Grant Shapps wants a speed limit for cyclists

richtea99

Esteemed Pedelecer
May 8, 2020
441
285
... it could well happen that legislation is introduced whereby speed limits applying to cars\vehicles are also applied to cycles.
What made you think the legislation doesn't already apply to cycles?!
A 20mph limit is for any vehicle, not just motorised ones.

Enforcement is a different matter of course. There are better thing to enforce, IMHO.
 
Last edited:
  • Disagree
Reactions: flecc

soundwave

Esteemed Pedelecer
May 23, 2015
16,996
6,536
DSC_0165_02.JPG

:D
 

nigelbb

Esteemed Pedelecer
Sep 19, 2019
443
377
Powered by a 5.5kWh battery, the pure electric vehicle with zero-emissions has a top speed of 28mph and a range of up to 46 miles. It recharges in just three hours.


imo for a 100k tesla you will need to pay a subscription fee every month to unlock motor way mode :rolleyes:

i cant find a batt for it either so imo they want you to throw it in the bin and buy a new one when its dead o_O
In France you don't need a driving licence to drive a Citroën Ami & it costs as little as €900 down (which the government will reimburse you) then 47 monthly payments of €91.67. https://www.citroen.fr/ami
 
  • Agree
Reactions: flecc

StuartsProjects

Esteemed Pedelecer
May 9, 2021
1,797
1,014
What made you think the legislation doesn't already apply to cycles?!
Look in the Highway code that lists the speed limits by type of 'Vehicle', no mention of cycles.

Try a Google search on 'UK do speed limits apply to cycles'

 
Last edited:

Bonzo Banana

Esteemed Pedelecer
Sep 29, 2019
807
465
Not all vehicles require speedometers https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1986/1078/regulation/35/made

20mph speed limits like all other speed limits do not apply to bicycles (which include pedelecs)
Yes because currently there is no requirement to have a speedometer and therefore there is no reasonable way for cyclists to know their speed accurately. However it would surely be a legal requirement to have a speedometer if a speed limit applied to bicycles otherwise the law would be unreasonable and unfair.

I think the fastest I've ridden is about 38mph down a steep hill. That peak speed only lasted a few seconds. Freewheeling down hills is pretty much the only time I'm going to beat 20mph. It's one of the simple pleasures of riding a bicycle and don't see why it should be taken away.
 
  • Like
Reactions: guerney and oyster

Benjahmin

Esteemed Pedelecer
Nov 10, 2014
2,595
1,749
70
West Wales
A few years ago I had a Transit van with an intermittant fault on the speedo. The day I took it for mot it stopped working on the way there. However, the van passed as the speedo is not an item that needs to be checked for mot. Of course I could still get done for speeding.
So, it seems to me, that speed limits can and are applied to vehicles that have no need to have a working speedo.

The issue still is the identification of bikes and riders who are found exceeding said limit. Any plate would be much smaller than a standard vehicle plate. (Are we really going to see the wigins' and Fromes of this world riding around with a full size plate on the back?). So even if the plate is readable by camera or human at distance, who is the rider?
12 year old Johnny gets stopped for speeding. "Is this your bike sonny, can I see your insurance?" Really?

There are so many holes in this whole thing. So many changes that need to be put into place, I can't see it happening. If only 'cause it will kill cycling at the very time it is starting to grow as a utility activity.
 

oyster

Esteemed Pedelecer
Nov 7, 2017
10,422
14,609
West West Wales
A few years ago I had a Transit van with an intermittant fault on the speedo. The day I took it for mot it stopped working on the way there. However, the van passed as the speedo is not an item that needs to be checked for mot. Of course I could still get done for speeding.
So, it seems to me, that speed limits can and are applied to vehicles that have no need to have a working speedo.

The issue still is the identification of bikes and riders who are found exceeding said limit. Any plate would be much smaller than a standard vehicle plate. (Are we really going to see the wigins' and Fromes of this world riding around with a full size plate on the back?). So even if the plate is readable by camera or human at distance, who is the rider?
12 year old Johnny gets stopped for speeding. "Is this your bike sonny, can I see your insurance?" Really?

There are so many holes in this whole thing. So many changes that need to be put into place, I can't see it happening. If only 'cause it will kill cycling at the very time it is starting to grow as a utility activity.
But if they had noticed it not working, it would have been a fail. And, if the design was such that the speedo were in its own housing, illumination of the speedo needs to work. There is no need for a road test therefore easy to not see a failed speedo. Especially those which have the needle slightly higher than zero - and might not move as it is driven from outside into the testing bay.

I believe working speedo is required in the majority of vehicles.
 

