“It takes one lunatic to do you real harm”: Cyclists raise safety concerns about filming drivers; Spectator column labels cargo bikes as “dangerous”; Evenepoel’s helmet strap tan; Cycling in the rain, London edition + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
"An accident waiting to happen?": Spectator column labels cargo bikes as "dangerous" and making it "hell" for motorists to drive
I was honestly having a difficulty picking the lead quote from this Spectator column, there are so many of them to choose from!
It’s titled “The dangers of cargo bikes”, asking readers to “just look at the way they’re designed”, and followed by a picture of an elegant, practical, and clean mode of transport. I don’t see any danger? Oh, right, but they make the roads “hell” for motorists.
Written by Jake Wallis Simons, the article starts off by describing a cargo bike as a “monumental pain in the arse”, and occupying that “infuriating twilight zone between bicycle and motor vehicle”, but going no faster than 8mph.
According to Simons, cargo bikes either piloted by “smug yet very stressed parents” or “hipsters with ironic facial hair, retro clothing, flexible sexuality and a heavily-worn social conscience”.
“This means hell for motorists,” he goes on to write. But just a couple words later, drops the innocent fallacy most writers of such columns make: “as a cyclist myself…”
Ah well, there we go. The piece continues to delve into more motorist victim-playing, essentially veiled as anti-cycling jugulars: “Must they now accommodate bicycles that take up the space of a car?”
Finally, we get to the point of the article: Remember, the dangers of cargo bikes? But before we get to that, Wallis admits to have written a piece for Sunday Telegraph (yep) back in 2012, about using tricycles and cargo bikes for the school run.
In the piece, the apparent dangers only receive a passing mention. And now in the latest Spectator column, the writer confesses there was an incident that didn’t make it into the previous feature: an incident where he got carried away with the speed of the cargo bike (I thought they didn’t go faster than 8mph?), hit a bump and saw four children stuffed in the convoy box jump “two feet” in the air and then land into the box again.
That seems a pretty huge anecdote to skip out of the article about you testing cargo bikes?
When you guide the contraption gondola-like into the traffic, the box with the children inside noses out first. Surely it would be very easy for a stressed-out motorist with limited visibility to shear it off one Monday morning. The words ‘accident’ and ‘waiting to happen’ come to mind.”
So are cargo bikes “accidents waiting to happen” because they are designed poorly and are an inherent safety risk, or is it the drivers who the writer assumes is skilled enough to drive safely?
Pick any issue that counts and you can absolutely rely on the Spectator to have the wrong view on it https://t.co/WfLMHF4lpx
— Justin McGuirk (@justinmcguirk) August 18, 2023
I knew it was going to be pitiful horseshit once I’d read the line “as a cyclist”.
I’d have been embarrassed to publish it.
— Andrew Carver (@drew_carver) August 18, 2023
"Wait until it starts raining!"
“Wait until it starts raining!” It’s never a dull day to watch London cycling commuting scenes.
How long a traffic jam, had every cyclist been driving their own car?
~100 cars x ~5 metres?
vid @BoxbikeLondonpic.twitter.com/apnlCAqQXM— XXI Century City (@urbanthoughts11) August 16, 2023
Cargo bikes... we've been here before
“Adrian, you’re wrong!”
Mind you, not my words, but those of Chris Dixon, co-founder and director of training at the cargo bike logistics company Pedal Me, who we spoke to for the road.cc podcast, after Adrian Chiles, writer and presenter, noteworthy for his genius of having a ‘urinal in his flat’, or his distaste of ‘Cheddar and stout on hot cross buns’, wrote a column for The Guardian back in March, complaining about the cost of cargo bikes.
“You’ve got a bike that handles like a normal bike and carries an awful lot of stuff, that isn’t a supplementary to your car. It’s a replacement for it,” said Dixon.
Chiles had written in the column: “…most of them, probably just as expensive, are ridden by the decidedly unaffluent, slogging around being paid peanuts to supply the affluent with takeaways and assorted other essentials of modern life.”
