Why is so much illegal 'commuting' not policed ?

[Scorpio]

Police have at least a couple of problems, their priorities are set by public opinion / political pressure, and they have big problems with staff recruitment, training, and morale.

Police in my area often don't turn up for reports of theft & vandalism so I'm sure cyclists don't even register for them. Things will be different in the future if public opinion or political priorities change. Be fearful in case an Ebike accident gets a lot of media attention and triggers new laws & enforcement

The police are in a no-win situation and do a job I couldn't do, but their inconsistent approach doesn't help anybody.

 

[saneagle]

Only 6% of all burglaries are solved by police in the UK. Before June, you'd be lucky to get even a visit if your house was broken into. Now they've commited to visit you so that you get a crime number and some fake sympathy to make you feel better. Would you rather have the police chasing burglars or guys riding eikes without pedalling?

 

[Wayners]

Re police.
My 80 year old mother in law was doing 33mph in a 30mph zone driving to get petrol today. Quick. Crush car and fine her £1000.

I was doing 18mph on my electric bike today. Quick. Crush bike and fine me £1000. I was breaking the law.

Wouldn't it be cool if you were to break the speed limit in a electric car and it ejects the driver and drives itself to the crusher.
Ha..
Seriously.
I think the law needs to catch up with battery and motor improvements with e-bikes. Police only target problems and e-bikes aren't a problem for most. Just the odd person that is being dangerous

 

[flecc]

Re police.
My 80 year old mother in law was doing 33mph in a 30mph zone driving to get petrol today.

That was perfectly legal, being the 10% tolerance allowed on all speed limits. 34mph would have been illegal, the penalty being a fixed one of a £100 fine and three points on the offender's driving licence.

I think the law needs to catch up with battery and motor improvements with e-bikes.

It did that many years ago, there are motor vehicle classes that cover higher speed and higher power motorised bicycles, but of course things like driving licences and insurance are necessary.

The law on pedelecs is fine as it is, since that has nothing to do with "e-bike improvements". It's law for the protection of untested, unlicenced and uninsured riders whose skills are completely unknown, and the protection of those who could be their victims.
.

 

[StuartsProjects]

I think the law needs to catch up with battery and motor improvements with e-bikes.

The law is already there, but 'better' motors and 'better' batteries do seem to have become common in recent years.

So maybe it is time for the laws to catch up and implement stricter limits etc.

 

[StuartsProjects]

That was perfectly legal

I am fully aware of the guidelines the police use for prosecutions, speed limit + 10% etc.

But are you suggeting that you cannot under any circumstances be prosecuted for exceeding 30mph, say doing 33mph, in a 30mph zone ?

 

[guerney]

But are you suggeting that you cannot under any circumstances be prosecuted for exceeding 30mph, say doing 33mph, in a 30mph zone ?

I don't know, but whenever I do that downhill... I do it with a beautific happy smile on my face; not at all furious looking, to be on the safe side.

 

[StuartsProjects]

I don't know, but whenever I do that downhill

Me too, been up to 50mph going steep downhill on my eMTB, legal, since the motor cuts out at 25kmph.

 

[guerney]

Me too, been up to 50mph going steep downhill on my eMTB, legal, since the motor cuts out at 25kmph.

Aha! You're a member of the elite and rarely mentioned "50mph Club" - there's a very tempting newly resurfaced totally straight hyper-smooth 2 mile downhill road nearby I've been meaning to descend at high speed, in the dead of night, though it might already be blighted by a deeply potholed moonscape by now.

(Hope I'm not encouraging anyone to go breaking their necks etc.)

 

[saneagle]

I am fully aware of the guidelines the police use for prosecutions, speed limit + 10% etc.

But are you suggeting that you cannot under any circumstances be prosecuted for exceeding 30mph, say doing 33mph, in a 30mph zone ?

My Wife was pulled up by the police for, according to them, doing an estimated 33 mph on her motorbike. At that time, there were strange things going on in that area between the police and motorcycles. Eventually a policeman was jailed for beating up a motorcyclist because he didn't like his cocky attitude. things went back to normal after that. My wife was following a police car at 30 mph. It started to slow down and pulled close to the edge of the road, so she took it as a singnal to pass. As soon as she passed, the blue lights came on. It was night time so they couldn't see that it was a pretty girl. They were quite agressive until she took off her helmet. They said that at the time she overtook, they were doing 28 mph and they estimated that she was going 5 mph faster than them and that they could book her, but decided to let her off with a warning. She was petrified through the whole experience and still shaking when she got home ten minutes later.

