Signalers

Belgium is a land of cycling races. Making a trip, mainly on Saturday or Sunday, carries the risk that you may be stopped once or twice because the races enjoy priority, even op public roads. This means that at every crossroads a couple of volunteers do stop traffic to let the cyclists pass. This can take anything from a couple of minutes to half an hour, and occasionally more.
There are some seven thousand volunteers for this ungrateful job - cycling is a favorite of the population, and many people like to enjoy a feel of authority now and again.

Now the paper reports these persons are very unhappy, because they feel a lack of respect from cyclists, drivers and spectators. They are ignored, cursed and jeered at. That most certainly is not nice, but being stopped for a totally insignificant race around the church steeple is not nice either.

Up to here, that's folk lore, but now these signalers demand to be given power to book the bad guys. On what authority ?? Soon my neighbours cat may be given authority to book me when I look cross at her for "fertilizing" my garden. (With my apologies to the cat lovers.)