Friday 29th July 2011

Critical Mass is a monthly bike ride [meeting at 5.30pm on the last friday of every month] They now start from outside the Victoria Centre clocktower, off Milton Street in the city centre.

There has been a very l  o  n  g break in the Nottingham CM meeting. Here's hoping this is the begining of more great events. 

The object is to celebrate cycling and to assert cyclists' right to the road. With no set routes and no leaders, it's simply a bunch of people enjoying clean healthy transport. 

In addition to all of the worthwhile issues that Critical Mass highlights, it's a great way to meet people and perhaps do a bit of networking to promote other campaigns. 

Critical Mass should appeal to anyone that rides a bike so it should start from the most central location for everyone's benefit. Plus, practically every other Critical Mass around the globe starts from central, well-known locations which makes it easy to remember and easy to find. 

It's never more than a couple of hours. Bring bright clothing, lights, horns, bells, NOISE and FRIENDS. 

As usual, I've tried to take a set of pictures that show critical mass to be an empowering experience. Hopefully fun to be at. A celebration of the alternatives to the existing 'car culture'. 

See you all next month, I hope :-)

****** 

There have been some legal arguement, finishing in the House of Lords on Wednesday 26 November 2008. 

The upshot appears to be that critical mass IS a "procession which is truly commonly or customarily held" and hence does NOT require police permission and consent under the Public Order Act 1986. So there! 

This all began as a leaflet issued to CM participants by police at the start of the ride on September 2005 which stated: 

"...Police can impose conditions on processions, demonstrations and other assemblies, and participants render themselves liable to arrest if they fail to comply with those conditions. These cycle protests are not lawful because no organiser has provided police the with the necessary notification. Your participation in this event could render you liable to prosecution. Police policy in facilitating these events is currently under review..." 

After that the High Court decided in favour of CM but the police then appealed against that decision and won. The legalities involved are quite complicated and seem to hinge on whether the ride is customarily held and therefore not subject to certain police restrictions. 

On Monday 20th October 2008 an appeal by Des Kay and Friends of the Earth, against the Commissioner of Metropolitan Police, was heard by five Law Lords and their decision is that the appeal is allowed and CM is a commonly or customarily held procession without organisers and therefore does not need to inform the police of each ride. So, still we ride too! Though whether we are traffic or not is debatable. 

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200708/ldjudgmt/jd081126/metro-1.htm 

For a plain english explanation, check out: Victory for Critical Mass campaigners [BikeRadar.com]  http://tinyurl.com/6ktykr 

More Mass reports [including links to many earlier CM events]

Nottingham's April Critical Mass + Coal Caravan 1

http://indymedia.org.uk/en/2009/04/428834.html

Nottingham's April Critical Mass + Coal Caravan 2

http://indymedia.org.uk/en/2009/04/428855.html

more at  

http://bikesfuckyeah.wordpress.com

&

http://www.criticalmassrides.info/nottingham 

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ALAN LODGE 

Photographer - Media: One Eye on the Road. Nottingham.  UK

Email:                 tash@indymedia.org

Web:                   http://digitaljournalist.eu

Member of the National Union of Journalists [NUJ]

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"It is not enough to curse the darkness.

                                   It is also necessary to light a lamp!!"

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