Police issue lights and hi-vis to cyclists instead of a fine to get home “safely”; Jeremy Vine says red-light jumping cyclists are “great adverts for cycling”; CyclingMikey blasts “psychopaths” gleeing at cyclist being run over + more on the live blog

Round up, everyone! It's the latest police operation episode on the road.cc live blog.

Name of the game? "Be Bright, Be Seen" launched by Oxfordshire's Fire and Rescue Service's Road Safety Team, together with Thames Valley Police & Brookes University staff, with the former posting on social media that all of them "worked together to highlight the importance of cyclists doing all they can to make themselves more visible to other road users".

They said that they stopped cyclists riding without any lights or hi-vis around Oxford Brookes after dark and instead of handing them a £30 fine, they were issued with temporary lights and hi-vis rucksacks, so that they could "get home legally and safely".

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Police stopped cyclists without lights &, rather than issuing £30 fines, they were given high visibility rucksack covers & temporary lights so they could get home safely & legally.
Be Bright Be Seen.
Visit https://t.co/4FffHdjeZ3#ShareTheRoad #Cyclists @tvprp pic.twitter.com/P20FjiWiOm

— OxonFireRescue (@OxonFireRescue) November 21, 2023

Very generous, very Christmas-y! Not sure if the cyclists were feeling thankful yesterday (sorry it's only allowed to be thankful today, or something like that as they do across the pond)... But hey, see everyone? That's a clear declaration of the war on the motorists!

Of course that's not me saying it, but people on social media who claimed that this was not a fair outcome as cyclists got to "break the law and get away with it".

Sean Stone on Facebook wrote: "So they break the law and they know it!! Then they get free rucksack & lights, maybe they should just give them a on the spot fine and a fine for no common sense!!!"

Paul Macca had some advice for the police: "Fine them, and make them attend a station within a certain time frame to prove they have lights. So dangerous around Oxford in the evening, The police need to set up by the plain roundabout, the majority of cyclists using it don’t have lights."

David Janes even suggested confiscating the cycles until the cyclists could prove that they have bought lights.

And yet others claimed that taxpayers' money was being wasted, with a Twitter account with the username @Innkeeper55 commenting: "What an absolute joke and a waste of tax payers money! If they’re breaking the law they should be fined, not rewarded with a gift".

However, there were a few voices who disagreed, another user on Twitter writing: "Good job! Setting the right example, in the first instance, is more important than punishment. Hopefully these cyclist learn and remind others."

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Yesterday, our Road Safety team, along with Thames Valley Police & Brookes University staff, worked together to highlight the importance of cyclists doing all they can to make themselves more visible to other road users.#BeSafeBeSeen #Cyclists #ThamesValleyRP @tvprp pic.twitter.com/egyMR7Y0Vp

— OxonFireRescue (@OxonFireRescue) November 21, 2023

Meanwhile, some also believed that it was "victim blaming at its best." One Twitter account user wrote: "Drivers should slow down, get off their phone and look out for cyclists and all vulnerable road users," while another questioned the Fire and Rescue Team: "How many fines issued to close-passing drivers?"

Of course, being a sensitive issue, I am going to step aside and let you all discuss the topic. Do you think handing lights and hi-vis sets the right example and makes roads safer all around, than slapping cyclists with a fine, or is it just a continuation of blaming cyclists for their own safety? Let me know in the comments!

Cycling documentary series seems to be all people want these days! So who's the latest one about? The "eternal" second, the Yoyo, Der Kaiser, the one and only Jan Ullrich. And the 49-year-old has finally spoken out about his doping past.

"Yes, I did dope," he said on Wednesday evening during a panel discussion on the sidelines of the presentation of the documentary series "Jan Ullrich - The Hunted", reports Spiegel which will be available to watch on Amazon Prime Video from November 28th.

He admitted the D-word! Big shock? Rider does something everyone was doing! That'll get the people talking surely!