Big words from the man who owns a BMW 520d, costing £46,000, only slightly more than the four-grand mark he decided all cargo bikes cost. So here’s a recap of a few things that cost around the same as the potentially lifelong, and in some cases car-replacing, investment that is a cargo bike…
- You could buy seven and a half of the cargo bikes Chiles took issue with for the price of… his motor, the BMW 520d…
- Or one ‘mini’ Dior bag
- 2,000 copies of the Guardian featuring Chiles’ column
- A couple of steaks seasoned by a questionable social media influencer
- Half a day represented by Mr Loophole (according to the Express)
- Seven of the 360-degree cameras Jeremy Vine never leaves the house without
"Crosswalk referee" dishes out red cards to dangerous motorists who block bike lanes and crossings
Seems like the World Cup fever has spread to road safety campaigning as a referee has been spotted handing out yellow and red cards to motorists who block junctions with their driving, putting pedestrians and cyclists in danger.
I can already tell he’s better than Anthony Taylor!
>”Crosswalk referee” dishes out red cards to dangerous motorists who block bike lanes and crossings
THAT Remco helmet strap tan...
Remco Evenepoel, fresh from his victory at the Time Trial World Championships in Stirling, sat down for a long interview with Patrick Broe and Benji Naesen of the Lanterne Rouge. And while the podcast itself is a good listen, I couldn’t help but ignore that helmet strap tan along Evenepoel’s temple.
Let me quickly check the odds for Remco winning at Vuelta…
Strong lineup from Ineos Grenadiers for Vuelta
Thomas, Ganna, and Bernal? That’s a strong team!
“That’s what motivates you as well, knowing that all the best guys are going to be there, so the goal is to go and do your best and hopefully come out on top; but it’s certainly going to be tough,” said Geraint Thomas.
Add Roglič, who’s bossing it at the Vuelta a Burgos and is in the lead of the GC, Jonas Vingegaard, Juan Ayuso, and last year’s winner and newly crowned TT champion Remco Evenepoel, it’s taking shape to be a cracking field up and down the peloton!
#LaVuelta23 is just around the corner! 🔜
Meet your Grenadiers for the Spanish Grand Tour 🇪🇸🤝 pic.twitter.com/z0hWu6C6eY
— INEOS Grenadiers (@INEOSGrenadiers) August 18, 2023
London Cycling Campaign hand delivers cycle-lane bollards to the Kensington & Chelsea
London Cycling Campaign seems to have taken matters into their own hands, and by own hands, I mean cycling and hand-delivering bollards for cycle lanes to the Kensington and Chelsea Customer Service Centre to “hammer home how there are no protected cycle lanes in the whole borough”.
🚨 BREAKING: We hand-delivered cycle-lane bollards to the Kensington & Chelsea Customer Service Centre to hammer home how there are no protected cycle lanes in the whole borough.
#HighStreetKensington #PaintIsNotProtection pic.twitter.com/1ubNcPm2bR
— London Cycling Campaign (@London_Cycling) August 18, 2023
Here’s someone who caught them cycling along with the bollards!
I thought I saw you as I was riding through Parliament Square… pic.twitter.com/KJig96YGhv
— Bob (@bobreeduk) August 18, 2023
Like they say, “build it and they’ll come”… or “we’ll come and tell you how to build it”.
Nothing to see here, just two great filmmakers
This post hasn’t got anything to do with cycling, but just a shoutout to two great filmmakers standing next to one of the landmark pieces of cinema history — the poster of Vittorio De Sica’s 1949 Italian movie Bicycle Thieves.
Steven Spielberg and Spike Lee with the poster of Vittorio De Sica’s Bicycle Thieves. pic.twitter.com/GA6UUFTPIJ
— cinesthetic. (@TheCinesthetic) August 15, 2023
It’s a Friday, go watch it this evening!
Temporary ban on cycling on Isle of Man road for the Manx Grand Prix, but open to motorists
The Manx Grand Prix (MGP) kicks off this weekend, and a temporary ban has been put in place on cycling on the A18 Mountain Road in the Isle of Man till 30th August.
However, drivers are apparently exempt from the ban, which extends between Ramsey and Douglas, as the BBC reports that motorists have been reminded the road will remain open to two-way traffic throughout the period.
A spokesman for the Isle of Man Constabulary urged people to ride and drive “sensibly”. He added: “Whether local or visiting for the festival make sure you remember to know your limits.”
Hmm, if recent events are anything to go by, should I expect a pandemonium due to road closures, for one particular mode of transport, due to a racing event?
> Frustrated locals see off World Championships with final complaints about road closures
More cyclists fined for riding bikes through town centre – months on from rider ordered to pay £1,100
A council has once again shared news of joint patrols with a police force to stop and fine cyclists who ride through a town centre.
