UK school requires bike number plates

[warthog1]

I would like the OAP bashers here to consider life as a ..... say, 75 year old lady who may have osteoporosis and a bit of arthritis and is not so steady on her pins, walking down the street possibly burdened by her shopping. She may not be feeling very confident as age has robbed her of the agility that she may have once had. She knows that if she falls, which could be due to being startled by a close pass by a young fit person on a bicycle, who she didn't hear coming behind her, as, you guessed it, her hearing ain't so good either, there is a good chance that she will injure herself. Could be bruising or a split/cut injury, old skin cuts and bruises easily and doesn't heal like it once did. A bang on the head from a fall can easily trigger a stroke in the elderly. Or it could be a broken bone. If it is a leg or hip she will spend time laid up, with the attendant loss of mobility and strength which one does not bounce back from at her age so her quality of life and even possibly life expectancy may be curtailed. Now factor in how all this affects her mentally, even if it is a fall without significant injury, it is still a scary experience which further undermines her confidence.
How would you like your mum to got through that? Maybe consider other peoples lives and situations before condemning their responses to what they perceive as a threat to their wellbeing.

Mate, they will be driving not walking.
Safe in their car, so that others bear the consequences of the age-based degenerative conditions that affect their ability to safely operate a motor vehicle.
After all, their car is their "independence" and we can't have the safety of other vulnerable road users jeopardising that.

[DrShifty]

I would like the OAP bashers here to consider life as a ..... say, 75 year old lady who may have osteoporosis and a bit of arthritis and is not so steady on her pins, walking down the street possibly burdened by her shopping. She may not be feeling very confident as age has robbed her of the agility that she may have once had. She knows that if she falls, which could be due to being startled by a close pass by a young fit person on a bicycle, who she didn't hear coming behind her, as, you guessed it, her hearing ain't so good either, there is a good chance that she will injure herself. Could be bruising or a split/cut injury, old skin cuts and bruises easily and doesn't heal like it once did. A bang on the head from a fall can easily trigger a stroke in the elderly. Or it could be a broken bone. If it is a leg or hip she will spend time laid up, with the attendant loss of mobility and strength which one does not bounce back from at her age so her quality of life and even possibly life expectancy may be curtailed. Now factor in how all this affects her mentally, even if it is a fall without significant injury, it is still a scary experience which further undermines her confidence.
How would you like your mum to got through that? Maybe consider other peoples lives and situations before condemning their responses to what they perceive as a threat to their wellbeing.

This is a highly emotive post but i was puzzled on how I missed the OAP bashers. I went back through the thread and can't find any.

The problem with posts like this is that not only is there no evidence that the kids from this school are causing injuries to old ladies, but vulnerable people are at risk from so many hazards that it's unrealistic to separate one from the whole bunch.

Are we to get this worked up about cracks in the pavement that might trip somebody? What about stepping from the curb to the bus? How about the different coloured step into the pharmacy or the businessman running for the bus or the harried mum with two toddlers in tow or, ironically, the other old lady in her mobility scooter that is about to run over somebody's great aunt?

To have a school dictate who can ride their bike and who can't is out of bounds.

[Ancientflatulence]

Wow, why? My school in the late 70’s - early 80’s insisted on the opposite. Until year 11 anyway, when I got my m/c license and a mini pretend Harley

The school thought it hurt their reputation when kids broke the rules on bikes.
You know how terrified society is of teenagers on bicycles, even more frightening to some pensioners than bikie gangs.

The school issues and fits the plates

I wonder how long before one of the kids gets the bright idea of making up his own plate with, the same number of headmaster's car. And then breaking every law that he can, in front of every traffic camera he can find.

Fairly sure the planned system isn't that sophisticated, rather just an internal school thing. I think the idea is for the plates to provide a measure of accountability for when nosy OAPs living near the school ring in with complaints of teenage hooligans doing wheelies up and down the street. I do however like the way you think...

These are the two posts that I refer to.

I agree that there is no evidence of kids harming old ladies. There is also no evidence that I have seen that OAPs are ringing the school to complain.

Both these posts reference OAPs as though they have no legitimate concerns about bicycles and I am merely pointing out that what, to you, may seem to be nothing to worry about, to someone of advanced years there are many factors that they have to consider in their day to day existence that younger, more active people would dismiss as irrelevant. All the other dangers that you point out are also realities to the elderly and are no doubt of concern to them. Some of these things can be alleviated by using strategies that minimise the risk, others dangers may be alleviated by other peoples attitude and behaviour

Consideration and thought for others seems to be a foreign concept for many these days especially if it is perceived as an attack on their "rights" by the "other side".

[outnabike]

Add on schoolbag attached to rear bike rack.

I sell stick on plates to cover your plate.

[fat and old]

Are we to get this worked up about cracks in the pavement that might trip somebody?

There is an excellent industry in grinding footpath joints that has grown in leaps and bounds since the late 90's/early 2000's

What about stepping from the curb to the bus?

Buses are increasingly equipped with lowering suspension on the front to enable easy access

How about the different coloured step into the pharmacy

All ped crossings, step changes, alighting platforms etc now have DDA dots of different colors to indicate a change of conditions

To have a school dictate who can ride their bike and who can't is out of bounds.

It will happen.

[fat and old]

Or to be a little less succinct..

Both these posts reference OAPs as though they have no legitimate concerns about bicycles and I am merely pointing out that what, to you, may seem to be nothing to worry about, to someone of advanced years there are many factors that they have to consider in their day to day existence that younger, more active people would dismiss as irrelevant. All the other dangers that you point out are also realities to the elderly and are no doubt of concern to them. Some of these things can be alleviated by using strategies that minimise the risk, others dangers may be alleviated by other peoples attitude and behaviour

Consideration and thought for others seems to be a foreign concept for many these days especially if it is perceived as an attack on their "rights" by the "other side".

I used to work in a team of one other man and three women where we dealt with a lot of victims of street violence and domestic violence, as well as working mostly with perpetrators. In conversations with my female coworkers I was dismayed to find that everywhere they go they are hyper-vigilant to the possibility of unwelcomed approaches by men.

They were all highly skilled at their work and accustomed to dealing with aggression from clients. However, once out on the street it was an unpredictable world for them. My experience as a male is not like that. I walk relaxed, they walk tense and ready for something that might happen.

Recently while riding I dropped several gears at once on a shared path as I approached a female walker at a crest. My double-tap gears are not noisy but the rapid clicking as I moved from a low gear to high in the range for the steep downhill caused her to jump aside startled as I came close.

Many of the posts in this thread are comedic, but they fail to recognise that high levels of vigilance is the experience of many women.

I find that people will generally speak from experience and that experience should be listened to.

I think the school is stupid, btw.