Recumbent rider deserves death and would be 'better off going to Dignitas', says councillor

Let's say that I know a few 'bent riders on the Midlands.

One rides a fully enclosed machine and has collided with equipment extending out from the rear of a tractor, causing damage. It might be interesting if our friendly Community Safety Police Officer went round with the tape measure, just to check that the equipment did not extend beyond the permitted limits, without carrying a marker or lights.

The rider of the enclosed machine does not really need a flag - it is taller than a typical child, and taller than a Lotus Elise - now that would have been expensive for Cllr Stanton, as AFAIK they don't fit pennants and flags to Lotus cars.

Clearly our happy band have no clue about recumbents - there are many of these flying about the roads, in S Derbyshire, given that the importer of Greenspeed trikes lives in that area and gets the occasional visitor. Indeed the former local Methodist minister in the area had one. They also have no clue about cameras - why have someone (assumed to be a wife) following behind to film you when you can have on board cameras with the bike!

The reporting standards for that paper show equally poor judgement when describing an incident when a young driver 'assaulted an older (81 years) driver after an incident, occasioned by the older driver making slower progress in a congested street, the assault apparently AFTER she had opened his passenger door, exchanged words, and pushed her hand into his face "touching his nose" - and he gets done for assault?

Certainly worth biting your tongue when a driver mouths off and you really feel like landing one on them.

The anonymous tractor driver will easily be able to dismiss the supposed £9000 claim from the mystery cyclist if, as implied, the latter rode into the back of his vehicle. I wonder if that's what actually happened... if indeed anything happened at all.

I think the photo above the article should possibly be of a capsule bike or velo-car from Councillor Stanton's description.

Even if he was riding a giant dildo, that's an unfortunate attitude from a public official, and not very clever considering he has clearly admitted to not checking his mirrors or blind spot before pulling out.

I have to chuckle at the haters because recumbents were world beaters from the beginning. I think the UCI's ban in the 1930s has more to do with the problems of mixing frame sizes in the peloton than an admission these machines are inferior.

I've owned a few, and have never pushed such big rings. Their speed and handling is as good as if not better than "normal" cycles. Sure they make you look a bit freakish. But any one who has ever waddled into a country pub wearing a nappy-assed lycra body stocking ought to be used to a few sniggers. It's worth it.

In future, plenty of aging cyclists will endure the "indignities" of riding bent if they want to keep riding long distances without pain. Hopefully some of them will live in South Derbyshire.

I think this man and his wife are owed an apology from Mr. Stanton, whose bullying rhetoric and fear mongering is shameful behavior, and unacceptable considering the abysmal relations between motorists and ALL cyclists.

felixcat has made an important point. Does this idiot councillor not look for potholes, kerbs, road signs and markings either? Is he saying he reverses out of his driveway without due care and attention? If the cyclist was "in his path" then I would suggest that the cyclist had right of way.

'bents are more noticed when they can be seen. Sadly this isn't the case always. It's the one thing that has stopped me so far from having one. Its the same as missing the Ferrari because they are hidden between 2 transits. It happens. the various commentators at the council etc do seem especially daft though.

We really need to sort out 'like' buttons for comments… I'm with felixcat all the way on this one

Some contributors here seem to think drivers can't see things close to the ground. The Highwaymen don't agree. They paint lane division lines on the road, and label these lanes with the names of directions or destinations. They put stop lines across the road and expect drivers to stop in the right place. They bury cats' eyes in the tarmac.
All these things are a lot lower than a recumbent. My head on my recumbent is at much the same height as the head of the driver of an open top sports car. I use the usual road position safety strategies as I do on my uprights, and find I have no more problems than I do on them. There is a problem when emerging from behind a car, this is the same problem as a standard bike emerging from behind a larger vehicle, and it is quite straightforward to allow for.Some non-cyclists are horrified at the danger of riding any sort of bike on the road. All reading this must know that whilst there is danger, it is more apparent than real.

Depending on how his driveway ended makes all the difference if you ask me.

My brothers driveway ends at the roadside with no pavements. The previous property owners had large shrubs planted along the front and until you very slowly pull out you cant see whats coming. Not dangerous driving by any means.

