During yesterday's Critical Mass ride I overheard instructions being given on a police radio for sound systems to be turned off when entering the SOCPA zone. A rider with a tiny sound system on the front of his bike, which could hardly be heard a few metres away amid the traffic noise, was ordered to turn it off. Meanwhile motorists elsewhere within the SOCPA zone were presumably blasting away on their very powerful sound systems with complete impunity.

"The SOCPA law say its OK if the sound system: "is operated solely for the entertainment of or for communicating with the driver or a passenger of the vehicle" and "is so operated as not to give reasonable cause for annoyance to persons in the vicinity".

Who is to say if the cyclist with the tiny sound system on the front of his bike was not operating it for his own entertainment and it certainly was not loud enough to cause any annoyance? Why are cyclists being picked upon by the police? Are they trying to ban Critical Mass by stealth with their robust and over numerous police presence?