Funny thing this morning

[The fat commuter]

This morning I was on a course in Manchester. Was walking along a road when a cyclist approached a red traffic light next to me and, seeing that the way was clear, proceeded to ride through it. Unfortunately for him there were two police officers on bikes behind him who shouted at him. He stopped, looked at them and saw that they were on mountain bikes whilst he was on a road bike and he took off. The police started riding after him but gave up when they realised that the lad on a road bike was well ahead of them without even really trying.

While I know that it's totally wrong, it did give me quite a humorous start to the day.

[661-Pete]

A road bike is not a guarantee of greater speed. Leastways, I ride a road bike, and.....

[karlt]

This morning I was on a course in Manchester. Was walking along a road when a cyclist approached a red traffic light next to me and, seeing that the way was clear, proceeded to ride through it. Unfortunately for him there were two police officers on bikes behind him who shouted at him. He stopped, looked at them and saw that they were on mountain bikes whilst he was on a road bike and he took off. The police started riding after him but gave up when they realised that the lad on a road bike was well ahead of them without even really trying.

While I know that it's totally wrong, it did give me quite a humorous start to the day.

I expect they radio'd ahead to a traffic car. They are faster than road bikes

[gaz]

A road bike is not a guarantee of greater speed.

It's not about the bike: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=90510&p=868396#p868320

[Postboxer]

What would they do if they did catch up though? Push you off a moving bike? Saw a clip on one of the road police tv shows where a police car was following a slow moped for miles, not daring knock them off, then a police motorbike came and they didn't know what to do either, eventually reaching out with a truncheon across the moped rider's chest and they stopped.

There was two of them, couldn't they have slipstreamed each other to make up for being on worse bikes? Keep taking turns, want to experiment to see if this would work. You'd think if the cops cycled around much they wouldn't be too slow.

[mercalia]

seems like time to have pursuit-cycle cops as they do with cars that are supped up for pursuits?

[[XAP]Bob]

seems like time to have pursuit-cycle cops as they do with cars that are supped up for pursuits?

Just add an exception to the ebik regs - an additional 500W or 1kW would see them speed up....

[Tonyf33]

It would appear the fitness levels of plod have dropped, what's the point in putting PCs on bikes if a the bikes are too cumbersome/heavy and/or the constables using them aren't fit enough to do anything other than trundle around.

[Flinders]

It would appear the fitness levels of plod have dropped, what's the point in putting PCs on bikes if a the bikes are too cumbersome/heavy and/or the constables using them aren't fit enough to do anything other than trundle around.

You may have a point. A member of the public on a bike did a bit better here:
http://www.expressandstar.com/news/2015/10/05/passing-driver-and-cyclist-help-catch-robber/

[mercalia]

It would appear the fitness levels of plod have dropped, what's the point in putting PCs on bikes if a the bikes are too cumbersome/heavy and/or the constables using them aren't fit enough to do anything other than trundle around.

yes quite a few fat ones around here and they seem to be getting smaller?

[LollyKat]

They've been getting younger for years!

[blackbike]

I live in Manchester and in my experience the police don't bother cyclists that much if at all.

I suppose their work experiences tell them that cyclists are not really a problem however they behave.

They did have a half-hearted clampdown on pavement cycling for a week once, but I think that was to ingratiate themselves with car drivers.

[Redvee]

The Police do chase them.

[youtube]FEVakb2Q9l8[/youtube]

[The fat commuter]

I live in Manchester and in my experience the police don't bother cyclists that much if at all.

I think that it was this set of traffic lights on Princess Street:
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@53.47874 ... 312!8i6656


By the time the cyclist had got to what I think is Portland Street, the police had stopped chasing.

[661-Pete]

The Police do chase them.

If there's one place you can guarantee that there'll be plenty of Plod around, it's Whitehall. Especially since Plebgate....