[Closed] 4 year old told not to ride her bike on a path...

Oh dear. I only hope he's brand new out of the box and is still trying to learn what his job is about.

There was public clarification way back from the police that the rule about cycling on pavements, regardless of rider age, was to be enforced where ****tery on the part of the cyclist was evident, such as causing pedestrians to scatter and so on. (I'm paraphrasing slightly, but that was the gist of it).

I'm hoping the officer in question plans to confiscate cars parked on the pavement.

[b]Lincolnshire[/b] Police...

Ah, that explains it.

I'd like to know if this was a Police Officer or really a PCSO.

Funny stuff. There are pillocks in every job.

I'd like to know if this was a Police Officer or really a PCSO.

either way the officer is a complete bell-end...

Would a police officer actually even *have* the power to confiscate a bike in such circumstances (ie, if it was an adult riding on a pavement)?

the queen would

[url= http://forum.policecommunity.co.uk/topic/5411-bbc-grantham-girl-4-gets-cycling-on-path-police-warning/ ]Interesting responses on the Police Community forum[/url]

Even Plod hate us....

and got those angry, angry people we call cyclists foaming at the mouth

Don't go on those police forums, you will end up despising them and not trusting any officer.

Tempted to register just to tell them all how stupid they sound.

not quite the same, but back around sometime in 1974 when I was about five and riding my bike on the pavement some bloke flung a car door open on and knocked me off, scraping my hand alongside a garden wall in the process. When I complained he started having go saying I shouldn't be riding my bike on the pavement! he probably went on to have a son who became a police officer.

Keva I was run over by a Austin Allegro that had been coasting down a hill. He asked if I was all right and said I shouldn't have been in the road then drove off.

The fact that I hadn't just stepped out, was walking and he'd been silently coasting from round a corner didn't help his eyes and alertness not noticing me either...

Coppers have just apologised, according to the beeb.

I should hope so - it is utter nonsense that it ever happened.

johndoh - Member

Interesting responses on the Police Community forum

To be fair, would you like all cyclists to be judged on one STW thread? Forums bring out the worst in folks

I shouldn't have looked at that police forum, it has done nothing but reinforce my existing beliefs.

But then again perhaps that's a good thing, after all first impressions are generally true to form.

Move along now…nothing to see…...

Forums bring out the worst in folks

Not all coppers are bad of course. I ride with a couple of 'em and a Traffic Inspector can be quite a handy riding buddy.

No I agree, they aren't all bad. But surely a police officer should

a; know better than to threaten to confiscate a 4 year olds' bike

or

b; slag off cyclists on a publicly accessible forum?

I think those two officers share the same mental abilities.

I cycle past the cop shop on the path with my kids

Always sticking it to the man 😉

one of those if roads were safe I would ride on them with my kids but they are not and my kids attention to detail is still not great

I'm hoping the officer in question plans to confiscate cars parked on the pavement.

😆

 

I got a ticking off from the Police for stopping in front of the ASL last week. I pointed out that if i was in the ASL, i'd also be in the blind spot of the Tipper lorry that was stopped behind, and the police just said "yes, not this time, i meant in future".

Thing is, i can see less confident cyclists just blindly obeying the advice.

I wonder if they are trying to make things safer? Or trying to make people blindly obey the law to appease some people who've complained?

There are some coppers who are brilliant and some not , as in your ASL example the guy clearly did not have a clue as in the police woman who blamed me where a car drove out of a side street across three lanes of traffic and didn't stop when hitting me at 90% ( I should have anticipated the drivers manoeuvre) What is worrying on the police forum is that a moderator clearly does not understand basic criminal law.

Every job interview these days...

"Do you plan to use common sense as you carry out your job?"
"No"
"Excellent, you've got the job!"

*sigh*

i think its plain stupid to try and 'share' the roads with motorists, close/aggressive overtakes way too close etc and general bell ends on the road means if theres a pavement there i will ride it. **** what the public or officer bellend thinks i couldnt give a toss. id rather be breaking the law than dead...

anyone else agree?

also just to state i ride mtb so only ride road to get to trails etc, not for fun so this mentality may not sit well with strava roadie types but hey carnt please everyone can we?

So someone gets it verbally wrong out of over 100,000 of his/her colleagues. No action was taken, no one was cautioned, no one was arrested and its suddenly a big news story for the BBC

hora... it does make good news tho doesnt it!

I know it's daft to caution a 4 year old over this, but they are perfectly right in saying it's illegal. It's a pavement beside a road (and assuming it's not a marked cycle path), so yes illegal.

Where do you draw the line though? There are tonnes of idiots, teens and adults, who blast down narrow pavements, round corners running into people (certainly had many near misses myself) as they don't want to be on the road and likely because they have no lights when it's at night. Public attitude would be hatred towards these types, yet when it's a small child it's the complete opposite.

Not saying I agree with the law one way or the other, though some pavement riders are idiots.

So someone gets it verbally wrong out of over 100,000 of his/her colleagues. No action was taken, no one was cautioned, no one was arrested and its suddenly a big news story for the BBC

It simply shouldn't have happened in the first place and it is good that it has become one of the top stories trending on the BBC site as it might stop another Plod making the same mistake.

depends how you view it the 4 year old cannot commit a crime so it is clear there is nothing to caution the child for. the clear guidance on pavement cycling issued to the police is not to do anything in these circumstances. Common-sense suggests that the child is posing no risk and best on the pavement . so I would draw the line well above 4 year olds on stabilisers and somewhere below teenagers blasting around corners running in to people.

I would draw the line well above 4 year olds on stabilisers and somewhere below teenagers blasting around corners running in to people.

+1

Public attitude would be hatred towards these types, yet when it's a small child it's the complete opposite.

[quote=deadkenny ]Where do you draw the line though?

It's not really that difficult. The police even manage to have some quite sensible guidance on where to draw the line.

Are you really suggesting that because there are some idiots who ride bike on pavements that the PC was right to stop this little girl and that small children shouldn't ride on pavements - because of the difficulty of deciding where to draw the line?

FWIW in a meeting with the local community PC and PCSO I mentioned that my kids ride their bikes on the pavement (it came up when I mentioned that I used to ride on the road with my 8yo coming home from school, but won't now because of the construction traffic on our local roads). Didn't even consider there might be any problem with that at the time - they are currently pursuing a van driver who drove onto the pavement next to where my kids were cycling though...

I'm just pleased he didn't get the Stinger out.... 😈

And the police wonder why no one trusts or want to talk them 😯

A pcso threatened to arrest me once for cycling on the pavement. It was clearly signed as a shared use path. 😯
But, tbf, not all of them are stupid.

It's not really that difficult. The police even manage to have some quite sensible guidance on where to draw the line.

The Home Office issued guidance that says "you can ride on the pavement if you don't act like a dick". I paraphrase slightly...

Anyway, it's good to see them focus on the important issues.

The CTC pointed out that at 4 she's well below the age of criminal responsibility and therefore not committing a crime.

PCSO stopped me once riding my bike through the park, threatened to give me a ticket

I said go on then! (Knowing of course that I was not on a footway by the side of the road, therefore PCSO had no power , and that at the time no authority to enforce byelaws in our area)

Turned into a fifteen minute argument with me demanding a ticket and him avoiding giving me one...

He got quite irate about the whole thing, most amusing!

Jumped up traffic warden police Walt tossers!

Easier than catching criminals isn't it?