Country heading down the pan..

[truthfindergeneral]

You wouldn't think that the country was gripped by recession and unemployment with govt advisors , traveling on the tax payer funded gravy train, having nothing better to do then come out with this cr@p.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...-cyclists-fault--says-Government-advisor.html
Week one. Lets allow cyclist to go against the flow of traffic in one way streets.
Week Two. This- ' Motorists should be made legally responsible for all accidents involving cyclists, even if they are not at fault, Government advisers say.
Cycling England, an agency funded by the Transport Department, wants the civil law to be changed so the most powerful vehicle involved in a crash is automatically liable for compensation or insurance claims.
The proposal will infuriate drivers, many of whom are angered by the antics of so-called 'Lycra louts' – cyclists who sail through red lights, go the wrong way up one-way streets and intimidate pedestrians on pavements and zebra crossings. ""

 

[Alex M Grieve]

You wouldn't think that the country was gripped by recession and unemployment with govt advisers , traveling on the tax payer funded gravy train, having nothing better to do then come out with this cr@p.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...-cyclists-fault--says-Government-advisor.html
Week one. Lets allow cyclist to go against the flow of traffic in one way streets.
Week Two. This- ' Motorists should be made legally responsible for all accidents involving cyclists, even if they are not at fault, Government advisers say.
Cycling England, an agency funded by the Transport Department, wants the civil law to be changed so the most powerful vehicle involved in a crash is automatically liable for compensation or insurance claims.
The proposal will infuriate drivers, many of whom are angered by the antics of so-called 'Lycra louts' – cyclists who sail through red lights, go the wrong way up one-way streets and intimidate pedestrians on pavements and zebra crossings. ""

Well TFG, we know why this is. Motorists are (or are legally obliged to be) insured. Cyclists are not. Placing a duty such as this on the motorist will make it easy to secure compensation for the cyclist.

May we assume there will be an impact on the cost of motor insurance?

Sadly, as the current administration concedes that a huge number of motorists are uninsured (20% was quoted last week), they clearly would have even less success enforcing a policy that cyclists should be insured. But why should they not be insured. If there is an incident, and the cyclist caused it, that is generally enough to decide liability in the eyes of the law.

 

[truthfindergeneral]

' Even in cases where a crash results from illegal or dangerous manoeuvres by the cyclist, the motorist is usually blamed.
The motorist is always legally responsible for any crash involving a child or elderly cyclist, even if they are cycling in the wrong direction, ignoring traffic signals, or otherwise flouting traffic regulations.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...t--says-Government-advisor.html#ixzz0RfjZZ378'

It's like saying - ' You didn't hit that bloke laying in the gutter, dead, but you did walk near to him so therefore you are guilty ".

 

[st4]

Well TFG, we know why this is. Motorists are (or are legally obliged to be) insured. Cyclists are not. Placing a duty such as this on the motorist will make it easy to secure compensation for the cyclist.

May we assume there will be an impact on the cost of motor insurance?

Sadly, as the current administration concedes that a huge number of motorists are uninsured (20% was quoted last week), they clearly would have even less success enforcing a policy that cyclists should be insured. But why should they not be insured. If there is an incident, and the cyclist caused it, that is generally enough to decide liability in the eyes of the law.

Yes, IMHO it should be manditory for a cyclist to be insured if they use the road space. Car drivers are hammered more and more IMHO and this is really daft and quite worrying as a huge liability is automatically being placed on a car driver.

But to the title of the original thread, the country went down the pan a long time ago. 1997 was just the beginning of the great demise.

 

[truthfindergeneral]

You want to run a tea party in the park... you need public liability insurance.
You want to have a garden fete in the church hall....you need public liability insurance
In fact, the British Legion was struggling to meet the cost for public liability insurance just a few years ago as it was deemed necessary to have it simply to parade through the town.
However, you can ride a cycle on our roads with no insurance what so ever ... go the wrong way up a one way street if you want, jump red traffic lights with out a care in the world, cycle down pavements ...?

 

[st4]

You want to run a tea party in the park... you need public liability insurance.
You want to have a garden fete in the church hall....you need public liability insurance
In fact, the British Legion was struggling to meet the cost for public liability insurance just a few years ago as it was deemed necessary to have it simply to parade through the town.
However, you can ride a cycle on our roads with no insurance what so ever ... go the wrong way up a one way street if you want, jump red traffic lights with out a care in the world, cycle down pavements ...?

Yes, the nanny state works in weird and mysterious ways.

Cyclists are a nuisance, and IMHO freeload a resource thats greatly overpaid for. They should have to pay a tax for sure and insurance too for the use of roads.