The council officers have previously been accused of targeting the “old and slow” and cyclists “they can get away with”…
In praise of Sheffield stands...
Some simple, basic cycling infrastrcture in use can be a joy to see. So here’s some Sheffield stands, thankfully bolted on securely to the ground.
The humble Sheffield stand is the easiest to use and most secure form of public bicycle parking there is. Anything else is over-engineered, expensive nonsense. The evidence: pic.twitter.com/iBPfXDRO37
— thenewlove (@thenewlove) August 14, 2023
Cyclists concerned by "too long and too dangerous" diversion as cycle path closed
Cyclists in Oxford have raised safety concerns about a diversion that directs riders to a notoriously dangerous roundabout while a cycle path in the city is closed for 10 weeks for repairs.
The council says it had “no choice” but to close the route for bridge repairs, but some have questioned why a “safe” diversion has not been directed through University Parks, with it instead visiting a notoriously dangerous roundabout…
> Cyclists concerned by “too long and too dangerous” diversion as cycle path closed
Mobile-phone using driver with tinted windows reacts aggressively to cyclist recording him, sparking debate of how dangerous is filming motorists
A video posted by the anonymous Twitter user called ‘Cars on camera’, which frequently shares footage of dangerous drivers, has sparked a debate: To what lengths do you go to film and report such behaviour, and when should you prioritise your own safety?
The latest video filmed in Harrow shows a Volvo driver on the phone passing the cyclist. Oh, and the car had tinted front side windows, which if you didn’t know, are illegal in the UK.
Serious crimes need serious action from police forces@MetCC haven’t responded to this submission despite…
-Use of mobile phone
-Illegal tints
-Hit and run
-Due care and attention
-Red light jump…and what’s in the @Lidl bag?@MPSHarrow @MPSHarrowHill
Filmed in Harrow pic.twitter.com/QTclTDaSrE
— Cameras are everywhere 📸 (@CarsOnCamera) August 17, 2023
At the next traffic light, the cyclist draws up to the driver and peers close to the raised windows, and voila, “Phone’s still on his lap,” says the cyclist out loud.
What follows seems out of a movie, or a video game — like one of the cutscenes. A hasty tap on the window to shoo the cyclist from the bewildered, agitated driver, who reacts as if he’s got something very important to hide (mind you, in his Lidl bag).
He steps on the pedal, veers to his left and intends to zoom past, jumping the red light. But another car shows up on his left, and he drives into the side of that vehicle, before reversing and then going past the cyclist and the other drivers from the right-hand side.
> Near Miss of the Day 844: Driver insists cyclists who film motorists are asking to be hit
The incident has left cyclists concerned, with many warning the cyclist to maintain caution, especially when the drivers start reacting in a defensive way and even try to make a run for it.
When I watched this clip back, the first
thing that struck me, was how much danger you were potentially in.Please be careful, it just takes one lunatic like that to do you some real harm.
Your life is more important than catching drivers on their phones.
Be careful.
— 20means20 (@CitizenUddin) August 17, 2023
Good job, but please be careful. Some of those guys can become very aggressive.
— PhoneKills (@phonekills) August 17, 2023
One person said that they have even stopped filming because of aggression from the drivers, including verbal abuse and close passes.
However, Mike van Erp, or Cycling Mikey, who has made a name for himself by reporting drivers on their phone or committing other traffic offences, seemed to disagree. He said: “I’m not sure that’s the right approach. Doing that will only mean more of this behaviour.”
I’m not sure that’s the right approach. Doing that will only mean more of this behaviour.
— CyclingMikey the Unspeakable (@MikeyCycling) August 17, 2023
Mikey, to many cyclists, you are a role model.
However, I think you should be highlighting the dangers that cyclists could face as well as the positives from filming drivers using their phones.I think we both know it is only a matter of time before someone gets hurt.
— 20means20 (@CitizenUddin) August 17, 2023
While others suggested to continue reporting but not engage with the drivers, regardless of the situation. “You never know what type of person you might encounter. Just keep quiet, don’t gesture , calm down and carry on,” wrote one user.
So should cyclists continue filming and reporting offences, or take more caution and reduce interactions? What do you think is the best course of action in such scenarios? What would you do? Let us know in the comments…
Your thoughts on filming motorists using phones or breaking traffic rules
In the morning, we looked at a driver reacting way too aggressively on being confronted by a cyclist for using their mobile phone, first veering off blindly to one side to slam into the side of another motor vehicle, and then reversing and dangerously passing the cyclist and another vehicle from the other side on a red light.
