Driving into cyclists the Emma way

[winkybiker]

http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/sydney-en...ing-accident-in-waterfall-20140115-30tgp.html

Tragic.

 

[biker jk]

http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/sydney-en...ing-accident-in-waterfall-20140115-30tgp.html

Tragic.

It is indeed tragic. However, in this case the cyclist lost control on a bend while descending and ran into a car coming up the hill.

 

[winkybiker]

It is indeed tragic. However, in this case the cyclist lost control on a bend while descending and ran into a car coming up the hill.

I didn't know that. Thanks.

 

[purcell]

Motorists are pretty good here. Much, much better than in Australia. I enjoy the cycling around Vancouver and inland BC.

I left Vancouver almost 20 years ago. I go back there now and think to myself that there is no way I would ride on the roads in that city.

However, now in the interior and I have 10's of 1,000's of km of fabulous roads to ride with very few problems with nit wits in cars.

Just watch for the logging trucks, those guys don't like bikes on the road.

 

[movingtarget]

I left Vancouver almost 20 years ago. I go back there now and think to myself that there is no way I would ride on the roads in that city.

However, now in the interior and I have 10's of 1,000's of km of fabulous roads to ride with very few problems with nit wits in cars.

Just watch for the logging trucks, those guys don't like bikes on the road.

In Australia it's coal trucks and some of those drivers don't mind getting too close even when you are almost in the gutter. Just psychos or half asleep at the wheel. There is no reason to get so close on a long straight road with no traffic coming in the opposite direction but some do and it's very dangerous in crosswinds.

 

[winkybiker]

I left Vancouver almost 20 years ago. I go back there now and think to myself that there is no way I would ride on the roads in that city.

However, now in the interior and I have 10's of 1,000's of km of fabulous roads to ride with very few problems with nit wits in cars.

Just watch for the logging trucks, those guys don't like bikes on the road.

Agree that there is great riding on the interior. We do some riding around Penticton and around Grand Forks/Christina Lake each year.

 

[winkybiker]

http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-new...-drivers-for-bike-crashes-20101122-18330.html

I hadn't seen this before. No surprises, though.

 

[Stingray34]

Michael Pascoe can't make up his mind, or see the gaping maw in his binary 'four wheels good/two wheels bad' logic.

His unsupported premise is that cycling is inherently dangerous. It's not.

Rotten timing, too.

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/business/regulate-bicycles-off-the-road-20140117-30ytz.html

 

[movingtarget]

Michael Pascoe can't make up his mind, or see the gaping maw in his binary 'four wheels good/two wheels bad' logic.

His unsupported premise is that cycling is inherently dangerous. It's not.

Rotten timing, too.

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/business/regulate-bicycles-off-the-road-20140117-30ytz.html

He should stick to his usual job, discussing the economy. He knows nothing about bike riding.

 

[Stingray34]

He should stick to his usual job, discussing the economy. He knows nothing about bike riding.

That's a big part of his problem: he reduces everything to an interest-based, risk/reward, rational-calculating homo economicus perspective.

Economists are the high priests of our times. Their poisonous influence infects everything. And no one dares stop them, no matter how many times their 'facts' and 'logic' are proved wrong.

 

[StyrbjornSterki]

It isn't "some idiots" but actually the majority of drivers who think that the occasional murder is OK. They simply think that there is nothing that can be done to avoid running cyclists down from time to time....

+1

They are so self-absorbed, and have so little regard bicyclists' welfare, they think the balance of your life isn't worth the 10 or 20 seconds it would cost them if they were to slow a bit and give you the widest berth possible.

 

[Archibald]

they all think they're playing Grand Theft Auto...

 

[movingtarget]

You can't make this stuff up. Unbelievable. Probably get a slap on the wrist and how calm and gracious was the victim ?

http://au.news.yahoo.com/world/a/20...k-driver-ignores-cyclist-stuck-in-windshield/

 

[Stingray34]

Hit and run driver found and charged

The Engadine woman was charged on Wednesday night with negligent driving causing grievous bodily harm and failing to stop and assist after the crash on the Old Princes Highway at Helensburgh on January 5.

Should be interesting as these are serious charges.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/driver-ch...breaks-back-20140123-31afg.html#ixzz2rCSGdRUP

 

[movingtarget]

Hit and run driver found and charged



Should be interesting as these are serious charges.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/driver-ch...breaks-back-20140123-31afg.html#ixzz2rCSGdRUP

Hopeless people. Throw the book at her.