However, this is a route one ought to be wary of too. How far does one want to take this line of thought. Will you need liablity insurance if you have a pet in case it injures someone, will you need liability insurance for drinking in case you puke over someone and you can be sued (my mate honked oversome in a pub - classy)? The government really needs to interfere less and just let folk get on with their lives.

Tax less, interfere less is what I say.

 

[truthfindergeneral]

Point taken but we are talking roads here and if you drive or propel any sort of mechanical conveyance on our roads, then you should have insurance to cover you and others... and that includes the growing menace of those so called disability scooter things.

 

[jberks]

Guys
"A Department for Transport spokesman said: 'This is something that gets raised by pressure groups from time to time.
'Cycling England has proposed it, but it is not something that is being considered by ministers.' "
Its a quote from a cyclists pressure group - government funded or not, they're bound to a be a bit biased!
I'm sure they'd suggest a knighthood for every cyclist and the banning of all the satanic cars from public roads if they thought they could get away with it. After all, why would we need a car when the entire world consists of Norf and Sarf London and we all commute to the city every day. (well they do anyway), so we could all take the tube or get on a London Bus. Cycyling is just another option.
One quote
"Cyclists' groups say the reforms would encourage people to get out of their cars and make more journeys by bicycle or on foot. " says it all. These people are saying that because I won't get blamed for causing a crash in which I'll almost definately be hospitalised, if not killed, I will ride my bike to work. Given that the average commute is 30 miles per day in the UK, sure I can just see people jumping on their bikes in the dark and the rain and riding 15 miles up hill and down dale to get to work, do a 10 hour day and then spend the next 2 hours doing the same to get home.

I got a pamphlet on the windscreen of the Landrover the other day. All about how I should buy a more environmentally friendly car. Unfortunatley i missed the Lentil swilling muppet that put it there. I wanted to hear their suggestion on what eco box would succesfully pull our 2 ton loaded horsebox across a muddy field or drag feed trailers down dirt tracks. And, whilst on the subject, put out less CO2 than the 2 litre Mondeo parked next to it that they didn't sticker.

 

[D1gger5]

Truthfinder General

I used to cycle on the path's in one Yeovil street. Simple really as you head up the A37 from the town you approach the College roundabout. It's all uphill and just way to dangerous to go straight on whilst on the road (3 close shaves were what did it as motorists were reluctant/rude/impatient as you were in the way of their exit - ONE even tried to run me off the road). I always then cycled on the path until I crossed that junction then continues towards Ilchester on the road.

The standards of driving is the problem as most have never been outside their comfortable non-man powered box to understand the limits of physical exercise. Where I live now is a race track and therefore I REFUSE TO CYCLE AS MY LIFE IS WORTH MORE THAN THAT RISK!!!

 

[truthfindergeneral]

From the BBC-
'Tens of thousands of cyclists rode in central London, which was closed to traffic for the day, as part of an annual cycling event.
The 15km route began at Buckingham Palace and went through Victoria Embankment up to Tower Hill, covering the Square Mile.'.
I take it they will be refunding all motorists a days worth of vehicle excise duty ( road tax ) ?

 

[LSD]

From the BBC-
'Tens of thousands of cyclists rode in central London, which was closed to traffic for the day, as part of an annual cycling event.
The 15km route began at Buckingham Palace and went through Victoria Embankment up to Tower Hill, covering the Square Mile.'.
I take it they will be refunding all motorists a days worth of vehicle excise duty ( road tax ) ?

15km... eh? What does that mean, I have no understanding? There are no kilometres in the UK, only miles.

 

[Blobcat]

I got a pamphlet on the windscreen of the Landrover the other day. All about how I should buy a more environmentally friendly car. Unfortunatley i missed the Lentil swilling muppet that put it there. I wanted to hear their suggestion on what eco box would succesfully pull our 2 ton loaded horsebox across a muddy field or drag feed trailers down dirt tracks. And, whilst on the subject, put out less CO2 than the 2 litre Mondeo parked next to it that they didn't sticker.

I expect they would say "just use the horse"

 

[Splatt]

I know they say they want to change the law to make the motorist responsible if their is an accident involving a cyclist, Their is one problem with this. YOU CANNOT CHANGE THE LAW TO MAKE SOMEONE RESPONSIBLE FOR AN INCIDENT THAT HE HAS NOT BEEN CULPABLE OF. It is not possible under the English constitution and would breech an individuals civil rights under EEC legislation. This is a complete load of cobblers and as soon as the Law Lords advise on it it will be kicked into the long grass.

 

[st4]

I take it they will be refunding all motorists a days worth of vehicle excise duty ( road tax ) ?

Aye right