> "I didn't want to be a traitor": Jan Ullrich talks doping and personal suffering ahead of release of documentary into his life

Ullrich continued: "If I had told my story, I could have won many good years. I didn't have the balls. It's really good to say it."

The Vuelta and Tour winner first made contact with the now infamous doping doctor Eufemiano Fuentes from Spain in the summer of 2003. "I wanted to win and build on my successes. I had a new team at the time and Dr Fuentes was recommended to me. That's how I ended up there," he said.

He added that shortly before the start of the 2006 Tour de France, this connection was to be Ullrich's undoing - he was excluded from his T-Mobile team and finally ended his career in 2007.

However, the 1997 Tour de France winner emphasised that the blood doping was only "the last straw" from a sporting point of view.

"You still have to have huge talent, still be hard-working and subordinate your whole life to it." Ullrich wasn't worried about his health at the time - "because everything was medically controlled. In the end, it was my own blood that I had taken - something natural," he said.

However, what's even more shocking is that other forms of unauthorised performance enhancement were already commonplace at the beginning of Ullrich's professional career in 1995, as Ullrich said: "It started with me in 1996. When I came into contact with it, there were already substances that could not be controlled. It had already been in cycling for a few years. Cycling already had a problem back then."

Well, let's just hope no current vanguards of the peloton come under the clouds of doping dubiousness recently? Hmm, let me have a quick read of yesterday's blog...

> Jonas Vingegaard reveals he has missed anti-doping test on his record, insists "I don't take anything, and I don't think that the rest of the peloton does either"

Well now, I really don't want to jinx it...

The shadow transport secretary and Labour Party MP for Sheffield Heeley, Louise Haigh, has addressed criticism from cyclists, campaigners and road safety figures that followed her interview comments about active travel policies, 20mph speed limits and low-traffic neighbourhoods.

> "A light-hearted joke": Labour shadow transport secretary addresses backlash over cycling comments

Skinny tires + narrow bars = Death of #offseasonToms pic.twitter.com/cEwzQVosJ8

— Toms Skujiņš (@Tomashuuns) November 23, 2023

Over the years at road.cc, we have come across a couple of truly, astonishingly, shockingly, even blasphemously designed inhumane pieces of infrastructure that not just seek to exclude cyclists, but also alienate people with disabilities or those in the elder age groups. Let's run back a few of them, shall we?

Most recently, this kissing gate in Worcester, which sent a family of four around and left a cyclist labelling it as "utter shambles and non-inclusive".

Then this piece which was labelled as "discriminatory" by University of Salford's noteed researcher on inclusive active travel, Harrie Larrington-Spencer, who also accused Stockport Council of trying to "worm its way out" of making sure that all cycling and walking routes are accessible.

Then these bollards in Milton-Keynes brought to our attention by Steve Abraham, most known for his long distance record riding attempts who also doubles up as a deliver rider, which were too narrow for cargo bike trailers... also supplied by the council.

And of course, cycling's original bad gateway, made forever infamous by road.cc user HoarseMann during a period of rough time for this website...

In my opinion, all these might pale in comparison to what Wheels for Wellbeing, a disabled people’s cycling organisation campaigning for equity in active travel, posted on Twitter.

We think is the worst barrier we've ever seen!
An A frame has been added to a tight triple chicane -impassable for many #Disabled people #Cycling or with any other mobility aid.
We'll be contacting the LA & working to get this path made accessible to LTN 1/20 standards. pic.twitter.com/NVwuEOhCpP

— Wheels for Wellbeing (@Wheels4Well) November 22, 2023

Who thought adding an A frame to an already inaccessible for many triple chicane gate was a good idea? Thankfully, the campaign group informed that they have contacted the local authority and are working to get this path made accessible to LTN 1/20 standards.

I mean, can someone please explain what is this and who came up with it please? To make things worse, the account confirmed that this is in an urban location, so pretty sure that rules gatekeeping cattle out!

The campaign wrote: "People have noted that countryside access often includes stiles & inaccessible sections. Fortunately, this Least Restrictive Access guidance from PathsforAll helps land managers remove restrictive countryside barriers too. And the pictured barrier is urban."