 

[Stingray34]

Hopeless people. Throw the book at her.

I'll be interested to hear what the judge has to say, anything along the lines of "As a cyclist, this is the risk he took not encasing himself in a ton of steel" kind of malarkey.

 

[Archibald]

amazing attitude all-round here really...
several cycling deaths in the country in the past two months - no changes or calls for amended laws.
2 deaths in the past year from drunken/drug-f**ked thugs punching randoms and they bring in new laws and penalties...

It's all about the car

 

[Boeing]

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/road-600012-car-stone.html

this is devastating news. I rode to the memorial ghost bike today to pay respects. the kid was cool man. Did not know him personally but bought stuff from him in the LBS

The Driver could be looking at felony DUI hit and run and obstruction of justice Felony=murder 2 maybe but I am just speculating, She has not been charged yet

Read this story.

the driver is 18 and allegedly was high on meth and fled the scene to dispose of the car and hid the drugs. Caught red handed dumping meth.

un bluddy real. frightening for all of us who ride this route at least once a week.

OC stats are now averaging one cycling death per month...

RIP

 

[42x16ss]

amazing attitude all-round here really...
several cycling deaths in the country in the past two months - no changes or calls for amended laws.
2 deaths in the past year from drunken/drug-f**ked thugs punching randoms and they bring in new laws and penalties...

It's all about the car

Queensland now has the "Metre Matters" as law, despite some whining from certain parts of the community. One of the very first to be charged under this is the @rsehat that hit Benny Johnson (Drapac Pro Cycling) on the Sunshine Coast with a caravan. Because he was a couple of days away from racing the New Zealand Cycle Classic, I think the driver may also be liable for lost wages.

 

[42x16ss]

An interesting article written recently in The Age, from Melbourne. If you look in the comments, a surprising amount of people are quite reasonable and are daring to use logic against the regulation nutjobs.

http://www.theage.com.au/executive-style/fitness/blogs/on-your-bike/youre-a-cyclist-so-its-your-fault-20140205-321np.html

This may be because it's a Fairfax site and not News Limited though.

 

[Archibald]

have seen that article - very good perspective.
similar to a UK article written last year. the link to that is on here somewhere..

getting a bit silly out there - mate got clocked by a right turning motorist on the weekend. injured but okay. the bike isn't...

 

[frenchfry]

The other day I followed a car of which the driver was typing a text message while driving through 2 lights (at least they were green) and an urban zone where there are many pedestrians. I tapped on the car to get the driver's attention and tell him to stop, of course I was met by aggression. These people just don't realise how their actions are putting the lives of cyclists and pedestrians at risk. I saw the same guy in the evening of the same day as I was leaving the movie theatre and I thought he was going to physically attack me, luckily he restrained himself and only gave me a push and yelled a bunch of obscenities.

 

[Stingray34]

The other day I followed a car of which the driver was typing a text message while driving through 2 lights (at least they were green) and an urban zone where there are many pedestrians. I tapped on the car to get the driver's attention and tell him to stop, of course I was met by aggression. These people just don't realise how their actions are putting the lives of cyclists and pedestrians. I saw the same guy in the evening of the same day as I was leaving the movie theatre and I thought he was going to physically attack me, luckily he restrained himself and only gave me a push and yelled a bunch of obscenities.

You're a brave man, must be the gallic in you!

Seriously, as long as I imagine the motorists who approach me from behind drive like I do - with both hands and eyes on the road at a sensible speed - I tend to think I'll be alright.

When I imagine them to be distracted by kids, music, multimedia and general don't-give-a-fook machoness, then I find it difficult to prepare my bike, get kitted up and put on sunscreen to go ride.

How can anyone put faith in the kind of motorists we know are out there?

 

[RedheadDane]

This is in Danish, but I think it pretty much illustrates the problem with motorists being distracted by other things while driving.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JPO-i_f-jE

 

[Archibald]

The other day I followed a car of which the driver was typing a text message while driving through 2 lights (at least they were green) and an urban zone where there are many pedestrians. I tapped on the car to get the driver's attention and tell him to stop, of course I was met by aggression. These people just don't realise how their actions are putting the lives of cyclists and pedestrians. I saw the same guy in the evening of the same day as I was leaving the movie theatre and I thought he was going to physically attack me, luckily he restrained himself and only gave me a push and yelled a bunch of obscenities.

had a similar issue on commute to work - turkey in the bus lane of all places, texting away while struggling to keep the car going straight...
I tapped on the window, but he was too busy texting to even notice!
Never a cop around when you need one