The Government proposes mini-Hollands for all as a part of its cycle plans. The Netherlands is a country of 17 million where there were 228 cycle fatalities in 2018. In the U.K, a country of 65 million there were 99 cycle fatalities. Going Dutch May not be such a good idea. pic.twitter.com/MEwO9szqvt
— Vincent Stops (@VincentStops) February 18, 2020
Vincent Stops, who is a councillor in the Hackney Central Ward, claims that the 228 cycling deaths in the Netherlands in 2018 compared to Britain's 99 despite our much higher population means it "may not be such a good idea" to adopt Dutch cycling infrastructure; however as many have pointed out under his post, Mr Stops appears to have omitted stats regarding how many Dutch people actually ride compared to the UK; cycling made up just 1% of mileage of all vehicular traffic in 2018 here, while in the Netherlands cycling accounts for 27% of all trips. There is also 1.3 bicycles per person in the Netherlands and 84% of the Dutch own a bike, so it's far more likely people who die in traffic accidents will be on a bike.
oops.
NL average cycling mileage is 13 TIMES higher than UK— Bryan (@Bryan13571) February 18, 2020
In the same way that England is a much safer place to ski than Austria
— Jim Stanley (@flat__stanley) February 18, 2020
Mr Stops regularly shares articles warning against implementing Dutch cycling infrastructure, and also appears to be wholly against the sight of Jump dockless hire bikes in his Hackney locale...
Somebody should be clearing these off London's streets. pic.twitter.com/6NMwonToUR
— Vincent Stops (@VincentStops) February 14, 2020
If you have a flood damaged bike I may be able to fix it for you.
Not everyone has insurance.
Some people rely on their bikes for transport.
If I have the parts you are welcome to them and I will do the work for FREE if it helps.#cycling#recycle#freebikes#community#newportpic.twitter.com/UPvnczIgC6— PuffaJones (@PuffaJones) February 18, 2020
The big-hearted mechanic who goes by the name PuffaJones picks up and restores bikes to be given out for free, and believes 'every child deserves a bike'. He's now helping out those affected by flooding, offering free repairs to fix flood-damaged bikes if he has the parts to get the bike up-and-running again.
Mr Jones is regularly on the hunt for unwanted bikes that can be given out to those who need them - if you have anything suitable you can contact hm via the Twitter profile above.
"An environmentally-friendly rubber pavement could prevent thousands of injuries in the UK by cushioning the blow when people fall"
An interesting way to make our streets more #AgeFriendly! Would you like to see rubberised pavements in the UK? Read more: https://t.co/bUxNjJAwGXpic.twitter.com/zpjDHOKuNz
— Age UK London (@ageuklondon) February 17, 2020
The idea was first conceived to cushion the blow when people fall, but iNews reports that the rubberised paving made form old tyres could also be used on cycle lanes too. It's been trialled in the Swedish cities of Lund and Helsingborg, and if successful the developers hope it could become common throughout Europe in the next five years - full story to follow.
Andrzej Wojcicki was looking at pictures on his mobile phone when he caused the death of Owain Jones in July 2013 by crashing his minibus into him, and today a judge has rejected his application to have a ten year driving ban rejected - Wojcicki was also jailed for five years in August 2014. Full story to follow.
The 23-year-old Colombian won the Breakthrough Award at the prestigious ceremony yesterday, becoming the first cyclist to win a Laureus Award since... a certain Lance Armstrong, who won the Comeback Award in 2000 and the overall Sportsman of the Year gong in 2003 (both were rescinded after his doping confessions). Other nominees in Bernal's category were Andy Ruiz (boxing), Bianca Andreescu (tennis), Coco Gauff (tennis), the Japan men's rugby team and Regan Smith (swimming).
Lewis Hamilton and Lionel Messi shared the 2020 Sportsman of the Year Award, while gymnast Simon Biles won Sportswoman of the Year.
He claimed he had just been to a house party, but refused to say where and police could smell cannabis.https://t.co/pSmuvUbJni
— The Press (@yorkpress) February 17, 2020
The t-shirt might not have helped his case (click through to see the slogan), as the York Press report that 29-year-old Joseph Mark Hambier was caught with almost £2,000 worth of drugs including ecstasy and cannabis while cycling through York city centre at 1.25am.
Officers were searching for suspects on an unrelated matter when they stopped Hambier and another man on bikes and searched their bags, finding drugs and drug paraphernalia in his rucksack; 79 ecstasy tablets were found in total, and police also found messages related to drug dealind on his phone.
Hambier pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply ecstasy and possession with intent to supply cannabis, and was jailed for 28 months. The judge took into account his "long-standing complex mental health problems" and mild depression; however a psychiatrist decided his mental health difficulties were unrelated to his drug dealing.
'Closing in on a killer' tells the story of how the killer of Dr Martin Pearson was eventually brought to justice, after the police set out on an extraordinary complex mission to find the suspect. It was found that the killer was the same man who had been involved in a mysterious death almost six years to the day - a tough watch but a fascinating one.
There's biker on youtube who has fixed an egg holder to his handlebars and throws eggs at people who pull out on him etc. Can't remember his name but I think that's bloody brilliant 🤣🤣
— ♡PrizeBITCH♡|🌈♊️ (@char_watt) February 17, 2020
Heard worse ideas!