Four cyclists fined as police force shares footage of group ride stopped
for ignoring red light
"Stopped these four cyclists after they were observed contravening a red traffic light. Fixed penalty notices issued to all."...
by DAN ALEXANDER
SUN, JAN 14, 2024 15:08
A group ride in Surrey was stopped by police this weekend, with all four cyclists issued fixed penalty notices after "contravening a red traffic light".
In footage shared on social media by Surrey RoadSafe, a partnership between the county's police force and council "working to reduce the number of
people killed and seriously injured on Surrey roads", the group of four riders are seen at the front of a queue of stationary traffic at a junction in Esher.
Turning right off Copsem Lane (A244) onto Milbourne Lane, the traffic
lights are seen on red when the group made the turn at 8:40am on Saturday
13 January, according to the date and time seen on the police car's
recording system.
As the riders made the right turn a police vehicle was being driven just behind, the driver rolling up to the stop line as the group turned across
the junction, the police following moments before the group was stopped and issued fixed penalty notices.
"Vanguard Road Safety Team stopped these four cyclists in Esher after they were observed contravening a red traffic light," Surrey RoadSafe told followers on social media. "FPNs issued to all."
The video has been viewed more than 75,000 times since it was uploaded to social media this morning, sparking hundreds of replies. Some have
questioned why the force chose to share a video showing the group already across the stop line, cycling lawyer for Leigh Day law firm Rory McCarron suggesting it would be "surely more dangerous for them to wait in the junction?"
"Why is this video unnecessarily cropped to show the cyclists already
passed the stop line and not crossing this when the light is red?" he
asked. "Surely more dangerous for them to wait in the junction? Highway
Code: 'Red means 'Stop'. Wait behind the stop line on the carriageway'."
Replying to another response, he added: "I don't in any way dispute some cyclists contravene traffic signals and I don't endorse that in any way. If you are law enforcement posting offences for public awareness — make sure you show the actual offence being committed. This doesn't."
Another comment, from Dave McCraw, said: "It would be nice if the video showed an offence, since the way that junction works is for traffic to sit
in the right lane past the white line at which point they are free to turn even on red. I'm sure it happened, but the video shows no offence."
"You should have shown the offence, that would have stopped all these challenges," a third response suggested. However, others have argued it
would be more constructive to use the case as an example that cyclists jumping red lights are subject to police action too, the claim to the contrary often heard from certain anti-cycling types.
Real Gaz on a proper bike, author of the Cycling South Tyneside website, said: "Cycling Twitter can be its own worst enemy sometimes. Police post a video with some cyclists being done for crossing a red light. To the
halfwits out there that's clear cut. Use it to show cyclists don't get a
free pass, rather than arguing the far end of a fart."
road.cc contacted Surrey Police for comment but had not received a reply at the time of publication.
Despite the claims of some, we regularly see police action against cyclists ignoring red lights, a September 'Vulnerable Road User' initiative in Edinburgh resulting in cyclists fined.
In February 2022, officers in the London Borough of Hackney reported fining 18 cyclists during a 90-minute operation.
<https://road.cc/content/news/police-force-shares-footage-cyclists-fined-306183>
On 02/02/2024 03:06 pm, Spike wrote:
Four cyclists fined as police force shares footage of group ride stopped
for ignoring red light
"Stopped these four cyclists after they were observed contravening a red
traffic light. Fixed penalty notices issued to all."...
by DAN ALEXANDER
SUN, JAN 14, 2024 15:08
A group ride in Surrey was stopped by police this weekend, with all four
cyclists issued fixed penalty notices after "contravening a red traffic
light".
In footage shared on social media by Surrey RoadSafe, a partnership between >> the county's police force and council "working to reduce the number of
people killed and seriously injured on Surrey roads", the group of four
riders are seen at the front of a queue of stationary traffic at a junction >> in Esher.
Turning right off Copsem Lane (A244) onto Milbourne Lane, the traffic
lights are seen on red when the group made the turn at 8:40am on Saturday
13 January, according to the date and time seen on the police car's
recording system.
As the riders made the right turn a police vehicle was being driven just
behind, the driver rolling up to the stop line as the group turned across
the junction, the police following moments before the group was stopped and >> issued fixed penalty notices.
"Vanguard Road Safety Team stopped these four cyclists in Esher after they >> were observed contravening a red traffic light," Surrey RoadSafe told
followers on social media. "FPNs issued to all."
The video has been viewed more than 75,000 times since it was uploaded to
social media this morning, sparking hundreds of replies. Some have
questioned why the force chose to share a video showing the group already
across the stop line, cycling lawyer for Leigh Day law firm Rory McCarron
suggesting it would be "surely more dangerous for them to wait in the
junction?"
"Why is this video unnecessarily cropped to show the cyclists already
passed the stop line and not crossing this when the light is red?" he
asked. "Surely more dangerous for them to wait in the junction? Highway
Code: 'Red means 'Stop'. Wait behind the stop line on the carriageway'."
Replying to another response, he added: "I don't in any way dispute some
cyclists contravene traffic signals and I don't endorse that in any way. If >> you are law enforcement posting offences for public awareness — make sure >> you show the actual offence being committed. This doesn't."
Another comment, from Dave McCraw, said: "It would be nice if the video
showed an offence, since the way that junction works is for traffic to sit >> in the right lane past the white line at which point they are free to turn >> even on red. I'm sure it happened, but the video shows no offence."
"You should have shown the offence, that would have stopped all these
challenges," a third response suggested. However, others have argued it
would be more constructive to use the case as an example that cyclists
jumping red lights are subject to police action too, the claim to the
contrary often heard from certain anti-cycling types.
Real Gaz on a proper bike, author of the Cycling South Tyneside website,
said: "Cycling Twitter can be its own worst enemy sometimes. Police post a >> video with some cyclists being done for crossing a red light. To the
halfwits out there that's clear cut. Use it to show cyclists don't get a
free pass, rather than arguing the far end of a fart."
road.cc contacted Surrey Police for comment but had not received a reply at >> the time of publication.
Despite the claims of some, we regularly see police action against cyclists >> ignoring red lights, a September 'Vulnerable Road User' initiative in
Edinburgh resulting in cyclists fined.
In February 2022, officers in the London Borough of Hackney reported fining >> 18 cyclists during a 90-minute operation.
<https://road.cc/content/news/police-force-shares-footage-cyclists-fined-306183>
Why on Earth should the police be under any obligation to show a video
of the chav-cyclist actually committing one of their many offences? It
is quite enough that the offence has been witnessed and the testimony available.
Can a burglar only be convicted if the breaking-in was caught on video?
Does apprehending a murderer not count unless there happens to have been
a police officer with a body-worn camera on the spot to witness and
record the slaying (or the mowing-down on the FOOTway by the
chav-cyclist concerned)?
Road.cc, eh?
May Sun's attitude (no doubt): "There is no actual video of the Moors
murders being committed and certainly none of the A6 Murder. So Brady, Hindley and Hanratty should all have been acquitted and also have been
paid a big compo pot for their time in unlawful custody".
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