I was going to start a new thread with this but i think its pertinent to this subject..
http://dailym.ai/2FNhDxr
Everything about that article is appalling. Woman steps out onto the road without looking while texting on a phone. Cyclist shouts to get her attention, but she doesn't hear. He tries to steer behind her and shouts again. She hears him, looks up, panics and steps backwards into his path. They clash heads, which kills her. Press goes nuts about dangerous cyclists.
We've discussed this before. It was just an accumulation of unfortunate circumstances. Unfortunately for himself, the cyclist broke the law by not having a front brake, so he was blamed. The police make a video to show that an inexperienced copper can't stop a fixie with no front brake as quickly as his experienced colleague on a bike with a front brake, and use it as evidence in the trial. Gullible jury knows nothing about fixies nor how stupid pedestrians mysteriously jump into the path of an oncoming cyclist whenever he tries to ride around them.
This was a wake-up call to anybody that doesn't comply with the rules. If you want to be sure that you will never go to jail, don't break the rules. At the time of that accident, thousands of cyclists were riding around with no front break, and they'd done it for many years. One guy came unstuck due to unfortunate circumstances.
Just like the missing front brake, there are thousands of guys riding illegal electric bikes. Eventually, one will come unstuck and have to go to jail. They have to weigh up that risk against the advantages of what they're doing. Maybe one guy, who's illegal bike was going a bit faster, didn't get killed or severely injured by being run off the road deliberately by a driver because he was going fast enough to keep out the way or not so slow to cause the deliberate assault.
There's no answer to these things and no need to panic. People should step back and look at the bigger picture.
We might as well start the helmet debate: "I've never worn a helmet and I'm still alive, so you don't need one. What's more, there's a guy down the road that was wearing one and he broke his neck in an accident because he was wearing a helmet." " I've always worn a helmet and I'm still alive, which, to me, proves that they're safer. What's more, I fell off and bashed my head on the curb, which stoved my helmet in, but I was OK - rather a new helmet than a new head."