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Canterbury City Council to clamp down on “reckless” food delivery riders

Council considering controversial Public Space Protection Order to further restrict cycling in city centre

Canterbury City Council says it will clamp down on “reckless” food delivery cyclists because of the risk they are perceived to pose to pedestrians in parts of the city – and may introduce a Public Space Protection Order to further restrict cycling in the centre of the cathedral city.

Cycling is banned between 10.30am and 4.30pm on Canterbury’s High Street, but Kent Online reports that the council will write to companies including Uber Eats and Deliveroo after members debated the issue last week.

As well as the High Street, there are also concerns about pedestrian safety being put at risk on St George’s Street and St Peter’s Street.

Kent Police are reported to have warned food delivery firms operating in the city about issues including workers riding too fast through the city centre, in particular during the evenings.

One pensioner, Terry Burke, told the council meeting that he had to visit a minor injuries unit for treatment after he was struck on the hand by a cyclist delivering food.

He said: “I speak from real experience and was lucky not to fall. It could have been a child.

“I wrote to the council to complain but never heard back, but the police were very good and spoke to Deliveroo.”

Lib Dem Councillor Nick Eden said that the rise of food delivery companies had  “bred the escalation of the whole problem” of anti-social cycling in the city centre, while Tory Councillor Louise Jones said delivery riders were “reckless.”

Doug Rattray, the council’s safer neighbourhoods chief Doug Rattray, suggested that further restrictions on cycling could be made through a PSPO– which are opposed by the charity Cycling UK, which has in the past described them as “an ASBO to restrict the use of public space.”

> Cycling UK looks to fight town centre "ASBOs" for riding a bike

A spokesman for Uber Eats told Kent Online: “We’re currently investigating these reports. Safety is a top priority and any courier breaching road laws can be removed from the Uber Eats app.”

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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16 comments

Avatar
alansmurphy | 5 years ago
2 likes

Crymble, sometimes generalisations work though.

 

I'm a leisure cyclist and I commute 20 miles a day by bike; the majority of grown ups on bikes I see are decent enough. However, when I work in london I'd suggest 20% or so are deviant. Thus those in the rat race, already angry in their tin boxes tarnish all cyclists with the 20% that have (for no actual reason) make them angry.

 

Deliveroo drivers, pizza delivery drivers on scooters etc. will face the same. The nature of the job means you're under pressure to move quickly. Many do not have the adequate equipment or fortitude to consider the safety of others or themselves. If these are the ones that you see as often as not then it's likely you'll form that opinion...

Avatar
alansmurphy | 5 years ago
3 likes

Won't someone think of the children!

 

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Broady. | 5 years ago
1 like

The Deliveroos / Ubers in Leeds are a nightmare, I don't know how more don't end up hit by cars / peds. Blast straight through busy junctions on reds and through pedestrian precincts at full clip, usually with headphones too. Gotta admire the hustle I guess.

Always going to be an issue with incentivised deliveries, whether taxi or courier.

Avatar
brooksby replied to Broady. | 5 years ago
5 likes

Broady. wrote:

...

Always going to be an issue with incentivised deliveries, whether taxi or courier.

And skip lorries.  Any activity where you are paid per delivery, and/or you have to get it to That Place by a particular time, and you aren't really given enough time...

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Dnnnnnn replied to brooksby | 5 years ago
0 likes

brooksby wrote:

Broady. wrote:

...

Always going to be an issue with incentivised deliveries, whether taxi or courier.

And skip lorries.  Any activity where you are paid per delivery, and/or you have to get it to That Place by a particular time, and you aren't really given enough time...

And are effectively anonymous. Registration plates for all cyclists is a nonsense but I do wonder if having one on those big boxes would encourage more responsible riding.

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LastBoyScout | 5 years ago
1 like

If this is an article about Canterbury, why have you got a picture of the Oracle Riverside in Reading?

That's really poor journalism.

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lllnorrislll replied to LastBoyScout | 5 years ago
1 like
LastBoyScout wrote:

If this is an article about Canterbury, why have you got a picture of the Oracle Riverside in Reading?

That's really poor journalism.