We wish them luck in getting these barriers taken down and hopefully replaced by something more prudent!

A councillor has spoken out about the "risky" lack of safe cycling infrastructure on a major road that runs near five schools and argued that the situation is so bad he would not let his children cycle to school alone.

Demanding action and pointing out that "we've been calling for a safe cycle lane for six years", Galway City councillor Alan Curran, representing the Social Democrats in the Irish city, said the current painted lines "don't offer the protection our children need".

"I won't let my kids cycle to school alone; it's just too risky," Curran said. "We've been calling for a safe cycle lane for six years. The current painted lines don't offer the protection our children need. There's ample space on both sides for proper cycle lanes without removing any road space or footpath width.

Read more: > "We've been calling for a safe cycle lane for six years": Lack of protected cycling infrastructure putting schoolchildren in danger, councillor argues

I know Jeremy Vine has become so frequent with his 360-degree headcams that his usual visits to our live blog have become less frequent. But the Channel 5 presenter might have casually dropped something so controversial that it's a bit harder to ignore this time.

If you haven't noticed recently, along with the usual 'bad driver' videos, Jeremy Vine has also been doing some 'bad cyclist' ones here and there. His latest one, posted late last night, seemed to be merely one so.

A cyclist can be seen approach another group of cyclists waiting on their bikes for the light to turn green, but then he weighs his options, sees a gap between the two in front, and makes a go for it, getting tangled almost falling, all before the light turned green.

Just how Ayrton Senna had said, "If you don't go for a gap that exists, you're not a cyclist anymore." (I could be remembering the quote wrong)

At first I was cross with this cyclist — who crossed my path yesterday.
But then I realised he’s a great advert for cycling. pic.twitter.com/UUWIHFwdmO

— Jeremy Vine (@theJeremyVine) November 22, 2023

But instead of, you know, blaming the cyclist, Jeremy Vine instead went on and said that this is actually a "great advert for cycling", because "if he's in a car, we are all dead".

So here we are today, it's time to debate red lights for cyclists once again!

> "If you don’t like cyclists going through red lights, support proper cycling infrastructure": Calls for better cycling infrastructure after cyclists jumping lights goes viral

It's a topic much widely discussed on road.cc, as in many other places. If enough pedestrians and cyclists share the road, does it make active travel faster and safer?

Yes it was. This guy poses no danger on a bicycle. Put him in a car and he will kill.

— Jeremy Vine (@theJeremyVine) November 22, 2023

But as we know, Amsterdam — one of the best cities for cycling in the world, has in the past experimented with doing away with traffic signals altogether, and with some success.

Until 2016, one of the Dutch capital’s busiest intersections at Sarphatistraat-Alexanderplein was controlled by traffic lights, with cyclists, the predominant users in Amsterdam as in a lot of Dutch cities.

The test was part of a larger mobility strategy across the city to make more room for cyclists and pedestrians, meaning limiting access and space for private vehicles. The new setup forced people to engage with their surroundings: Instead of relying on traffic lights, they now relied on their own abilities and the cues of others.

Over the period of a year, it was seen that cyclists had become more aware of their surroundings and of other road users. In less than two weeks, the evolution was already observed on Alexanderplein.

Delay times were reduced and safety remained unaffected, showing that regulation can lead to responsible and alert road users. It was so successful that the pilot was extended and a few months later the lights were completely removed, and even led to the junction’s redesign.

You know who else has also suggested this plan? Conservative Party's mayoral candidate Dan Korski, who had also vowed to end Sadiq Khan’s “attack on drivers” by unveiling a milieu of radical traffic changes, including ending segregated bike lanes, 20mph speed limits, ULEZ and low traffic neighbourhoods.

Again, as with every blog post, there is no right or wrong answer here. I'm interested to see what you think about Jeremy Vine's approach, will it do good for cycling/cyclists or is it just more clickbaity social media shenanigan?