We asked for your thoughts on the incident, and whether this indicates a growing tendency to act hostilely which may put off cyclists from filming and reporting careless or dangerous drivers. Here’s what you all had to say…
Matthew Acton-Varian: “The potential aggression is the reason I don’t use cameras. And even if I did, I would not let any driver know that I noticed their transgressions. And unless the Police upload portals significantly improve their conviction success rate, I’m not about to be even tempted to change my mind.”
IanMK: “I think running a camera makes me less likely to be aggressive/triggered by bad driving. Revenge is a dish best served cold.”
Oldfatgit: “I run cameras. However … I won’t dream of doing what this guy did – or Cycling Mikey does for that matter. Mind you … I’m also under Police Scotland, who didn’t prosecute the driver of this car as ‘they didn’t remember the incident’.
“We have to be very carefull about what we are doing … the personal danger that this rider put himself in is unreal. Problem is, we only think about it afterwards.
“As much as I want to see ar******s, scumbags and c**ksockets removed from the road, self-preservation should be the first thing on your mind.”
Nealunreal: “People who use mobile phones while driving can kill, so it is certainly worth getting the footage and reporting it to the police. As to engaging with the offenders? Thats a judgement call to make in the moment. However, since we are untrained civilians, and not police officers, it’s best to err on the side of caution and engage with them as little as possible.”
Be very cautious going up to peoples windows to film them committing offences.
My advice is to film from a distance. If you don’t get the evidence, you don’t get it.
Some won’t hesitate to drive dangerously to escape, threaten you, drive at you, or pull out a weapon on you. https://t.co/xEmileXHBo
— CycleGaz™ (@cyclegaz) August 17, 2023
From over on Facebook…
David Shanahan: “People want to drive on their phone, they pay the price. Either they kill someone or get a fine. I see it all the time when cycling, but no point in passive aggressive approach. Send the film to the rozzers. Let them deal with it. No use greeting ran over, punched or even stabbed. Not with crazies on the streets.”
Robin Warnock: “I’m with folks suggesting greater caution with filming. You’re seeing a lot of these videos resulting in on road, moving fights. As mentioned, it’s only a matter of time before something goes wrong.”
James Lyon: “Never confront. That goes double on regular routes (like a commute) or around your local area where there’s a very high chance you’ll see the same driver again. No matter how right you are, no confrontation ever results in a driver backing down, apologising and promising not to do it again; it results in anger and denial and abuse.”
And, Chris Jepson, summing distilling everything down neatly: “Filming isn’t causing danger. Psycho drivers cause danger.”
18 August 2023, 09:04
18 August 2023, 09:04
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@mctrials23 Rendell said it in the other thread - why don't we get re-tested? I have had a license for over 40 years purely due to the fact that I passed the test when I was 20. It makes no sense.
I am sending this post from hospital. I forgot what "Danger! Tiger Enclosure! No Unauthorised Entry!", meant. Incidentally, ignorance of the law (which includes forgetting it) is not usually an acceptable defence?
Never really thought about it to be honest.
...and, of course, there was no way of recording any kind of information before the internet was invented. 😏
Not even a passing comment for John Tomac?
@Jakrayan God knows. On the country roads here (Kent) people are usually good at not close passing me but the consistently overtake me on blind corners etc. Oncoming cars on very narrow roads its 50:50 as to whether they will slow down at all despite passing me within 50cm. Once I get back into civilisation its a different story. Bad driving becomes the norm.
You could bé right. I live in a French Pyrenean départment with plenty of narrow, tight roads. About 80% of drivers either pull over to thé max or wait for a better space to overtake. Mind you, there's always thé odd one looking at their phone...
For a while I've thought this was an unfortunate brand name. Several times I've seen cyclists riding towards me wearing Le Col jerseys with their right arm covering the L so it looks like they are advertising e.Coli.
A driver in a BMW not looking properly at a junction? Who'd have thunk it?
@bennysnnock Which is why training for a driver's licence should include cycle training, of course.
56 thoughts on ““It takes one lunatic to do you real harm”: Cyclists raise safety concerns about filming drivers; Spectator column labels cargo bikes as “dangerous”; Evenepoel’s helmet strap tan; Cycling in the rain, London edition + more on the live blog”
Why report on the Spectator
Why report on the Spectator article?
