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news
Cyclists probably breaking the speed limit in Richmond Park (CC licensed by adambowie:Flickr)Teen cyclist fined for riding 37mph in Richmond Park
A 16-year-old who rode down Sawyers Hill in Richmond Park at 37 mph has been handed a six-month conditional discharge.
According to YourLocalGuardian, the teenager, whose name has been witheld for legal reasons, was also ordered to pay a £15 victim surcharge and £85 in costs by Lavender Hill Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, September 12.
Richmond Park is unusual among British roads in that its speed limit is a Royal Parks bye-law and not set by the local traffic authority. Unlike public road speed limits, the 20mph limit in Richmond Park applies to cyclists as well.
Or does it? The regulations applying to Royal Parks were amended in 2010, and in that statutory instrument, ‘vehicle’ was defined as “a mechanically propelled vehicle intended or adapted for use on a road.”
The regulations did not previously have a definition of a vehicle so were interpreted to apply to bikes as well as cars and motorbikes.
The new definition is the exact phrase used to define a motor vehicle in the Road Traffic Act, so on a layman’s interpretation at least, it could be argued that the Richmond Park speed limit doesn’t apply to bikes after all. If you're curious, BikeHub has lots on cycling and speed limits, and other legal matters.
It seems likely that the young cyclist in this case simply decided to cop the fine rather than fight it. If that’s the case his lawyer - if he even had one - might have missed a chance to make a bit of a name for himself.
Perhaps the most famous example of 'speeding' in Richmond Park is David Millar's 13:35 lap time in June 2011. As a publicity stunt for his autobiography, Millar lapped the park in full time trial kit in a 'race' against BBC presenter Graham Bell. Millar subsequently apologised profusely for steaming round the park at almost 30mph, and the BBC's video of the ride was taken down.
John has been writing about bikes and cycling for over 30 years since discovering that people were mug enough to pay him for it rather than expecting him to do an honest day's work.
He was heavily involved in the mountain bike boom of the late 1980s as a racer, team manager and race promoter, and that led to writing for Mountain Biking UK magazine shortly after its inception. He got the gig by phoning up the editor and telling him the magazine was rubbish and he could do better. Rather than telling him to get lost, MBUK editor Tym Manley called John’s bluff and the rest is history.
Since then he has worked on MTB Pro magazine and was editor of Maximum Mountain Bike and Australian Mountain Bike magazines, before switching to the web in 2000 to work for CyclingNews.com. Along with road.cc founder Tony Farrelly, John was on the launch team for BikeRadar.com and subsequently became editor in chief of Future Publishing’s group of cycling magazines and websites, including Cycling Plus, MBUK, What Mountain Bike and Procycling.
John has also written for Cyclist magazine, edited the BikeMagic website and was founding editor of TotalWomensCycling.com before handing over to someone far more representative of the site's main audience.
He joined road.cc in 2013. He lives in Cambridge where the lack of hills is more than made up for by the headwinds.
Latest Comments
- quiff 4 sec ago
It was only your comment in the carousel that first brought me here, and yet I still managed to read most of the page before remembering this isn't...
- Secret_squirrel 58 min 9 sec ago
Not really. Lots of people had problems with the early rear lights. Lots of people didnt.
- brooksby 1 hour 22 min ago
Maybe Asos has launched a range of cycling clothing? Possible/potential confusion in the market there might set Assos off again?
- Cyclo1964 1 hour 27 min ago
Hairy arsed trucker 3 holding beer in one hand and steering wheel in the the other and not slept for 24 hours whilst driving 140 tonne road train...
- quiff 1 hour 28 min ago
That comparison might work in answer to the ill-considered "you can't bring your bike in, it's got dirty tyres" but not sure it's apposite here as...
- gazza_d 2 hours 6 min ago
Acts like this should be regarded as domestic terrorism, because that's what it is.
- eburtthebike 3 hours 32 min ago
The Daily Mail, Telegraph and GB News.........
- Benthic 3 hours 45 min ago
Not AB specifically, but that sort of thing. Focus Pocus is the most entertaining.
- Benthic 3 hours 51 min ago
That question would send Daily Mail readers into turmoil.
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43 comments
That's my "new thing learned" for today
this should make the Richmond Park time trials less fun, even as a fat old bloke I still managed 10 miles with an average speed of 20 mph - and I was pretty much last...
then again it is all done before the gates open so...
How did they clock his speed? Have they got speed cameras?
Imagine the Police using Strava to find offenders
It was all digitalEPO gov.
anewman wrote:
Imagine the Police using Strava to find offenders Big Grin
that's what an alias is for
6 month conditional discharge, £85 costs & £15 victim surcharge
He'd have got a lighter sentence if he'd ran a cyclist over in a car.
Best reply on this subject; and it's so true! Human life worth less than breaking an antiquated local rule.
"£15 victim surcharge" -- what victim?
It's called a victim surcharge because it is used to fund victim services through the Victim and Witness General Fund. It has nothing to do with whether there was a victim of the offense, and is levied with all fines imposed by a court.
[[[ All victims of crime, I believe. It's a slush-fund.
P.R.
If I remember correctly, the regulations were amended when they were thinking of introducing car-parking charges in the royal parks. Until then, as you say, the by-laws couldn't be inferred to exclude bikes. But it wouldn't have made sense to charge for bike-parking.
How is anyone supposed to get a 20mph average lap if they can't speed down the hills?
/joking
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