Cyclists blast Halfords for “antagonistic” cyclist v motorist ‘who has right of way?’ post; How to crash on a mountain bike, Peter Sagan style; Road safety “bare minimum” to expect; Fishing worms: the new doping trend?; Pog dancing + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
Fill up your cargo bikes, it’s the weekend round-up!
Missed the weekend’s cycling news because you were too busy out on your bike, battling the wind and rain. Well, don’t worry, because we have just the solution…
*** Spoiler alert: May contain cargo bikes ***
> I borrowed a cargo bike to get a chest of drawers across London – and it was great fun
I did warn you…
> Croydon cyclist breaks wrist after hitting base of cycle lane wand removed by council
> This round-the-world-ready ‘Cercle’ bike is made for living in
> Cycloc ceases production, citing impact of Brexit on its business
> Kaitlin Armstrong jailed for 90 years for murder of gravel cyclist Mo Wilson
Random pro cyclist content of the day: Pog a go-go dancing
Meanwhile, someone’s certainly enjoying their winter holidays…
Pogacar está curtindo as férias adoidado rs
Cc @OutOfCycling pic.twitter.com/yaz9mDCAqB
— O País Do Ciclismo (@opaisdociclismo) November 19, 2023
Grand tours, time trials, mountains, rapping, hilly classics, cobbled classics, dancing on podiums in nightclubs – is there anything the man can’t do?
Are fishing bait worms being used to dope at the Tour de France? Doctor claims “well-known cyclist” wanted to use lugworm ‘super’ haemoglobin in 2020 – as WADA admits it is aware of risks
Blood bags, micro-dosing, and CERA? Pah, they’re old school. The new wave of blood doping that – according to one French biologist, as well as a few anti-doping agencies – could soon be sweeping its way across the pro peloton involves none other than the groundbreaking use of… fishing worms.
Yes, you read that right.
According to a report in L’Équipe over the weekend, haemoglobin from arenicola marina lugworms – which are commonly used for fishing bait and are also known as sandworms – has attracted the attention of the cycling world, with one “well-known” Tour de France cyclist allegedly approaching the doctor behind the product’s use in 2020.
> Cheating at the Tour de France — a rich history dating back 120 years
French marine biologist Dr Franck Zal helped create extracellular haemoglobin from lugworms for medical use after discovering the worm’s amazing oxygen transporting abilities in 2007 – allowing him and his company Hemarina to produce what they call a “universal blood substitute” that can transport 40 times more oxygen than human haemoglobin.
It’s compatible with all blood groups, easy to use, doesn’t increase blood haematocrit or cause high blood pressure, and can be stored at room temperature and freeze-dried, making it easy to transport.
Which, along with its medical capabilities, also means it’s perfect for those looking to seek an advantage on the bike (no more dodgy blood bag freezers, eh Dr Fuentes?) – while anti-doping tests are able to detect the ‘super’ haemoglobin, its short half-life means it is undetectable after a few hours and is unlikely to show up on an athlete’s biological passport.
And Dr Zal says he quickly realised that his substance could be exploited by people not just looking to save lives.
“I understood very early on that it could be diverted,” he told L’Équipe. “We had several direct requests from athletes or gyms, who wanted to know how to obtain the substance. I also learned of its possible administration to racehorses.”
And, in July 2020, just before the Covid-impacted cycling season was about to restart, Zal claims a “well-known cyclist whose team participates in the Tour de France, contacted me because he wanted the product”.
The biologist says he immediately contacted the French OCLAESP police who work to protect public health.
“I asked them what to do, they replied: ‘Make him talk, we want to see if there is a network.’ We had around ten exchanges of emails but at some point, I told myself that it’s their job, not mine,” he said.
A form of powered haemoglobin has already been discovered in cycling during the Operation Aderlass investigation in Germany, which saw Mark Schmidt, the doctor at the centre of a doping ring that included the likes of Alessandro Petacchi, Danilo Hondo, and Borut Bozic, sentenced to almost five years in prison in 2021.
