Top-ten offences

[Dinger2]

In the eyes of the law it now seems almost legal to ride a bike on the pavement as I don't know anybody who knows anybody who's ever been prosecuted for it. So, on an offence scale of 1-10 or 1-100 if you like,just exactly how do the Police prioritise the scale of offences/crimes in order of seriousness and urgency of investigation,presuming murder is #1 ?

[tamii]

the police can do what ever they want whenever they want. same as the courts. it depends what side of bed they get up that morning.

[dothawkes31]

no I think gun crime is number one. if it includes a murder it's number one with a bullit

[dothawkes31]

soz

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0_2Z3pPNM8

[tamborine]

Heavy donations to police funds = above the law!

[fredpuli47]

So rare is prosecution for simply riding on the pavement that I'm not sure there Is such an offence. Is there? What Act does it fall under?
There's certainly an offence of 'furious riding' which I remember once being applied to cyclists and the Royal Parks have by-laws which even provide for speed limits [many years ago a friend, as a youth, was actually convicted of cycling at excess speed in one ! ] but which law, as distinct from Highway Code advice, stops riding on the pavement?

[Ramsbottom]

Cycling on the pavement is strictly speaking an offence under sction 72 of the Highway Act 1835. It is also mentioned in the latest editions of the Highway Code and has not been repealed so it is still law, but in practice nothing is done about it - although if the cyclist hits and injures a pedestrian then action is likely to be taken.

As for the most 'important' crimes I'd have thought that treason would traditionally be at number one, with murder a close second.

Any offence causing or threatening serious injury to life would be the most serious, and also any offences that are commited against the vulnerable - ie sex offences against children.

[fredpuli47]

Thanks for that,Ramsbottom. Section 72 of the Highway Act 1835 is a good read. Now I shall bear that section in mind next time I tether any horse, mule or swine whereby the animal(s) get on the pavement or when I'm drawing any truck or sledge over it ! Terrorism offences are probably top priority.Treason ought to be, being the last offence to carry the death penalty (if for no other reason). I doubt whether smoking in a bus shelter has been ranked higher than 99th, with cycling on the pavement 100th.

[TorahBoy]

Don’t get me started on cyclists and the law(!)

I drive for a living, and spend a good part of my day avoiding cyclists who seem to consider that NO PART of the Road Traffic Act applies to them. My union (The GMB) recently applied to the Sussex Area Police Authority, under the Freedom of Information Act for figures relating to cautions and prosecutions of cyclists in the past three years. In that period, although the police claim to have given ‘informal advice’ to cyclists (though not stating how many times ‘advice’ was given) there have been NO cautions or prosecutions in Sussex.