Why bike cops need to get busy
Police on mountain bikes seem to pop up everywhere. The ethos behind hot-wheeling fuzz is sound: it benefits the environment more than a car or motorbike patrol and, by mingling with the people, this modern-day Dixon of Dock Green pushes the friendly face of policing. But police on pushbikes will always seem comical. So much of what defines the police as a force to be reckoned with is down to their uniform, of which vehicle, weapon and thousand-yard stare are all part. Denuded of the armoury of a car they seem punier and more vulnerable, less the hard men and women of the mean streets. Dressed in cycling helmets, police livery and yellow jackets, they look more like overgrown prefects in gym kit. The fact that they are most visible pedalling slowly around areas like Brick Lane telling other cyclists to dismount in the one-way zone doesn’t help.
Conversely, in pursuit of their quarry, their image is instantly more dynamic. Heading along Kingsland Road to Ridley Road market and down Dalston Lane towards the Pembury Estate on Pembury Road, patrol cars stall and grind to a halt but mountain bike cops can take the lead dodging speed bumps, using pavements, flying the wrong way down roads (police prerogative, I assume) and following thieves and drug dealers into estates with ease. If you haven’t seen this yet, live in hope. Could it be that ‘Pedal Power, The Action Movie’ is just around the corner?
Route rating
Route 0.5 miles (Kingsland Road to Pembury Road).
Calories burned 150 (if you’re part of a chase).
Street cred 0.
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6 comments
'Why adhere to a law that endangers me?' (re illegal pavement cycling) The same stupid selfish comment could possibly be made about knife-carrying. Get off the pavement, you selfish git - even if people say nothing to you don't take it as tacit acceptance, it's probably because they're frightened. Read letters in the local press and reports of local community and police meetings - it's you and others like you who are making the pavements in London a no-go area for old, disabled and vulnerable people. What a stupid and irresponsible article for Time Out to endorse - I will not be purchasing it again.
I was with a cyclist who was catapulted off her bike in an accident last week. She landed on her head and shoulder. Result: Helmet severely dented, concussion, face had a nasty case of road rash, broken collar bone. Without a helmet I think it could have been much worse.
Re: amazing statistics - the trouble with accident statistics is it is impossible to measure all the accidents that don't happen...
Did the writer really mean;
'Anarchic behaviour under the guise of protest is selfish and self-defeating.'
Or perhaps;
Selfish behaviour under the guise of protest is self-defeating.
Or maybe;
Selfish behaviour under the guise of anarchy is self-defeating.
Clean up on the stereotypes mate.
I ride through that road system most days and, as I've found generally with cycling in London at all times of day and night, if you ride with your wits about you, it isn't a problem. A cycle lane past Central St. Martin's would be safer and there's loads of pavement but in the mean time the author should grow a pair and use the road.
LB 's Southwark and Lewisham provide free Adult Cycle Training for all those who live, work or study in the borough. Available via www.cyclinginstructor.com. Online Booking!
Statistics show that amazingly cyclists who wear helmets have more accidents than cyclists who don't. This is because, the study says, drivers of cars and other vehicles tend to take it "slightly easy" when they see a cyclist wearing a helmet as opposed to when a cyclist is unprotected. A model Catch-22 situation innit?