On 21 Oct 2004 14:36:26 -0700, (Silas Denyer)
wrote in message :

I'm off to find fresh data. In the mean time I shouldn't be suprised
that someone who goes by the soubriquet "Just zis Guy, you know"
quotes Douglas Adams (actually Douglas Adams allegedly quoting THGTHG)
as a philosopher.

Oh Adams is a philosopher alright. "Anyone who is capable of getting
themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the
job." - see? ;-)

FWIW, your points are well made, even if I don't agree with them. My
original point was, however, that I was concerned that mass
lawlessness (whether dangerous or not) was a bad thing for society,
and that when this lawlessness was being openly accepted as a
competitive advantage in business and furthermore being perpetrated by
uniformed police officers, society was on very shaky ground indeed.

All of which is fair enough, as previously acknowledged, but it makes
no sense to single out one small part of that lawlessness, especially
when that small part of the overall lawlessness of road users is
responsible for a vanishingly small proportion of the total risk.

There are very few forms of mass-perpetrated antisocial behavious
which are routinely ignored, but these cycle-related issues are one of
them.

True: speeding is not "ignored". It is instead vigorously defended as
some kind of civil right, with enforcement being portrayed by
motorists' groups as massively unpopular (despite research showing
around 75% support for cameras), and the Monster Raving Tory Party
making reduction of enforcement a key priority for Government.
Overall I don't see any justification at all for singling out cyclists
in these circumstances.

Guy
--
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

88% of helmet statistics are made up, 65% of them at Washington University