Hundreds more anti-social cyclists stopped by officers

A dramatic increase in the number of anti-social cyclists being stopped in
Cambridge is revealed in a police report.

The number of misbehaving cyclists caught by officers has soared by 32.4 per
cent in the past year, councillors have been told.

The police report for Cambridge City Council's west/central area committee
said 2,025 incidents of anti-social cycling took place between December 2010
and March 2011, compared with 1,529 incidents during the same period the
previous year.

Cyclist Wayne Skelton-Hough, 45, from Cherry Hinton, said the increase was
'huge'.

He has previously said "inconsiderate and dangerous" motorists should have
more respect for cyclists after he captured near-collisions on camera while
biking through Cambridge.

He said: "I think this is probably down to more policing but a 32 per cent
increase is huge.

"There are some stupid cyclists out there. I know that as a driver myself.
But cyclists will blame motorists and motorists will blame cyclists and
pedestrians will blame both."

Anti-social cycling hotspots during the 2010/11 period were revealed in the
report.

Cyclists were caught by officers for riding anti-socially - for example,
along the pavement or the wrong way along a one-way street or cycling
without lights.

Police have created a new city centre squad to tackle the problems and have
warned if cyclists persist in dangerous cycling they will be dealt with
robustly.

Chief Insp Dave Sargent said: "With extra officers policing the city centre
it is only natural that the number of people caught committing this kind of
behaviour will also increase.

"We are working with colleges in the city to educate cyclists through the
Safer Cycling Scheme.

"However, if people don't listen to the advice and continue to behave in an
anti-social manner we will deal with them appropriately."

Anyone with information about erring cyclists or motorists in the city can
contact Parkside police station on 0345 4564564.

http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Home...s-06052011.htm

QUOTE:

thief who stole seven bicycles from a charity last Monday in Boise,
Idaho, apparently subsequently suffered an attack of conscience and
returned three of them after the organisation issued a no-questions-
asked appeal for their return.

The bicycles were stolen from the church-run charity World Relief,
which launched an appeal saying “bring them back and we won’t ask any
questions,” reports the KMVT website.

Later in the week, three of the bicycles, which are destined to be
provided to refugees to help them establish a new life, were returned
together with a handwritten note that said, “Sorry didn't mean to
steal from you guys."

There’s no news on what happened to the other four bicycles, but the
charity’s director, Larry Jones, was still delighted that the thief
had returned some of his haul.

“We saw it [the note] first thing this morning,” he told KMVT.
Everyone was kind of showing the note around and saying wow isn't this
incredible."

He added: "We feel really pretty good because it indicates to us the
person who stole the bikes has a conscience, has a heart and responded
to our situation and our plea to him."

Talking about the eventual recipients of the bicycles, Mr Jones said:
"Refugees have often times waited for 25 years in a camp to get on
with their lives. And so we feel it's very important that any of them
who arrive in Boise are given as much help as we can give them."

As it turned out, despite the thief returning only three of the seven
bikes he had taken, the charity made a net gain out of the episode
thanks to a local prison just across the state border in Oregon.

"The director of the minimum security facility over in Ontario had
seen the news report,” explained Mr Jones.

“He was home with his children and he started talking to one of his
sons about it and then he got clearance from his supervisor to bring
some of the bicycles the inmates had refurbished and donate them to
World Relief."

That resulted in the charity gaining an additional ten bicycles.

"It was a great lesson all around. We just had a great time rejoicing
with him as we unloaded the bikes,” Mr Jones concluded.

http://road.cc/content/news/40278-th...-and-returns-3

--
Simon Mason

On 09/02/2012 10:07, Mr. Benn wrote:
A dramatic increase in the number of anti-social cyclists being stopped in
Cambridge is revealed in a police report.

The number of misbehaving cyclists caught by officers has soared by 32.4 per
cent in the past year, councillors have been told.

The police report for Cambridge City Council's west/central area committee
said 2,025 incidents of anti-social cycling took place between December 2010
and March 2011, compared with 1,529 incidents during the same period the
previous year.

Cyclist Wayne Skelton-Hough, 45, from Cherry Hinton, said the increase was
'huge'.

He has previously said "inconsiderate and dangerous" motorists should have
more respect for cyclists after he captured near-collisions on camera while
biking through Cambridge.

He said: "I think this is probably down to more policing but a 32 per cent
increase is huge.

"There are some stupid cyclists out there. I know that as a driver myself.
But cyclists will blame motorists and motorists will blame cyclists and
pedestrians will blame both."

"Blame both" for what?

I can't recall any motor-car being driven along a footway towards me or a
family member.

On Feb 9, 10:45*am, wrote:
QUOTE:

*thief who stole seven bicycles from a charity last Monday in Boise,
Idaho, apparently subsequently suffered an attack of conscience and
returned three of them after the organisation issued a no-questions-
asked appeal for their return.

The bicycles were stolen from the church-run charity World Relief,
which launched an appeal saying “bring them back and we won’t ask any
questions,” reports the KMVT website.

Later in the week, three of the bicycles, which are destined to be
provided to refugees to help them establish a new life, were returned
together with a handwritten note that said, “Sorry didn't mean to
steal from you guys."

There’s no news on what happened to the other four bicycles, but the
charity’s director, Larry Jones, was still delighted that the thief
had returned some of his haul.

“We saw it [the note] first thing this morning,” he told KMVT.
Everyone was kind of showing the note around and saying wow isn't this
incredible."

He added: "We feel really pretty good because it indicates to us the
person who stole the bikes has a conscience, has a heart and responded
to our situation and our plea to him."

Talking about the eventual recipients of the bicycles, Mr Jones said:
"Refugees have often times waited for 25 years in a camp to get on
with their lives. And so we feel it's very important that any of them
who arrive in Boise are given as much help as we can give them."

As it turned out, despite the thief returning only three of the seven
bikes he had taken, the charity made a net gain out of the episode
thanks to a local prison just across the state border in Oregon.

"The director of the minimum security facility over in Ontario had
seen the news report,” explained Mr Jones.

“He was home with his children and he started talking to one of his
sons about it and then he got clearance from his supervisor to bring
some of the bicycles the inmates had refurbished and donate them to
World Relief."

That resulted in the charity gaining an additional ten bicycles.

"It was a great lesson all around. We just had a great time rejoicing
with him as we unloaded the bikes,” Mr Jones concluded.

http://road.cc/content/news/40278-th...es-idaho-chari...


I corrected the header as it was in the USA.

--
Simon Mason