Cycling and walking in the UK seem a bit wild. Can you back this up with some evidence? #solobikepacking #unitedkingdome #dangerousbiking #sillybritishlaws #solobikepacking #unitedkingdome #dangerousbiking #sillybritishlaws #solobikepacking #unitedkingdome #dangerousbiking #sillybritishlaws #solobikepacking #unitedkingdome #dangerousbiking #sillybritishlaws
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Hey everybody, welcome to the channel for a minute. I’m going to be going outside to make a video, but right now I want to talk about something that’s I just heard about over in the UK. Somebody help me out with that one over there in the UK. What’s happening with bicycle laws? But the main thing is Carl Vernon. I don’t know if you watch Carl Vernon. Please watch Carl Vernon. And this I’m going to put it in the description. This quick uh 2 or 3 minute thing that he just did. I watch him a lot. He lives over there and it gives a really great perspective of what’s going on. But if you live there too, and I know some of you do, uh let me know what’s going on and uh if you agree. And he’s talking about people like just getting their phones snatched uh on trails. I had a a subscriber or someone in the comments say that he and his wife were just sitting at a bench and somebody came by while they weren’t. He said, “Hey, look over there.” And he took their phone and you know, these are just like petty things, right? This law uh this watch the video, but real quickly uh this cyclist had a video of himself. He he filmed it the police pulling him over and uh for riding with no hands. Now, I could see that happening. you know, maybe over here if you were out of control or something. But what they were going to do is cite him for uh uh watch it something to do with put uh human rights. I don’t know what it was. Some crazy law and and he called him on it. But I’m hearing more and more about uh not so much here in the US. I mean, we’ve, you know, it’s going good here for that kind of stuff other than we just need better bicycle lanes and stuff, but over there they have some wacky laws they’re coming up with and and they Anyway, so let me know what you think and put it in the comments if you live over there and you’re experiencing some of this petty theft and even some other things going on with cyclist and just people in general. you know, I’m talking about just people, cyclists, people walking on bike trails. Uh anyway, and I I do have a couple other subscribers um that are in England uh and in the UK, Island of White, and I’m hearing just, you know, kind of off stories and I don’t know if it’s just because I’m in the al algorithm or what’s going on there, you know. All right. Well, let me know what you think. I think uh I’m always looking out and wondering about the safety of cyclists in other countries and what it’s like uh where I haven’t been. I kind of know what it’s like where I’ve been. And I have friends who live there right now and they tell me what it’s like every day. And I have a pulse on those places, but not on places where I’m uh don’t have anyone that I know. So, please like and subscribe if you just dropped by and you haven’t been here before. If you are one of my subscribers, thank you. and I’m getting ready to head out into the heat and talk about what I take on my real quick overnight trips.
11 Comments
Its not really a new thing, ten years ago the thieves ride of choice was a stolen 500cc maxi scooter. Now they ride electric dirt bikes so the government is taking its usual approach of blaming an object whilst failing to deal with the actual perpetrators of crimes effectively, if at all.
To be honest I think locking your bike up/leaving it unattended is the biggest risk if your touring here unless your riding something particularly flashy. I had seen a number of articles about how people were getting targeted on rides round a popular spot for roadies in London (Richman Park I think, I'm not a Londoner).
I don't think I would say the UK is dangerous but it defiantly doesn't feel safe anymore.
Put it this way, i feel safer cycling in the UK than i would visiting the US right now…..maybe its a media thing….
Bad people, probably not just in the UK, definitely use bikes, including e bikes, to ride past and steal phones while they are in use. That means the phone is already open and they don't need to bypass any security. Mainly in the larger built up areas and cities though, not heard of anything like this happening on trails that do not run through built up areas. Surely watching a video while riding a bike hands free (if that's what you meant) would fall into the category of not being in control and probably an offence in most places where there are other people.
It's a rooky cop who doesn't know the law.
We have stupid laws that allow people to import and own e-bikes even though they're illegal for use on public roads. A couple of years ago a couple of youths died when they lost control of their illegal e-bike and crashed. The response of the local community was to start a riot.
A lot of the bicycle and e-bike legislation is based around the officer's understanding of the law which is very often flawed or an incomplete picture. For example, in the UK it's illegal for any cyclist to "pedal furiously"… Wtf does that even mean lol it's subjective not to mention that it makes no sense to police how furiously someone is pedaling. We have a genuine problem with cyclists and e bikers running lights yet the police seem absent in almost all of those cases! I do understand that a lot of it is an infrastructure issue however I don't understand how European countries can have such good biking infrastructure (I can personally attest to Dutch cycling infrastructure being top notch) while ours is generally rubbish or significantly lacking in a lot of areas. I'd even go as far as to say that some North American cities are better than the average British city for cycling as at least they understand that bicycle traffic and car traffic should be mostly separate.
Almost everyone on an e-Bike in the UK is basically a criminal: not just the ones who are actively robbing people but all of the rest who are criminalising themselves perpetually on the pavement (which you call Sidewalk), going the wrong way down 1-way roads and having no lights at night. The cities are overrun by them.
The only reason I did not hit a teen on one last week was because I obey my town's obscenely low speed limit (20mph): it was 22:00, dark, he was on the wrong side of the road with no lights and coming right at me while motioning a car on the other side of the road to move so he could get over (his fuckwit mate was in the way of THAT car).
Every other day in the city I am almost knocked over by the Deliveroo riders on the pavement/going the wrong way then having to squeezed by their bikes as they block the entrances to shops when they park. They are a pure scourge.
My mate was knocked unconscious by one last year as he was crossing at Pelican (push the button to control the lights).
Not sure the drama here, no hands means no brakes seems a fair cop (saying in england) to me
I enjoy a bit of Carl Vernon myself.
I used to ride a lot in London before it became popular. (Former cycle courier in Sydney) Nowadays I find the cycling in London isn't much fun as the other cyclist seems quite dangerous. Lack of signaling etc (as a courier back in the day I knew every traffic light sequence so knew when I could jump them safely ) even now I do find some traffic lights extremely pointless. But am generally accepting of them if I don't know them. But I live in the middle of nowhere so hardly see them unless on tour.
I don't think I'd ride no handed in a city even if I was on a fixed wheel and could use leg speed for braking etc, it's not worth it, it must be an age thing.
I don't think the policewoman knew what she was talking about, personally.
Love the videos.
In 2023 1,666 cyclists were killed on US roads and 341,774 injured.
In 2023 87 cyclists were killed on UK roads and 14,912 injured.
The population of the US is 5 times that of the UK which means that cyclists are 3.7 times more likely to be killed and 4.6 times more likely to be injured in the US than the UK.
In 2023 7314 pedestrians were killed on US roads and 68,244 injured.
In 2023 405 pedestrians were killed on UK roads and 18,858 injured.
This means that pedestrians are 3.7 times more likely to be killed and 0.7 times less likely to be injured in the US than the UK.
Biking and walking in the US actually is dangerous.
Getting charged for riding without hands was just bad luck. The cop was probably having a bad day. In most cases the cop will just tell the cyclist to ride his bike correctly and that would be the end of the matter.
That said, misbehaving cyclists have become a problem in most European countries with people riding on pavements, in pedestrian precincts and simply ignoring traffic signs. Red light runners are also a common sight. It seems, as soon as many people get on their bikes they forget the highway code and think they can do whatever they want.