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news
Grant Shapps TV interview (public domain)Confusion as Grant Shapps now says he is "not attracted to bureaucracy" of number plates for cyclists
Confusion reigned this morning as transport minister Grant Shapps' comments in an interview given to The Times appeared to contradict his widely-reported pledge to enforce tougher rules, namely possibly introducing number plates for cyclists, as part of the current legal review.
> Grant Shapps: Cyclists should have number plates, be insured and subject to speed limits
Speaking to the national newspaper, the Tory cabinet minister said: "I'm a keen cyclist, I'm very proud of the big expansion in the number of miles being cycled. I'm not attracted to the bureaucracy of registration plates. That would go too far."
These comments, published in a story on the front page of The Times, contrast with Shapps' interview simultaneously published on the front page of the Daily Mail, in which he says he "absolutely proposes extending speed limit restrictions to cyclists" before stating: "That obviously does then lead you into the question of 'well, how are you going to recognise the cyclist, do you need registration plates and insurance and that sort of thing?'"
Wednesday's Mail: Cyclists May Need Number Plates #TomorrowsPapersToday #DailyMail #Mail pic.twitter.com/xwsJplT1sW
— Tomorrows Papers Today (@TmorrowsPapers) August 16, 2022
The Mail interview prompted something of a media frenzy, with talk shows, news outlets and social media filled with debate about the prospect of cyclists needing a number plate to use the roads.
road.cc contacted the Department for Transport for clarification on the matter and were told: "It's just proposals. No new policy has been introduced as of yet. The Times piece is the more accurate reflection of the Transport Secretary's view. That's his position on it."
The Department for Transport is likely to clarify the position further in the coming hours.
Speaking to the Mail, Shapps said: "Somewhere where cyclists are actually not breaking the law is when they speed, and that cannot be right, so I absolutely propose extending speed limit restrictions to cyclists.
"Particularly where you've got 20mph limits on increasing numbers of roads, cyclists can easily exceed those, so I want to make speed limits apply to cyclists.
"That obviously does then lead you into the question of 'well, how are you going to recognise the cyclist, do you need registration plates and insurance and that sort of thing.
"So I'm proposing there should be a review of insurance and how you actually track cyclists who do break the laws [via identifiable markings].
"I don't want to stop people from getting on their bike, it's a fantastic way to travel, we've seen a big explosion of cycling during Covid and since, I think it has lots of health benefits.
"But I see no reason why cyclists should break the road laws, why they should speed, why they should bust red lights and be able to get away with it and I think we do have to not turn a blind eye to that and I’m proposing setting up a review to do exactly that."
Dan is the road.cc news editor and joined in 2020 having previously written about nearly every other sport under the sun for the Express, and the weird and wonderful world of non-league football for The Non-League Paper. Dan has been at road.cc for four years and mainly writes news and tech articles as well as the occasional feature. He has hopefully kept you entertained on the live blog too.
Never fast enough to take things on the bike too seriously, when he's not working you'll find him exploring the south of England by two wheels at a leisurely weekend pace, or enjoying his favourite Scottish roads when visiting family. Sometimes he'll even load up the bags and ride up the whole way, he's a bit strange like that.
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Saw this piece on Gandruia about the only country that has mandatory cycle registration: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/aug/17/north-korea-where-bicycle-licence-plates-are-non-negotiable-grant-shapps
They also ban women from cycling, so is that Grant's next bright idea?
No, but he thinks they should be taxed.
Taxing women?
Hmmmm.
I wouldn't be surprised at anything with this lot. After all, they're now the UKIP/ Brexit Party in all but name. I remember one prominent UKIP member's comments about slovenly women not "cleaning behind the fridge". These are the "values" supported by many of their members after all. , Not sure why they're determined to elect a woman as leader though, although she does support a lot of their other values,
like calling Britons lazier than foreigners and avoiding "handouts" for struggling families while promoting tax cuts.
They were put in the tough (for them) position of choosing between a woman and a non-white man.
Will Olympic sprinters need a registration plate to cross the road?
It'll need 7 armed officers to arrest them.
Only if they're with a chicken
Who would have thought it, confused messaging from a member of Bozo's cabinet.
Sack Shatts. Idiot!
Here's a politician scoring political points that will empower the moron motorist with his Shatty utterances. How many more cyclists will be injured or worse following Shatt's shit chat?
What a Shitter.
Boris. Sort him out!
Boris is currently extremely busy with his
caretaking dutiessummer holiday, so he won't be doing much of anythingThis is a very real concern. I'm out the door and cycling into work before most, so the roads are quiet, but on the way home - now that the gammons have had time to rouse from thier sleep and wank themselves raw to the DM front page - I wouldn't be surprised to see a few more punishment passes.
It's the Max Cady types you've got to keep an eye out for. They never ever forgive. Or forget.
Shapps the Shit.
A couple of questions:
1) I only really ride offroad, will I need a number plate for that too and if the answer is yes please can it be a soft one in case I fall onto it?
2) Will my children also need a number plate for riding to school and if they break the speed limits will they go to prison?
This agent provocateur forcing his mum to break the law should definitely go to prison.
If your kids ride a Grifter. Their insurance premiums will be double the average due to the distraction caused by the suspect 3 gear shifting mechanism.
I fear for unicyclists. They'll have to pay by direct debit.
With a grifter, definitely need to pay road tax as the weight of it would really wear the roads. And if dropped on one the resurfacing work needed.
Those Sturmey Archer units were rough going. I hit many a curb trying to get some transmission. No claims bonus. My arse!
Don't even want a Risk Assessment on the olde Chopper stick shift then.....premiums will be massive!
That was a family bike as could carry 6 kids on it if you ignored the safety warning on the saddle.
And would you need to make a Statutory Offroad Notification?
3a) Shouldn't horses, ponies etc need number plates as well?
3b) How do you fit a speedo(meter) to/on a horse?
3bi) Good luck with calibration!
Not needed as by definition they're limited to 1hp.
Weirdly, I had a little look at hp, because of the previous death by cycling bit a while back (laws same since days of the horse and other such nonsense), as 1hp is 250W, but WvA can stick out 3hp, horses generally can put out 6hp.
I'm guessing this is one of the reasons those SI people have stayed away from the HP.
@#?*! So, clydesdales & other heavy horses will need HH(orse)V licencing!
But I thought we wanted to restore some of these good old units? Maybe road.cc could start by quoting candlepower for light reviews...
Rejection of the HP was actually because they didn't like his squirrels.
Well, it takes all sorts, I suppose
There's a certain amount of marketting involved there. James Watt used the power output of a pony to set the measure (one horsepower is double what that pony produced). An average healthy human can put out 1.2 hp, while Usain Bolt produced 3.5 hp while setting a world record three years ago. Peak power of a strong horse has been measured at 14.9 hp.
Yes, Watt had a vested interest in underestimating horsepower as he agreed to take royalties of one third of the savings his engines made over horses, so the lower a horsepower was measured at the more horses he could claim the engine replaced and so the higher his royalties. Canny folk, yon Scots!
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