Because a Delivroo rider in full sky kit, aero wheels, fuels the idea that they are 'racing' around the town / city, rather than a rider in a cheap coat on a BSO trying to earn a fair wage.

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jh27 replied to LastBoyScout | 5 years ago
0 likes

LastBoyScout wrote:

If this is an article about Canterbury, why have you got a picture of the Oracle Riverside in Reading?

That's really poor journalism.

 

They could have at least used a photo from the other (quieter) side of the river where cycling is prohibited and it isn't part of NCN4.

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burtthebike | 5 years ago
4 likes

I wonder what a comparison of pedestrian injuries by collision with vehicle, either bicycle or a car, would reveal?

But it's the bikes we need to ban. 

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Hirsute replied to burtthebike | 5 years ago
2 likes
burtthebike wrote:

I wonder what a comparison of pedestrian injuries by collision with vehicle, either bicycle or a car, would reveal?

But it's the bikes we need to ban. 

Well, deliveroo bikers anyhow.
They do seem to disregard most of the basic laws, which in turn leads to comments such as "all you cyclists".

Avatar
crymble replied to Hirsute | 5 years ago
4 likes

hirsute wrote:
burtthebike wrote:

I wonder what a comparison of pedestrian injuries by collision with vehicle, either bicycle or a car, would reveal?

But it's the bikes we need to ban. 

Well, deliveroo bikers anyhow. They do seem to disregard most of the basic laws, which in turn leads to comments such as "all you cyclists".

 1 I like your tarring all of us Deliveroo riders with the same brush while complaining that drivers do the same about "all you cyclists." SOME Deliveroo riders disregard most of the basic laws, the same as SOME cyclists disregard most of the basic laws.

Personally I do stop at all red lights, too dangerous not to.

 

Avatar
Hirsute replied to crymble | 5 years ago
0 likes
crymble wrote:

 1 I like your tarring all of us Deliveroo riders with the same brush while complaining that drivers do the same about "all you cyclists." SOME Deliveroo riders disregard most of the basic laws, the same as SOME cyclists disregard most of the basic laws.

Personally I do stop at all red lights, too dangerous not to.

 

I see deliveroo people nearly every lunchtime and evening as both a pedestrian and cyclist, so my comments reflect that.
A small number do stop at lights, but that prompts comment of rarity.
The reasons for this and examples of other similar road users are given earlier in the topic postings

As a matter of interest, are deliveroo cyclists mandatorily required to have 3rd party insurance ?

Avatar
crymble replied to Hirsute | 5 years ago
0 likes

hirsute wrote:
crymble wrote:

 

 1 I like your tarring all of us Deliveroo riders with the same brush while complaining that drivers do the same about "all you cyclists." SOME Deliveroo riders disregard most of the basic laws, the same as SOME cyclists disregard most of the basic laws.

Personally I do stop at all red lights, too dangerous not to.

 

I see deliveroo people nearly every lunchtime and evening as both a pedestrian and cyclist, so my comments reflect that. A small number do stop at lights, but that prompts comment of rarity. The reasons for this and examples of other similar road users are given earlier in the topic postings As a matter of interest, are deliveroo cyclists mandatorily required to have 3rd party insurance ?

 

To be fair - I do get annoyed at other riders who don't obey the rules (Deliveroo and non-Deliveroo,) and I accept that their/our pressure to deliver (and that we are paid per delivery rather than per hour,) could cause more riders to be reckless with the rules. 

I think originally there was no insurance supplied, but now all riders have rider insurance provided by Deliveroo (to cover our own loss of earnings and/or 3rd party insurance.)

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brooksby | 5 years ago
4 likes

Out of interest, where was pensioner Terry Burke when he was struck on the hand by a speeding food delivery cyclist? Was he in a shared use area? Was he on a footpath? Was he crossing a road? Was he sauntering along a cycle path? Details matter, and location surely colours the whole anecdote...

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scouser_andy | 5 years ago
3 likes

If you give people a financial incentive to get around quicker, i.e. making more deliveries/taxi journies, then many people will hoon around and break the law as a result.

 

Avatar
Butty | 5 years ago
7 likes

And fast food deliveries by car aren't done recklessly? Lewis Hamilton couldn't keep up with them in my town.

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