A few weeks before, I got a speeding ticket in strange circumstances. I stopped at traffic lights in the inside lane of a two lane town centre road. A police car pulled up in the other lane. When the lights went green, I waited for the police to go first, but he didn't go. After a long wait, I had to procede as there was a queue behind me. On my motorbike in a busy town, it was easy for me to make progress through the traffic, but the police car was getting blocked, so my lead increased until he was about 1/2 mile behind me as I left town. I was very suspicious because of his behaviour , so kept looking in my mirrors to see where he was. Eventually, with him more than a half a mile behind and completely out of sight on a clear road, I turned left through a very small village out onto the open road and away. After about 20 minutes and around 12 miles, I could see the police car behind me again overtaking dangerously without blue lights on. He followed for about 10 minutes, then pulled me up and said that I had been speeding, which I hadn't. After some questioning, he changed his story to me speeding through the village. He said he was right behind me measuring my speed, but he wasn't. He showed me his vascar readout of 40 mph, which he could have put on at any time, like when he was speeding through the village trying to catch me up. I went to a lawyer, but he said that I would have no chance in court, so I was forced to plead guilty and put it down to experience. Not all policemen are honest, though most are OK.

 

[flecc]

I am fully aware of the guidelines the police use for prosecutions, speed limit + 10% etc.

But are you suggeting that you cannot under any circumstances be prosecuted for exceeding 30mph, say doing 33mph, in a 30mph zone ?

Yes, I was not quoting a police guideline. I was quoting the DfT's definitive ruling, and it is they who make the law. If the limit is 30mpg, 33mph actual is permitted and not subject to prosecution. If the limit is 70, 77mph actual is permitted and not subject to prosecution.

In fact the position is the same in many countries elsewhere, the 10% tolerance widely used. There has to be a tolerance since no speed recording is precise in all circumstances.

Of course one has to drive or ride to circumstances, for example fog or pedestrians wandering about in the road, so if they make a speed dangerous, one must drive or ride more slowly. But that of course is a different matter entirely.
.

 

[Benjahmin]

A friend of mine was recently fined and given points for 33 in a 30 limit, here in Wales (Ceredigion). It seems they are adopting zero tolerance and, beware, 'cos from this Sunday -17/9- all 30mph areas will be 20mph. Apart from outside my house, where there is no pavement, as the 20 limit finishes where the pavement does, about 100metres away. There are great long stretches of straight, good visibilty A road, with wide pavements each side, where you could drive up and down all day and not see a pedestrian, that will be 20. Yet the glorious Welsh assembly insists that this is a life saving measure.
Personally I think they're desperate for extra funds to misappropriate and don't have tax raising powers.

 

[Wayners]

I had a mate who was fined for 31mph in a 30 zone.
That's the law. Recent article below may hint at what's to come.....

Don't fine drivers for doing 31mph in a 30mph zone

Drivers could be fined for going 1mph over the speed limit under plans from the all-party parliamentary group on walking and cycling (APPGWC)

www.spectator.co.uk

Plus in Wales most 30mph will drop to 20mph. I think e-bikes may start to stand out when they keep up with cars, especially the kits with a 48v battery..

My yose kit which is 250w 36v seems quicker off the mark and higher top speed than all the legal bikes. Most seem to potter along around 13mph. I prefer to peddle with effort and go on by at around 16mph.
My first day after charging I can get 18mph with no wind. Second day around 16.
I think most people ride like this. I've not seen anyone faster but I guess they are around..

Are people getting upset with the 48v 1000w kits? Some can go over 30mph which I think is dangerous. I don't fancy that

 

[guerney]

Ebikes keeping up with traffic might improve relations between cyclists and drivers? It won't happen, but I'd love to see the 20mph limit adopted all over the UK for all vehicles in built up areas, including ebikes, or the limit lowered further to 15.5mph. While derestricted after initially getting my kit, not knowing much about ebike laws at the time, I could easily maintain over 20mph on my 36V BBS01B 250W converted 20" wheeled Dahon folder. Felt like Superman.

These days my bike's speed is limited, but it has more balls.

 

[Az.]

I'd love to see the 20mph limit adopted all over the UK for all vehicles in built up areas

Let me guess... you don't drive?

 

[soundwave]

Let me guess... you don't drive?

i dont drive and it is fkn stupid and all about control, buy a horse and let it $hit everywhere up town

 

[guerney]

Let me guess... you don't drive?

I couldn't stand all the cyclists. There would be a massive uptake of ebikes with a 15.5mph limit in all built up areas. Cyclists would feel safer not having to hug gutters, clatter over potholes and endure fast close passes. Drivers would feel less infuriated looking at cyclists arses, air quality would improve (if cyclists weren't vegan), birds wouldn't cough as much, people will become ever so slightly less obese and cost the NHS a bit less, a whole new class of cheap lightweight EVs for exclusive city use could emerge, vehicles will be able to stop in time from lower speeds, ebikes would become so cheap people will stop buying those dangerous ninja street ninja missiles etc.

 

[soundwave]

i give the ram rovers about as much room as they give me 2.5mm

 

[Az.]

I couldn't stand all the cyclists.

I don't know how to drive at 20mph. 20mph limit is insane.
Bikes and cars shouldn't use same roads really. It is so much better for drivers and for cyclists when there are dedicated cycle paths.

 

[soundwave]

I don't know how to drive at 20mph. 20mph limit is insane.
Bikes and cars shouldn't use same roads really. It is so much better for drivers and for cyclists when there are dedicated cycle paths.

try that down the motorway