This story appeared in the news yesterday. It tells how a complete prat of a cyclist rode on the M25 motorway in Surrey. The idiot claims his mobile phone app told him to do it – and police apparently bought that.
The thing is, if you watch the CCTV footage, the moron broke just about every rule in the Highway Code. He rides across chevrons and solid white lines on one of the most congested roads in the world, during the rush hour. He had apparently cycled for “several miles” before being stopped. What is really frightening – apart from the fact this person is still going to be allowed to breed – are the comments of the Surrey Police:
Further tweets from the force read: “Genuine mistake I’m sure but could have stopped at bottom of slip road! Most children know not to stray onto a motorway.
“Nice chap but unaware of the rules of the road, believed it ok to ride/walk on hard shoulder, struggled to see why not…”
For “nice chap”, read “several olives short of a pizza”. You can just hear his banter now. I suspect the police didn’t do anything because it would have been like kicking a lame puppy. But the simple fact is, they SHOULD have done something. This person should not be allowed near a bicycle again, and should be on court-ordered psychiatric assessment.
Oh. I almost forgot. Someone DID get a severe “talking to” about it.
Later, Sgt Phil Dix, from the roads policing unit, said… it showed why motorists needed to be alert and vigilant and added: “You never know what you may come across.”
How stupid of us all. It was the motorists who had to avoid him who were most at blame. Can you imagine what would have happened if anyone had hit him? The Surrey Police wouldn’t be calling anyone “nice chap” then, would they?
Just for the record, for “mobile phone app” read “satnav”, because that’s all it is. If a motorist misreads their satnav they get the book thrown at them all the same.