However, the re-analysis of 800 in-and out-of-competition blood and urine samples post-Aderlass failed to find the substance – though anti-doping authorities have started to conduct surprise pre-race tests in a bid to detect its use.
> German sports doctor at centre of Operation Aderlass jailed
“Sea worm haemoglobin works very quickly in the body after injection but it also has a very short lifespan,” Adeline Molina of the French anti-doping authority, the AFLD, told L’Équipe.
“This is a product to look for in competition. But it is visible in a blood test.”
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Meanwhile, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) also told the French newspaper that they are aware of the potential use of lugworm haemoglobin as the new frontier of blood doping in sport.
“There was a very rapid understanding of this substance and its risks for doping purposes. We bought the product and put it in the hands of the anti-doping laboratories,” Professor Olivier Rabin, WADA’s scientific director, said.
“If this substance had been found in an athlete, we would have made it public. I can’t guarantee that this hasn’t happened somewhere in the world. But to my knowledge, this is not the case.”
In any case, best to keep an eye out for boxes of worms being ditched in hotel bins or at the side of the road during the classics…
But you can’t transport a car by bike! Oh wait…
While we’re on the subject of cargo bikes and what they can and cannot transport, this video from last year in China conveniently popped up on the timeline…
Boomer:”iN cHinA theY gEt rId oF aLl cArgObiKeS!!!111eleven”
Meanwhile in China: pic.twitter.com/e9JkbdxfD1— CargoCycle_official (@CargoCycle_) November 19, 2023
“It was fun!” When Tom Pidcock casually rocks up at your local mountain bike ride in his rainbow jersey
He may not be heading to Dublin this weekend for the cyclocross World Cup (grrrr… Maybe David Lappartient has a point after all?), but Tom Pidcock is still getting the miles in this winter.
Yesterday, the Strade Bianche winner, and Olympic and world MTB XC champion, turned up unannounced – and got suitably muddy – at a mountain bike leisure ride organised by a local Dutch club…
Le champion olympique et du monde de VTT Tom Pidcock a participé à une randonnée en VTT à Hulst pour le plaisir 🌈#mountainbike #lesrp #Cyclisme #cycling pic.twitter.com/tttUKORf0i
— 🚴 Les Rois du Peloton 🚲 (@LRoisDuPeloton) November 19, 2023
I wonder how many of the 600-odd riders slogging through the grisly conditions in Hulst, unaware of the presence of off-road royalty, looked up the road and thought to themselves: ‘Who’s that prat wearing the rainbow jersey? Who does he think he is, Tom bloody Pidcock?’
Competition time! And it’s a handy one for those long winter months of dirt and grime, too
> WIN! Ultimate Bike Care Kit from Gtechniq worth £139 to keep your steed spick and span!
Silvan Dillier’s relaxing Sunday spin… the whole way around Mallorca
Now, this is what I call a coffee ride:
Not content with simply replicating the famous Mallorca 312 grand fondo, the Alpecin-Deceuninck veteran decided to chuck in an extra 46 or so kilometres, including a swift jaunt up to the iconic Cap de Formentor lighthouse and back.
I have to say, Dillier’s mammoth winter ride is making me nostalgic for that time, at the age of 16 and with €10 in my pocket (which was swiftly spent on chips and a Coke), I decided to ride from one end of Mallorca to the other and back on my own, taking in the Sa Calobra for good measure and enjoying a brief tow from a Footon–Servetto pro (remember that kit?).
Fortunately, my limited resources well and truly depleted, I managed to make it back to the hotel at around 10pm, hours after my phone battery had died, and just minutes before my mum was about to ring the police to report me missing.
Ah, good times. Cheers Silvan.
Lights on tonight: Another timely winter cycling article
British Cycling partners with Trek to “grow and diversify” cycling participation in communities across the country
British Cycling has announced a three-year partnership with Trek, as the American manufacturer becomes the governing body’s new Community Bike Partner, providing 500 new bicycles to “grow and diversify” community participation in cycling across the country.