It’s tosh … we know that. It’s not just tosh, it’s stupid tosh designed to inflame people who support their use to add to their advert revenue.
But why feed the tosh with advertising clicks that they wouldn’t normally get?
100% agree.
100% agree.
It can’t be easy to find content for the Live Blog on a daily basis, but there’s too much looking for things that will annoy us in an effort to drive engagement.
The Spectator is a horrible
The Spectator is a horrible rag for horrible people.
Interested to note that it
Interested to note that it apparently considers “flexible sexuality” to be a mockable attribute. Have they confused bicycles with bisexuals?
More flexibility? I’m now
More flexibility? As a ‘bent rider I’m now thinking about S&S coupling…
Brauchsel wrote:
Bikesexuals.
Perhaps just that journalist.
Perhaps just that journalist. After all, his name is an anagram of…
WANK! SOIL SLIM JEANS
Do the article dates from 11
So the article dates from 11 years ago. Is the accident [i]still[/i] waiting to happen?
In other news, I recall the excited squeals from the back of the school bus, every time it crossed a speed bump, and the entire back row boinged two feet in the air. The bus driver was not amused.
So the sole actual example
So the sole actual example provided of an injury involving a cargo bike appears to have had nothing to do with the inherent “dangers” of a cargo bike (imagined or otherwise) and everything to do with an incompetent car driver?
Sounds to me like pretty much everything in that article is just adding arguments for proper segregated infrastructure. It minimises the “dangers of cargo bikes” (more accurately, the danger of cargo bikes sharing road space with incompetent drivers) and said drivers also no longer have to “cope” with “accommodating” bikes.
As an aside, the average speed of motor vehicles in London at peak times is 9mph. Just saying.
9mph?
9mph?
If it was less, then that’ll be all the cargo bikes ??
It baffles me that people don
It baffles me that people don’t know or don’t apply the hierarchy of controls when it comes to managing hazards. The wording changes based on the application but is essentially :
– Eliminate; avoid activity
– Reduce; fundamental changes to activity to change nature of risk
– Isolate; engineered controls, equipment modifications
– Control; rules / people management
– PPE; [duh]
In this case, modifying the cargo bikes to reduce the risk of being a cargo bike is kinda dumb by its nature, but would be an engineered control, whereas decent infra sits at the 2nd level, removing the threat of vehicle interaction. Bad infra, like a line of paint, is barely one step above reflective tape and the hope your helmet will soften the impact of concrete or steel.
Sadly the motor-centric viewpoint is that if everyone is in their car, no-one is cycling and no cyclists are at risk.
ROOTminus1 wrote:
But PPE for cyclists, helmets, doesn’t inconvenience drivers one bit, hence its popularity with them rather than any of the other measures. Also useful for blaming the cyclist when the incident was entirely the driver’s fault.
The only “Accident waiting to
The only “Accident waiting to happen” is one where ignorant and careless motorists don’t follow the Highway Code!
Jake Wallis Simons wrote:
How is that the fault of the cyclist?
The same argument could be made for a car with a long bonnet making the same manoeuvre and I don’t imagine he’d say that it was that driver’s fault then…
I had this a lunchtime –
I had this a lunchtime – lights went green (on a roundabout) and I started off to find a driver from the right clearly not going to stop. I shouted out twice and he managed to stop a couple of car lengths over the line.
A pedestrian then shouted at me ” never made a mistake then”.
Because of course, had the driver’s mistake led to a collision I would have been perfectly ok.
Also a daft comment – should
Also a daft comment – should you, cognisant that everyone makes mistakes, have just left him to carry on, rather than try to attract attention to avert a crash?
The bloke and his mate
The bloke and his mate crossed 3 lanes to get to a hatched area, then had to cross 3 more to get to the pavement. No marked crossing as you are expected to use the underpass!
In other news: my kids are
In other news: my kids are not allowed to cycle to school because the school doesn’t have adequate, accessible parking facilities for bikes that the kids can use. This has been going on for about 2 years now with no sign things changing. Other than pester them constantly, what practical and productive steps can I take to encourage installation of bike parking facilities at the school so that kids can cycle? Does anyone have similar experience?
Lock the bikes to the head
Lock the bikes to the head teacher’s car?
Any of this any help? https:/
Any of this any help? https://www.cyclinguk.org/article/campaigns-guide/how-to-encourage-cycling-schools-anti-cycling-policies
Or think about who else you could pester – your local councillors? Local MP? Sustrans?
