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Motoring lawyer @TheMrLoophole says if there are going to be more cyclists on the road, there needs to be proper regulations and infrastructure in place to make the roads safe for everyone.
Watch the debate here ? https://t.co/yyUUJmzswF pic.twitter.com/mEOHOhFbxG
— Good Morning Britain (@GMB) August 7, 2020
Freeman called for the 1988 Road Traffic Act to be updated to include cyclists, and that cyclists must be “held accountable”; this is despite Freeman specialising in helping celebrities avoid motoring convictions, counting Jeremy Clarkson and David Beckham amongst his former clients. He said: “I welcome the increase in cyclists, I think it’s fantastic and Boris Johnson is on the right track. But we do now need to regulate, if there are 8 million (cyclists) on our roads.”
Duncan Dolimore from The Cycling UK says regulations are decided on the risk posed.
He adds that If there were regulations, it would impact 25 million people who own bikes, 7 million of whom are children. pic.twitter.com/GfmguU2eCY
— Good Morning Britain (@GMB) August 7, 2020
Duncan Dollimore of Cycling UK tried to explain the complications and costs involved in registering millions of bicycles in the UK to Mr Freeman, saying: “The reality is that 99.3% of pedestrians who die on our roads are involved in a collision with a motor vehicle. We have a situation where 41 cyclists died last year in a collision with drivers. No driver or car passenger was involved in a death in those and haven’t been in recent years.
“The reality is that statistically cyclists don’t present that risk, so we don’t regulate them the same way that we regulate drivers. If we chose to regulate them (cyclists) we’d have to regulate people owning 25 million bikes in the UK, including 7 million children who ride bikes regularly.”
He says if drivers are getting penalised for road offences, cyclists should too. pic.twitter.com/b20pM43GKp
— Good Morning Britain (@GMB) August 7, 2020
Freeman then pulls out his “registered tabard” idea that he has floated numerous times in the past, saying: “I’m suggesting that all cyclists should be registered, there should be a registered tabard, identifiable with that particular person so that we know at any one time who is on a cycle.”
When he first appeared in court last year, 21-year-old Joshua Lewis was handed a conditional caution, and told he would face no further punishment if he wrote a letter of apology to the victim and paid £50 compensation; but although Lewis wrote the letter in custody, he never paid the fine. Lewis’ solicitor said that he was unable to pay the £50, commenting: “It says on the conditional caution that it was means tested but it was not.
“He was on benefits and that total amount was £340 a month which had to pay for his accommodation. He didn’t have enough money for bills let alone £50 compensation.”
The Sentinel reports that Lewis pushed the victim off his bike “for no reason”, claiming he was drunk at the time.
The court heard that Lewis is now working for FedEx. He has admitted assault, with magistrates handing him a 12 month conditional discharge, and ordering him to pay £135 costs, £50 compensation and a £21 victim surcharge.
Following the death of a 24-year-old cyclist in the south-east London park back in June, the Met Police have put out a new appeal for witnesses.
Police were called just after 6pm on Sunday 28th June after reports of a collision in The Avenue, Greenwich Park. The cyclist was taken to hospital but died from his injuries on 16th July, and police are still trying to “establish the circumstances surrounding the collision and how the man came to be injured.”
PC Tony Butler commented: “A significant number of people would have been in the park at the time of the collision.
“I’m aware some time has passed since the date of the incident but I’m hoping somebody will be able to help with our investigation.”
Anyone for information is asked to call 101 quoting CAD 6309/28JUN.
After cobbling together a few hundred quid during his student days off the back of a hard winter selling hats (long story), Jack bought his first road bike at the age of 20 and has been hooked ever since. He was Staff Writer at 220 Triathlon magazine for two years before joining road.cc in 2017, and reports on all things tech as well as editing the road.cc live blog. He is also the news editor of our electric-powered sister site eBikeTips. Jack’s preferred events are time trials, sportives, triathlons and pogo sticking (the latter being another long story), and on Sunday afternoons he can often be found on an M5 service station indulging in his favourite post-race meal of 20 chicken nuggets, a sausage roll, caramel shortbread and a large strawberry milkshake.
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