It is expected that the Trek bikes will directly benefit more than 40,000 riders each year, and will mostly support activities for children and young people, helping them learn new skills and build up their confidence.
The partnership comes a year after a successful pilot project delivered by British Cycling and Trek in Sheffield, which saw the two organisations deliver mountain bike skills sessions across eight schools in the city, reaching more than 3,000 young people.
It will also support the work of BC’s network of community coaches, as well as the growth of the City Academies programme, which launched in 2021 alongside the Rapha Foundation to create new pathways into the sport for riders from diverse ethnic communities and lower socio-economic groups.
“Our Community Coaches do brilliant work to help people from all different backgrounds to build up their confidence, develop new skills and discover the joy of cycling,” British Cycling’s CEO Jon Dutton said.
“We’re incredibly thankful to Trek for their support over the next three years and look forward to working with them to widen access to the sport in communities across the country.”
“When will drivers treat cyclists as humans?”
“It’s the bare minimum we should expect”: “No evidence” to suggest that Birmingham City Council’s financial woes will impact road safety initiatives, says walking and cycling commissioner
Birmingham City Council’s worrying financial position will not negatively impact the local authority’s road safety initiatives, the West Midlands’ cycling and walking commissioner, Adam Tranter, has insisted.
The council is currently in the midst of a funding crisis that could see “non-essential” services slashed and widespread cuts implemented, Birmingham Live reports.
However, Adam Tranter says he expects road safety schemes to be protected by the council given that they are statutory requirements, and especially against the grim backdrop of the deaths of three cyclists and a pedestrian on the city’s roads in May this year, while 65 people in total lost their lives in road traffic incidents in 2022.
One of these recent schemes involves the implementation of an improved third-party reporting tool, while the speed limit on main A-roads in the city will be cut from 40mph to 30mph, enforced by an increase in the number of average speed cameras in the city.
“There is no evidence to suggest that any road safety activity is under threat – it’s business as usual,” Tranter said of the potential funding cuts expected to hit the council.
“Importantly, road safety is a statutory duty, so it is a core thing that councils need to do. I’d hope that anyone working with the council will see road safety as a priority – it’s not a ‘nice to have’, it’s the bare minimum we should expect.”
He continued: “The numbers have to do the talking with road safety. We have to see where we get too, but my gut says there is progress being made.
“Working in partnership we can make sure everyone who uses our roads and pavements feels safe. It won’t be easy, and the scale of the challenge is huge, but I’m very grateful to partners including the police for the improvements they’ve made to their third party reporting service and new roads policing teams.”
“So he is actually human”: Peter Sagan stacks it on his mountain bike during training in Italy – as three-time world road race champion gains “multiple levels” ahead of Paris Olympics
Peter Sagan’s path to the mountain bike XC race at next year’s Olympic Games may well prove a rocky one (both literally and metaphorically), as the three-time world road race champion faces a race against time to accumulate enough points to even make it to the start line in Paris.
But, as evidenced by this video, posted by fellow Slovak MTBer Simona Kuchyňková while the pair were training in Finale Ligure, the now retired roadie – who cut a forlorn figure during his last few years in the pro peloton – at least seems to be back enjoying himself on a bike.
Well, as much as you can enjoy flying over the handlebars onto a load of rocks, of course…
“This was one of his first rides during this week,” Simona explained on Instagram. “Still a bit sturdy but just after week of riding… he gained NOT one, but multiple levels in just a few days!
“Suddenly it’s hard to drop this wolverine. If he keeps it up, this man is gonna have some steeze.”
And it’s also nice to know his classic “hay, hay, hay” catchphrase has made it over to the world of mountain biking too…
Get your anti-cycling bingo cards out: Halfords slammed for “shameful, antagonistic” cyclist versus motorist ‘who has right of way?’ post
It’s that time of the year again, folks, when the social media admin for Halfords – the UK’s largest retailer of cycling products and services – scratches their head, has a long think over their morning coffee, and then decides to post something that will annoy cyclists and pit motorists against them.
