Northern Ireland Helmet Law DON'T CONFUSE ME WITH FACTS

flecc

Member
Oct 25, 2006
52,763
30,349
Blimey! all that for an ice-cream cone (with extra topping ;) ).

It was an old stats lecturer of mine who came out with the correlation,

now that you mention the turf wars.......................wasn't there a British film made about it, possibly Italians in the turf war???
The suggestion about drugs involvement was only ever just that though, no proof. Possibly just a police excuse.

Dangerous ground anyway, a certain Duncan Ballantyne of the "Dragons Den" TV program first made his fortune with those ice cream vans before moving into the fitness industry, and I believe he has around a quarter of a billion pounds available to sue anyone though the courts. :eek:

Not sure about the film.
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Northern Irelander

Pedelecer
Jun 4, 2009
180
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Bag for life makes sense though. I paid for a reusable one at Sainsburys, and when it eventually wears out they replace it free. That greatly reduces the plastic bag usage for a single small charge, and I find they last a long time, a year at least in my case.

I have two with my utility bike and two in each car so they are always available.
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IRRC the levy is for the flimsy type bags.

I believe ASDA did a study on the convenience of disposbale carrier bags, they actually found that custom was lost when the bag for life schemes were introduced circa 18months ago.

I believe they have demonised plastic bags, without taking into consideration the plastic packaging contained therein.

I see they are extracting polymers from sugar cane now, marginally better than petro-chemical sources.

Regardless of source, plastic polymers are here to stay, no other suitable alternative for the water tight, gas impermeable seal.
Besides, I like my uncooked meats packed separately in another plastic bag, which is conveniently discarded in my wheelie bin ;) :p

BTW ROI now issues paper bags as a substitute
 

Northern Irelander

Pedelecer
Jun 4, 2009
180
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The suggestion about drugs involvement was only ever just that though, no proof. Possibly just a police excuse.

Dangerous ground anyway, a certain Duncan Ballantyne of the "Dragons Den" TV program first made his fortune with those ice cream vans before moving into the fitness industry, and I believe he has around a quarter of a billion pounds available to sue anyone though the courts. :eek:

Not sure about the film.
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Ahh yes Duncan came to mind when you mentioned a Glaswegian origin, not bad for someone who didnt have a bank account until 30 years of age.............his fortune made by sheer hard work and determination of course ;)
 
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Northern Irelander

Pedelecer
Jun 4, 2009
180
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Here in France none of the supermarkets give bags - everyone has sturdy bag for life type and you just get used to having some in the car and the bike panniers. I must say it seems unproblematic to me.
Did France ever have a disposable bag culture to wean off?

years since I have been there, but something nice about carrying freshly baked french bread wrapped in nothing but a paper sleeve, whilst the aroma of bread wafts upwards............mmmmmmmmmmmmm. :D
 

flecc

Member
Oct 25, 2006
52,763
30,349
Ahh yes Duncan came to mind when you mentioned a Glaswegian origins, not bad for someone who didnt have a bank account until 30 years of age.............his fortune made by sheer hard work and determination of course ;)
Absolutely, I never doubted it once! :D
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flecc

Member
Oct 25, 2006
52,763
30,349
I believe they have demonised plastic bags, without taking into consideration the plastic packaging contained therein.
I agree, and there are other considerations. I still take the odd disposable, not for my shopping but for my refuse. Single, I recycle wherever possible so only have a disposable bag quantity of refuse a week at most, making the use of a large plastic binbag wasteful and worse environmentally. Since a third of all London households are single, the rest of the country fast catching up and from observation many using the disposable bags as I do, the gains from getting rid of them might not be too real

BTW ROI now issues paper bags as a substitute
Very poor! Might be ok in the USA where they often have staff to carry stuff out to one's car conveniently parked in front of the supermarket, but often not so suitable elsewhere where people often walk from a supermarket with a bag or two. That's not practical if walking with handle-less bags, even less so when it's raining as it so often does our side of the Atlantic, the paper bags then falling apart.

They really haven't thought this through.
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Northern Irelander

Pedelecer
Jun 4, 2009
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I agree, and there are other considerations. .
I hear banana leaves and sphagnum moss will be in high demand again


Very poor! Might be ok in the USA where they often have staff to carry stuff out to one's car conveniently parked in front of the supermarket, but often not so suitable elsewhere where people often walk from a supermarket with a bag or two. That's not practical if walking with handle-less bags, even less so when it's raining as it so often does our side of the Atlantic, the paper bags then falling apart.

They really haven't thought this through.
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True, maybe we should adopt the american way of Chevy V8 and park out front.

Mushy paper bags......forward planning :rolleyes:


One of my favourite clips from Home Alone
YouTube - Home Alone Shopping Bag Fail!
 

Northern Irelander

Pedelecer
Jun 4, 2009
180
0
traffic cop from the village people? :p

Expensive, personally I'd go for a Bell helmet, fraction of the cost and instant kudos with skaters. Not sure if those brass eyelets will provide enough ventilation, for that money I'd expect some sort of air scoop/vent which can be opened and closed.

I'd also want to spray it matt black for the MAD MAX effect.

Or at least get yourself some 70's CHiPS shades for some street cred

YouTube - "CHiPs" (Intro/Outro)

Bell helmets for decent money Bell Faction Helmet 2010 | Buy Online | ChainReactionCycles.com
 
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Scimitar

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jul 31, 2010
1,772
40
Ireland
The Glasgow Ice Cream Wars were conflicts in the East End of Glasgow in Scotland in the 1980s between rival ice cream van operators, over lucrative territory and suggested use of ice cream vans as a cover for selling drugs. The conflicts involved daily violence and intimidation, and led to the deaths by arson of several members of the family of one ice cream van driver and a consequent court case that lasted for 20 years. The conflicts generated widespread public outrage, and earned the Strathclyde Police the nickname the "serious chimes squad" (a pun on Serious Crime Squad) for its perceived failure to address them.
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As one who was there at the time I can tell you in all seriousness that SOME of the ice cream vans were selling tenner wraps of smack. A very lucrative business, indeed.
 

indalo

Banned
Sep 13, 2009
1,380
1
Herts & Spain
Seems like we share more than just first names Dave. I spent some time in those parts too.

I'm in the south-east on missionary business. What's your excuse? ;)
 

Scimitar

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jul 31, 2010
1,772
40
Ireland
Seems like we share more than just first names Dave. I spent some time in those parts too.

I'm in the south-east on missionary business. What's your excuse? ;)
I had to escape the rat race before my head exploded. :)
 

jbond

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jul 29, 2010
411
2
Ware, Herts
www.voidstar.com
Evans Cycles | Yakkay Paris Helmet | Online Bike Shop
Love the herringbone fabric. There should be a Camo cover as well.

When I was a kid and racing, I wore and old school leather helmet. If I was doing any kind of even remotely serious downhill, I'd wear body armour and an Enduro MX helmet. But I've never worn a bicycle helmet and I probably never will. However, a herringbone tweed baseball cap might just persuade me to change.
 

Streethawk

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jan 12, 2011
634
15
Got my Casco eMotion today, its really good, looks a lot more durable than my Giro MTB helmet, the thick rigid shell is more like a motorcycle helmet, and the adjustment dial is the best i've used. Also comes with a cool case.

Pretty distinctive, so probably not for shy types.