Mastermind and the road to Damascus

[Roland Perry]

In article <49A50885.13309.17C0CF@davidh.spidacom.co.uk>, David Hansen 
<davidh@spidacom.co.uk> writes
>> The Home Office has also said "We don't intend to criminalise people for
>> taking photos of police constables whether inadvertently or not. There
>> has to be a criminal activity associated with it." Which perhaps needs
>> to be framed and hung on the wall.
>
>A Home Office Minister, Paul Boateng, once wrote a letter about the law
>down south he had introduced about fines for cycling on the pavement.
>The letter includes the following words, "The introduction of the fixed
>penalty is not aimed at responsible cyclists who sometimes feel obliged
>to use the pavement out of fear of traffic and who show consideration
>to other pavement users when doing so. Chief police officers, who are
>responsible for enforcement, acknowledge that many cyclists,
>particularly children and young people, are afraid to cycle on the
>road, sensitivity and careful use of police discretion is required."
>
>The police continue to ignore this letter.

The police may be interpreting "responsible cyclists" differently [1] to 
the self-image of those who end up being fined. Or it could just be a 
training issue - there are many of them in all walks of life.

[1] Of the pavement cyclists I see, where I live, I would estimate that 
a minority are by any stretch of the imagination "responsible". My 
criterion for this is - do they cycle straight at you and expect *you* 
to take the necessary avoiding action.
-- 
Roland Perry