Maybe get on to the local
Maybe get on to the local council. They have a duty to promote sustainable travel to school – and to publish a plan about it. More in here – https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1165730/Travel_to_school_for_children_of_compulsory_school_age.pdf
Locally we have a group
Locally we have a group called “Bike Worcester” who have been pushing for a new school to have more bike storage – you might want to see if there’s a similar in your area?
“who Google tells me is a
“who Google tells me is a journalist” … ouch.
Play the ball, not the man please.
It seems a particularly daft
It seems a particularly daft jibe to make when our author (who Google tells me is also a journalist) is using said other journalist’s material to fill their live blog.
I was going to do my normal
I was going to do my normal complaint about a London cycling video on the route of my commute, that doesn’t have me in it. But then I realised that video is several years old (no hoardings/work on the bridge, and no anti-terrorist barriers) so it’s probably when from when I was cycling round the country watching Palace rather than working!
Are the Spectator on a
Are the Spectator on a mission? It’s less than a week since Hitchins’s anti e-bike rant, which also complained about cargo bikes.
The potential aggression is
The potential aggression is the reason I don’t use cameras. And even if I did, I would not let any driver know that I noticed their transgressions. And unless the Police upload portals significantly improve their conviction success rate, I’m not about to be even tempted to change my mind.
Absolutely take your points
Absolutely take your points there, the only caveat I would have is that in my experience drivers will usually put their phones down once spoken to (I don’t film phone drivers simply because my camera is bar mounted and is too low to show them), so in asking them to put the phone down one might be protecting another cyclist, pedestrian or driver from harm.
I’ve been using a camera well
I’ve been using a camera well over a year now, most of the time I get home and delete the footage without viewing it. I was beginning to wonder whether I should still use it or not. However I went for a bike ride on Tuesday, suffered two horrendous close passes in the space of 40 minutes, which resulted in two submissions to OpSnap and have been informed action will taken against both offenders. No confrontation with the drivers, the camera provided all the evidence needed.
This is the approach I use
This is the approach I use too. Camera under the bars at all times really just to provide me with back up in the event of being taken out (again) or where close passes / aggressive driving leave me genuinely shaken. I don’t really ever confront drivers.
It makes mw wonder though, the close passes etc happen due to bad driving & decision making and, I guess, an assumption that it’s risk free / no comeback (because they assume no camera). If you advertise that you have a camera somehow would driver behaviour change? And would it make the “freedom fighter” element react even more aggressively?
I have a PassPixi “Pass Wide”
I have a PassPixi “Pass Wide” camera sign on my jacket and in my experience it creates a really noticeable improvement in driver behaviour, if I go out without it on it is quite striking how many more close passes I receive. Plus I do feel it’s good sportsmanship in a “can’t say I didn’t warn you” sense. The downside is that I do get the occasional close pass with a passenger shouting “grass” or something equally brilliant out of the window, but that sort of oxygen thief would probably do it anyway and the numbers are minuscule compared to the number of courteous wide passes I believe it encourages.
I’ll have to dig out some
I’ll have to dig out some examples,as my experiences are mixed using a pass pixi.
More than once I’ve had to resort to pointing at it when I felt a driver wasn’t planning or hadn’t executed a safe pass.
Again experience then is mixed some get the message, others react more aggressively.
I think running a camera
I think running a camera makes me less likely to be aggressive/triggered by bad driving. Revenge is a dish best served cold.
Anyone else seen Phil Gaimon
Anyone else seen Phil Gaimon “I hate cyclists because….” on Youtube.
Excellent 23 minutes of why cyclists are wonderful and drivers are not.
Road CC might like to do an article on it as I may generate some interesting comments?
With 1.5+ tonnes cars that
With 1.5+ tonnes cars that can do 0-60mph in under 5 seconds and top speeds well in excess of 100mph it’s cargo bikes that are the “accident waiting to happen”. Sure thing. I feel this award winning journalist best stick to what he’s good at and opinion pieces is clearly not it, utterly embarrassing rubbish.
If we ever find out that hes
If we ever find out that hes’s actually good at anything that is
I run cameras*.
I run cameras*.
However … I won’t dream of doing what this guy did – or Cycling Mikey does for that matter.
Mind you … I’m also under Police Scotland, who didn’t prosecute the driver of this car as ‘they didn’t remember the incident’.
We have to be very carefull about what we are doing … the personal danger that this rider put himself in is unreal. Problem is, we only think about it afterwards.
