Surrey Road Cops explain why enforcement focuses on drivers, not cyclists; LTN myths busted; Geoghegan Hart defends Marcus Rashford after 'embarrassing and vile' coverage; Another motorway cyclist; 14 everestings in 14 days + more on the live blog

We often focus our enforcement efforts against those who do most harm to vulnerable road users.

This chart shows why a lot of that effort is directed at car drivers.

On average 5 people are killed every day in the UK as a result of a collision.

We must all do better.#Fatal5 pic.twitter.com/EqfEGygGQM

— Roads Policing Unit (RPU) - Surrey Police - UK (@SurreyRoadCops) November 16, 2020

Surrey Police, like the Northumbria Police Force we highlighted earlier, have made a commitment to tackling road safety by focusing enforcement efforts on "those who do most harm to vulnerable road users." The chart above, posted by Surrey Police's Roads Policing Unit, shows the number of fatalities caused by certain forms of transport. 

By far the most common vehicle involved in the death of a vulnerable road user is the car with almost 500 deaths. No other single vehicle recorded more than 100. After 50cc motorcycles and under, bikes were involved in the least amount of vulnerable road user deaths.

The discussion is particularly important considering this week is road safety charity Brake's 'Road Safety Week', which has led several police forces in the UK to reassert their priority for tackling the issue. Last night we reported that Northumbria Police were encouraging people to send in their videos of close passes and said that they take action on the driver in almost 80% of cases.

The chart includes the incidents where no other vehicle is involved and the stats are based on where the person driving or riding a vehicle has caused the death of someone riding a motorcycle, bicycle or is a pedestrian. This also includes where these have been the cause.

— Roads Policing Unit (RPU) - Surrey Police - UK (@SurreyRoadCops) November 17, 2020

Another police force that gets it. Deaths on the roads are not caused by cyclists, but by drivers. Thank-you @northumbriapol https://t.co/vkR1GuCX1X

— Jeremy Vine (@theJeremyVine) November 16, 2020

There's been plenty of praise for Northumbria Police who yesterday encouraged people to send in footage of close passes with the claim that they take action in almost 80% of cases. This morning we shared some of the Force's firm replies to Tweets citing the usual issues people have with cyclists including not using bike lanes and road tax. The comments have kept coming in and so have Northumbria Police's replies...Both the original Tweets were deleted.

Asking the public to report crime? We didn't know we had revolutionised policing.

— Northumbria Police (@northumbriapol) November 17, 2020

Hi Peter, there is no such thing as road tax. Everyone pays for the upkeep of roads, including cyclists.

— Northumbria Police (@northumbriapol) November 17, 2020

Harley Davidson's first venture into the ebike market has been covered over on our sister site ebiketips. If that's your sort of thing then check out the story with all the details of models, pricing and features here.

A cyclist chased a dog across London for an hour after the pet got spooked by a firework and bolted from her owner. Reuben McCartney managed to safely reunite Kiki with her owner after an hour-long pursuit. The map of his ride above shows how the pooch gave Reuben a good workout from near the Emirates Stadium to King's Cross and back along the Pentonville Road.

McCartney told LADbible: "As soon as I saw that the dog was running with a lead attached to her dragging along on the floor I knew I had to try and catch her.

"My biggest fear was that she'd get run over as she was crossing busy main roads at speed and on a couple of occasions the traffic had to stop or swerve. I chased her for about an hour. My biggest fear that I wouldn't be able to catch up and I'd lose her, which I did a couple of times, but managed find her again."

Owner Christina was delighted to be reunited with Kiki and explained how her dog bolted when spooked by a firework: "Her lead slipped out of my hand, and because she's a collie, she's a little fast one.

"I got out onto the main street and everyone was pointing towards the direction that she was running, and she basically kept running in the same direction towards King's Cross."

Chris Lawless' three-year stay with INEOS Grenadiers has come to an end with the 25-year-old moving to Total Direct Énergie for next season. Lawless won the Tour de Yorkshire last year but has not won a race in 2020. 

Team managerJean-René Bernaudeau was pleased to be able to sign Lawless: "He is a talented rider with a strong character and a great state of mind. He appreciated our offensive speech and wants to be able to express himself in a team that gives him the possibility."

Lawless is the latest signing to Total Direct Énergie's ranks after announcing the signing of experienced WorldTour pros Pierre Latour, Alexis Vuillermoz, Victor de La Parte and Alexandre Geniez.

🎥 This shocking footage shows how cyclists' lives are being put at risk by dangerous drivers.

It's been released as part of #RoadSafetyWeek2020 with figures showing an 11% increase in serious injury or fatal collisions involving cyclists 📈

Read our thread to find out more 👇 pic.twitter.com/gRKaOtDLn9

— Northumbria Police (@northumbriapol) November 16, 2020

Last night we reported that Northumbria Police encouraged more people to upload close pass footage and said that action is taken against the driver in almost 80% of cases. The appeal was to mark the start of National Road Safety Week with Chief Inspector Sam Rennison, head of Northumbria Police Force's Road Safety Department, stating: "As it stands, 77 per cent of the footage submissions we do get result in positive action being taken, whether that be a warning or a prosecution.

“But we still don’t see a large number of submissions from vulnerable road users and this week we want to appeal to cyclists to submit more footage. A minority of motorists are not showing the required amount of respect to other road users and that needs to change.Too many vulnerable road users are seriously injured or killed because they have been knocked down by someone driving in a dangerous manner."

Unsurprisingly some anti-cycling types thought it a good idea to let their feelings on cyclists be known with the usual opinions on road tax, helmets, cycle lanes and riding two abreast chucked at the Force's Twitter account. In keeping with their earlier appeal Northumbria Police were decisive in reply...

Do you know the number of cyclists who collided with a vehicle and led to the serious injury or death of the driver? It's zero.

Don't use a minority of cyclists behaving inappropriately to excuse the behaviour of drivers seriously injuring and killing cyclists on the road.

— Northumbria Police (@northumbriapol) November 16, 2020

Hi Donna, it's recommended that a group of cyclists ride two abreast as it's safer. If there isn't appropriate space to pass then just remain patient and wait until it is safe to overtake. Those extra few seconds aren't worth a life.

— Northumbria Police (@northumbriapol) November 16, 2020

It is not a legal requirement to use a cycle lane so, by law, the vehicle would still be at fault.

We would also point out that other vehicles on that road passed in an appropriate distance and gave plenty of space.

— Northumbria Police (@northumbriapol) November 16, 2020