Last year, Halfords decided to weigh in on the whole bike helmet debate, for some reason (surely not to sell helmets?), by advising cyclists that they “strongly recommend” wearing one… just in case a tree branch falls on your head.
> “Wear a helmet!” Halfords advises… because a tree branch might fall on your head
And, just like clockwork, this winter’s questionable post comes courtesy of a gloriously ambiguous graphic depicting a cyclist and a motorist on the road, along with the not-at-all-inflammatory question: “Who has right of way?”
The eyebrow-raising post has so far received 9,000 comments and shares, so it’s fair to say the social media admin has done their job – but if you were expecting a thoughtful, articulate Facebook discussion on the new Highway Code and its pyramid of vulnerable road users, you’d be sorely mistaken.
Instead, get your anti-cycling bingo cards at the ready…
“Car. We pay to use the road,” answered Bryan, very helpfully.
“The one who pays road tax!” added Rob, even more helpfully.
While David, the most helpful of all, wrote: “The car has right of way , because he pays road tax and insurance – the cyclist should be on the pavement eating its vegan sausage roll and reading this week’s Trainspotting Weekly.”
Great stuff David, cheers.
> Cycling sales down at Halfords as retailer shifts focus to car repairs
“Cyclists have breaks [sic] too and should assess the situation and not assume they have priority,” says Sean.
“Doesn’t look like there’s a cycle lane and I’d assume the car would be indicating left well before this so really the bike shouldn’t be in this position,” added the very presumptuous Eddie.
And that’s before we even get to Danny’s extremely coherent comment, the contents of which I’ve decided to leave fully intact for your Monday morning enjoyment:
You now the answer ??the first thing you would be told use your mirror ?? But the ciclist would be right because there is no laws for ciclist or padestrion only punish drivers ????
Make of that what you will…
Meanwhile, Anthony claimed “it’s the car” who has priority because “1) Car is in front. 2) Bike is undertaking. 3) There is no bike lane.”
But, thankfully not everyone interpreted the admittedly highly dubious graphic in the same way.
Replying to Anthony, Jamie wrote: “It’s not. Maybe back in 2000. Even maybe in 2019. In 2023 it’s the bike.
“This is exactly why the theory test should expire every two or three years. Most people just follow the rules they were taught when they passed their test, sometimes many decades ago.”
Meanwhile, ignoring the whole tedious discussion, others were extremely critical of Halfords even bringing the whole thing up in the first place, along with the questionable use of the term ‘right of way’.
“There’s no such term as ‘right of way; it’s who has priority, so please ask the question correctly before asking for answers Halfords, okay?” wrote Dean.
“Very poor and antagonistic of Halfords”, said John, before answering the antagonistic question anyway, “but let’s assume the car overtook the bike then made a left hand turn, then the bike has right of way, if the cyclist is undertaking (though assuming there’s no standing traffic so unlikely) then the cyclist is as daft as a brush, though this needs to be a video so that we can see the whole story, instead of making a decision on a snapshot.”
Okay…
Philippa, who alerted us to the post, described it as “shameful”, and says she has forwarded it – along with the “atrocious and inaccurate” comments – to Cycling UK and Stop Killing Cyclists.
I’m sure next year’s Halfords cycling post will go down much better…
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Latest Comments
"I think I nearly died doing extreme sport and my main takeaway is that the rest of you should all wear PPE to go to tesco". BBC loves helmet stories. I blame that Dan guy.
Ah yes. Because what a gravel bike needs is a shed ton more weight. None of the 32 tyre options are likely to be in Gravel friendly widths and weights.
Did he also make you wear a helmet for taking a shower, changing a lightbulb or being a passenger in a car? Statistically, those are also very likely to result in possibly fatal head injuries and the exact same argument applies to protecting your head for those rare accidents. Also, what was his opinion on traffic safety and separate infrastructure? I suspect his views and observations were coloured by the media's constant focussing on bike helmets and not actual effective methods to reduce danger.