As much as I want to see arseholes, scumbags and cocksockets removed from the road, self-preservation should be the first thing on your mind.
* I ride with cameras as I want to be able to provide the evidence that the other road user was a fault, so my wife has no issue securing compensation in the event of (another) serious accident. Based on previously submitted videos to Police Scotland (including the one the image is from), I am under no illusion that securing a prosecution through the legal system is likely. Even the guy that left me with life changing injuries got 6 points and £220 fine because admitted guilt … so it was dealt with by fixed penalties.
If someone appears to be
If someone appears to be making an argument that you would have thought too ludicrous for anyone to make, consider the possibly that they know it is ludicrious, and they’re just trying to provoke you into wasting your time by reacting to it. That applies equally to columnists hoping to drive clicks, and to people below the line in the comments sections, doing it for their own twisted sense of satisfaction. These people are trolls. Do not feed them.
Yes, it’s obviously the
Yes, it’s obviously the “flexible sexuality” that annoys “Jake double barrelled name” the most.
People who use mobile phones
People who use mobile phones while driving can kill, so it is certainly worth getting the footage and reporting it to the police. As to engaging with the offenders? Thats a judgement call to make in the moment. However, since we are untrained civilians, and not police officers, it’s best to err on the side of caution and engage with them as little as possible.
One issue is getting the
One issue is getting the footage and showing the offence. This was more difficult initially until the law was tightened.
Some confrontation comes from the close proximity of getting clear footage.
It’s a curious thought
It’s a curious thought process, isn’t it, the driver ‘phone user goes from “this is fine/ I’m not doing anything wrong/ everyone does it/ no-one will mind” to “busted” the instant they twig that you have eyes (and a lens) on them. From “busted”, it usually goes into the nature programme mode where two animals size each other up before deciding whether to engage in a risky fight for supremacy.
Observing motorists on their
Observing motorists on their phones as I walked along the pavement, it dawned on me that all of them were alone in the car. I suppose having a witness in the car is enough to convict them of their guilt – they know damn well it’s wrong.
Presumably the passenger
Presumably the passenger (optional upgrade – see your dealer) does the calls / SM updates?
Maybe it’s time for passengers to be mandatory in cars? There could be a pool of mother and father in laws available – they could be trained-up in using Google maps and Instagram. That would be safer easier and cheaper than say Bluetooth integration.
What’s ironic facial hair?
What’s ironic facial hair?
It’s like ten thousand
It’s like ten thousand moustache hairs when all you need is a beard.
Well done to all the cargo
Well done to all the cargo bikes making the roads “hell” for motorists, if they keep it up long enough some of them might get the message and swap to a bike themselves!
I thought we didn’t like
I thought we didn’t like Sheffield stands that were bolted down. I thought that we wanted ones concreted into the ground so that they can’t be un-bolted….
brooksby wrote:
I’ve seen workers installing them where the hole for the bolt has been filled with wet cement and the bolt sunk into it before it dries, which presumably makes them pretty hard to unbolt – no way of knowing whether that applies to the ones in the picture, obviously.
Watching the video made me
Watching the video made me wonder if we can get, I believe the term is “meta” and get a picture of a Sheffield stand in Sheffield city centre?
ktache wrote:
Close enough?
https://goo.gl/maps/cg3yBUuwqZB5ULwz7
Steve Back in Watford needs
Steve Back in Watford needs help
Cycling Mikey is “a fake – your paid by the media – admit it.”
“Why – I drove around Camden and Regents park all the time? You are not real – you’re a fake. You don’t exist this is a media set up. I doubt if you even live in Camden.”
Helmet cam warriors are seen
Helmet cam warriors are seen as agent provocateurs by the general public they are perceived as actively seeking out confrontation for there own agrandisment Cycling Yarpie being a classic case . Headcam footage is also open to manipulation like all image based media and it is also rather unidirectional when was the last time someone posted a video of themselves busting a red light, storming a pedestrian crossing or riding the wrong way along a one way street
I find using a camera makes
I find using a camera makes me stick to the rules as I never know when I might have to submit something. Also makes me get a shot of my feet if I get off the bike during the 1min after and in my report refer to toucan crossings and national routes if no signage is in the clip.
Lock ’em up !
Lock ’em up !
I think Wilts police are
I think Wilts police are knocking Lancs off the top spot
No MOT and dangerous condition
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No action and they query how the complainer knew !!!
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