my view and was rightly discouraged.

If these kids were on the wrong side of the road, cycling unpredictably and so on, they should likewise be 'educated' as to why this is not the best idea.

It's the hysteria aimed in completely the wrong direction that gets me.

I'd wager something fairly hefty that you could head back to your Essex High St and find many more examples of cars being parked where they shouldn't be, driven onto pavements and driven at speed.

Antisocial driving kills lots of people; antisocial cycling doesn't. Yet it's the latter that gets the mouth breathers into a moral panic.

Pffft. Adults these days...