By far the worst of these is Footon Servetto - probably the cycling equivalent of football's Coventry City brown away kit. The INEOS kit is unpleasant because I associate it with Ratcliffe. I own a HTC Columbia jersey. It looks OK, but I admit I bought it for £10 on a bargain rail in my LCS. I also used to own an Astana jersey and my performances always improved by 5% whenever I wore it. I got rid of it when my heart nearly stalled in bed one night🙂 Personally, I don't mind the Bogota Humana kit. It seems ok as long as all of the riders were happy to wear it. I'd like to think they were given the opportunity to approve the design beforehand.
I agree, stop building useless cycle lanes - build proper ones.
I love the castorama kit. Perfect to be able cycle to work, fix steam engines then cycle home again all in the same kit
Okay, well I don't doubt your experience but I can only say it's not mine and from the lack of mention generally in discussions not that of many other people. Maybe when you're racing with your head down the wind breaks over the crown and then round into your ears, intuitively I would say that riding heads up, which is what most commuters do, a helmet would be more likely slightly to deflect the wind away from your ears than into them.
Considering that AIs are trained on large datasets of Internet content, they're pretty much our condensed stupidity as a species. Also, current AIs are Large Language Models which is pretty much just a clever bag of words.
It proves that soft and brittle polystyrene cycling helmets break very easily.
At 167cm tall I couldn’t agree more with Rookybiker, I find certain 29 ers problematic, particularly running a dropper and getting low off the back(700c -50s are just ok!) 32 would be a total nightmare from stand over - toe over lap being the first of many problems, sorry it’s a big no from me!
54 thoughts on “Cyclists blast Halfords for “antagonistic” cyclist v motorist ‘who has right of way?’ post; How to crash on a mountain bike, Peter Sagan style; Road safety “bare minimum” to expect; Fishing worms: the new doping trend?; Pog dancing + more on the live blog”
If the car has been
If the car has been overtaking the cyclist, then that is a dangerously close pass even if the driver doesn’t subsequently left hook the cyclist.
I was going to say that!
I was going to say that!
A very simple test is either:
A very simple test is either:-
i. If you’d made that manouver whilst taking your driving test, would you’d have passed?
ii. Would you have done that in front of a marked Police car.
If the answer to either is no, then you probably shouldn’t have done it.
Capt Sisko wrote:
Alternatively, replace the cyclist with a bus and then think about whether the car would left-hook a bus. The advantage of using a bus is that bus lanes operate in a similar fashion to cycle lanes and thus drivers would be used to seeing a bus coming up on their inside.
Perhaps they should introduce
Perhaps they should introduce a pedestrian (going straight on) into the mix.
Or a horse.
Horse, car or bike could be turning left.
asking PC_Plod ‘do you think
asking PC_Plod ‘do you think this would constitute a fail or halt under driving test conditions?’ usually ends rhetoric about how someone’s driving “isn’t really a risk to other road users”.
it often inspires a deer-in-the-headlights response, which is Most Curious.
the infamous grouse wrote:
Once upon a time in a land not-so far away the Police Service had Road Traffic specialists called the Traffic Division. They were world class, so that other countries invited them to help in establishing and training their ‘cops’.
Then the government decided that the Police Service should be more efficient, i.e. do more for less, and when that failed, just do less. The Association of Chief Police Officers was forced to decide which crimes were important so that the Police Service had Legitimacy in the voters view. So they decided that Road Traffic policing wasn’t real crime and the Traffic Division could be closed down.
Thus PC Plod has to be a multi-skilled person including Traffic offences but with only a DVSA Drivers Licence [Minimum accaptable standard for the public highway] to inform their actions. They know no more than the general driving public because they don’t have focus and training, never mind a Pursuit rating..
Unsurprisingly, we get what we pay for at best.