He will be cutting the bushes down lower to make viewing easier but it shows you cant just assume its a driveway, pavement then road set up can you

Mostly what abudhabichris said up there.

But just to add my own noise to the chatter, I must admit i get terrified when I see recumbents in London. Pennant or not, if you're a car behind the bike you just can't see it. This has got to make it dangerous for cars passing through no fault of their own.

And fuck it, I'm really gonna play devil's advocate for a moment here - why would you ride a recumbent? It's more dangerous from a visibility point of view, it's slower for anything except on the flat in a straight line, and people assume you're a neck beard so treat you with utter contempt.
And this is coming from someone whose ideal number of bikes is n+85.

As the copper says in the story, riding a recumbent is perfectly legal. Driving out of a side road or drive without looking properly is not.

Whether this recumbent rider is "looking for trouble" I don't know. His wife could be making a film (assuming the reports of her following him around filming are true).

Either way, he's within his rights to ride a bicycle on the roads, of any description.

"I was about to pull out when I noticed this wire going past the bonnet with a pennant on it, then I saw this fellow go past. If it had been one second later I would have killed him."

Is that not the point? He did see it. Because the bent rider had taken the appropriate measures to help with his visibility.

compare with:

"I was about to pull out when I noticed a man pushing a pram with small baby in it. If it had been one second later I would have killed them both."

I once read 'There are two sides to every story and then there's the truth' which I think we need to bear in mind here. The idiot councillor said the sort of thing an overweight, 71 year old pick up driver would say. The comments about the collision with the tractor are hearsay.

If you read any bent riders' forum there are lots of comments on how they are noticed because they are so low and most say that motorists give them more room on the road than upright bikes.

I would like to hear the recumbent rider's side of things before jumping to any conclusions. However, if the old fart can't see a recumbent, can he see a person in a wheelchair or a baby in a pushchair? As has been commented, a look to the left and right before emerging from his drive might be helpful.

If your not easily visible to other road users, then that could be regarded as unsafe. The Sinclair C5 (back in the day) got panned as being 'unsafe' due to its low profile, and recumbent's are no different. I wouldn't ride one...

Gkam84 wrote:

...I would argue that because of their unusual shape and position, they draw more attention and therefore are seen clearer by other road users...

Are you for real?

"better off going to Dignitas" . This quote appealed instantly to the black side of my humour, could be a great one liner in the series 'the thick of it' equally applies to the kid in the car with go faster stripes and clapped out engine and the motor cyclist doing wheelies while weaving in and out of traffic. However coming from a councillor at a meeting discussing general safety shows a lack of community respect.

He had his wife follow him and film him? well according to the witness statements he does, no comment from the rider I note! Is that confrontational, perhaps he was just going on a ride and wanted a shot of him riding his new bike?

I note the usual criticisms about cyclists are suspiciously missing...

Been abusive? nope.
Assaulted another road user? nope.
Ridden in a dangerous manner? nope.
Ran red lights? nope.
Ridden on the pavement and knocked over a granny? nope.

Sounds like they are struggling to find a reason to hate him...

Ok so he has had an altercation with a tractor, plenty of stories on here are about people getting knocked off so hardly worthy of note. Basically this is all about him being a 'menace' purely because of his choice of bike, he rides a recumbent... lots of people do, hardly a crime.

Wow, some "great" comments already. I sometimes ride my recumbent's and prefer it to my uprights, they are no more or less dangerous than a normal bike.

I would argue that because of their unusual shape and position, they draw more attention and therefore are seen clearer by other road users, especially when, like my other recumbent riders, I have mine decked out like a Christmas tree.

I'm off to stir it up with other recumbent riders and see if 1, we can find out who the rider is and 2, get this twats head on a plate (well my just his resignation)

“I was about to pull out when I noticed this wire going past the bonnet with a pennant on it" From the description the rider was in front of the car and the driver never looked right before setting off at the junction of the drive and road. Sounds like an admission of dangerous driving to me.

abudhabichris has hit the nail on the head on this one. While some of the comments made by the Councillor aren't acceptable, it does sound like this chap is going round looking for trouble.

So, If the prat Stanton's neighbours' toddler on his trike gets crushed to death by him as he leaves his drive the toddler would be to blame?