StuartsProjects

Esteemed Pedelecer
May 9, 2021
1,797
1,014
And for identification plates, on cycles, there would be the issue of enforcement.

There are a great many 'illegal' number plates out there on vehicles, and I have seen the same 'illegal' ones round by me for years, so enforcement of the current regulations seems to be zero.
 
Last edited:

oyster

Esteemed Pedelecer
Nov 7, 2017
10,422
14,609
West West Wales
And for identification plates, on cycles, there would be the issue of enforcement.

There are a great many 'illegal' number plates out there on vehicles, and I have seen the same 'illegal' ones round by me for years, so enforcement of the current regulations seems to be zero.
Assuming MoT stations are checking plates, the owners must be switching plates before and after MoT, every year. Which pretty much proves such plates are premeditated acts. (Allowing that someone buying a secondhand car could inadvertently have illegal plates.)

It's not the worst offence in the world, but it feels unpleasant that some out there are doing this and getting away with it - for years. If it matters enough to be a requirement, it needs to be enforced.
 

flecc

Member
Oct 25, 2006
53,260
30,648
I suspect that in a face saving measure for the idiot knowlegeable Mr Shapps, it could well happen that legislation is introduced whereby speed limits applying to cars\vehicles are also applied to cycles.
No new law would be needed, just a minor adjustment. Bicycles are only exempt from the speed limit because the Road Traffic Acts don't in general apply to them. But there is one exception, the 14 years lower age limit for riding a pedelec (which is a bicycle in law) isn't in EAPC law, it was included in the 1988 Road Traffic Act. So just a similar minor tweak of current RTA speed limit rules could bring bicycles into that law.
.
 
Last edited:

StuartsProjects

Esteemed Pedelecer
May 9, 2021
1,797
1,014
Assuming MoT stations are checking plates, the owners must be switching plates before and after MoT, every year.
According the local garage, where I have my cars MOT done, they can temporarily fit a legal plate over the illegal one. Nothing the garage can do about it apparently.
 

StuartsProjects

Esteemed Pedelecer
May 9, 2021
1,797
1,014
It's not the worst offence in the world, but it feels unpleasant that some out there are doing this and getting away with it - for years. If it matters enough to be a requirement, it needs to be enforced.
Apart from altering the letter spacing to achieve some fancy perceived affect, the most common abuse that I see, is where taxis, motorhomes etc, use the square plates that have small lettering, sometimes very small indeed.

Maybe this is done to make it harder for the ANPR and thus avoid speeding fines ?
 

flecc

Member
Oct 25, 2006
53,260
30,648
Yes because currently there is no requirement to have a speedometer and therefore there is no reasonable way for cyclists to know their speed accurately. However it would surely be a legal requirement to have a speedometer if a speed limit applied to bicycles otherwise the law would be unreasonable and unfair.
Not so, there are other precedents of speed limits where speedometers are not required to be fitted, including for bicycles in some instances.

The principles behind regulations are bendable and the Civil Service and Parliament happily bend them when convenient. I've just given such an example in my previous post.
.
 

flecc

Member
Oct 25, 2006
53,260
30,648
Any plate would be much smaller than a standard vehicle plate. (Are we really going to see the wigins' and Fromes of this world riding around with a full size plate on the back?).
Yes, we always used to have full size number plates after fitting any assist motor to a bike. It was the law and strictly adhered to:



 

Nealh

Esteemed Pedelecer
Aug 7, 2014
20,980
8,565
61
West Sx RH
That use to be before epac's became commercially viable and the 2 stroke motors turned push bike into 30ph mopeds. In a sense probably a trick that was missed at the start with epac's which now is being resisted by most users and the cycling industry as whole in to any benefits that ae to be gained, more so likely the harm it may do to sales and encourging up take of cycling.
 

esuark

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jul 23, 2019
275
202
kent
the 14 years lower age limit for riding a pedelec
How many 14 year olds have people seen on pedelecs. I can say I`v not seen any. I suspect its not a well known issue otherwise some of them I see on scooters would surely if they knew they could would be on pedelecs.
 

flecc

Member
Oct 25, 2006
53,260
30,648
How many 14 year olds have people seen on pedelecs. I can say I`v not seen any. I suspect its not a well known issue otherwise some of them I see on scooters would surely if they knew they could would be on pedelecs.
I've seen many, but only because the estate kids cadged rides on mine.

But cost is a big barrier for Pedelecs. "Pavement" e-scooters can be bought from £300 new and under £700 buys something high end.

Pedelec prices are a whole different order of course, generally over four times those amounts.

The silly 14 year old minimum doesn't help, we are the only country in Europe with it, much younger children ride pedelecs in The Netherlands:

Dutch utility cycling.jpg