We don’t get what we pay for.
We don’t get what we pay for. It’s just that the money now gets syphoned off into Tory donor pockets…
Ah but if you read between
Ah but if you read between the lines on the Halfords comments you notice a common underlying assumption is that the cyclist is travelling faster than the car.
A shift in public mindset is happening.
New one for the bingo card:
New one for the bingo card:
Cyclists should have breakdown cover.
Hirsute wrote:
If such a thing were available, I’d probably get it.
ETA do it for £24 a year, or
ETA do it for £24 a year, or included in their bike insurance. If you have a problem you call them and they will pick you up and take you up to 25 miles home, to a train station, or to a bike shop.
There are loadsa providers.
There are loadsa providers.
I can officially confirm that this is one thing I knew, that Rendel Harris did not know.
mattw wrote:
Ah, that’s you over on that there Twitter, is it? Certainly didn’t know about it but may well be investing come the spring and longer rides (at the moment, riding in and around London, I’m never more than a couple of miles’ walk to a train station to get the bike home if it is irrevocably broken).
I had a feeling when I posted
I had a feeling when I posted that I would be told there was such a thing.
mattw wrote:
Still haven’t seen you both in the same place at once though.
mattw wrote:
Rendel Harris x Google
😀
Left_is_for_Losers wrote:
Yes I can indeed confirm that if I don’t know something or need to confirm it then I will use a reference book, dictionary or Google to check. I find it’s preferable to learn new stuff when one can rather than remain stupidly pig ignorant for one’s whole life, but each to their own.
mattw wrote:
a quick google finds call assist cycle rescue
“24 hour support” – excellent
“Rider, pillion and cycle will be taken to the nearest repair shop, point of amenity, or home” Never had a pillion on my bicycle, so this is confusing, unless it is an unusual way of refering to the stoker on a tandem.
Nearest repair shop, point of amenity or home seems of questionable benefit for incidents occuring out of hours. Or does point of amenity include a hotel? Unless the hotel is close to a bike shop/train station this doesn’t really complete a rescue. who chooses what the point of amenity should be? policy holder of coverage provider?
But how is all of this compatible with Audax? is my big question, since riders must be self sufficient. Does having such a policy void my entry?
Quote:
David there, displaying the sort of dehumanizing language you’d expect from a concentration camp guard. Or Buffalo Bill from Silence of the Lambs.
Sean at least acknowledges that cyclists are people, but is otherwise so reactionary that he wishes to wind the clock back to the days before “woke” laws (not any specific “woke laws”, but the concept of laws in their entirety being “woke”) when being encasted in metal, be it a suit of armour or a Vauxhall Vectra, was all that mattered. An advocate for revoking the Magna Carta it seems.
Are you sure that user’s name was “Anthony” and not Max Verstappen?
It’s posts like the Halfords
It’s posts like the Halfords one that make me glad that my spend with them is zero.
Why? They posted a valid
Why? They posted a valid highway code question to show where people’s knowledge on this scenario is lacking.
That’s a good thing isn’t it ? Educating people to remove their misconceptions about things.
I don’t see what the confected outrage is all about.
stonojnr wrote:
How is it a valid question when they use the term “right of way” (which exclusively is to do with whether people have the right to use land for walking etc) when they should be using the Highway Code term of “priority”. The diagram is also ambiguous and it clearly shows the car as being dangerously close to the cyclist.
I see no attempt at education in that at all.
how does it invalidate the
how does it invalidate the question to use a popular term that the majority of people in the UK understand ? did the people who follow Halfords on facebook understand the question still, yes I guess they did as over 9000 appear to have responded to it. With the vast majority it seems from the latest scan to have provided the right answer.
so really, whats with making it such a big deal ? its not even a recent Halfords post, its nearly a month old.
stonojnr wrote:
Although Halfords’ intentions may have been good, posing it as a question implies that the matter is open to debate, and clearly many drivers have taken it to be so. If their aim was to improve people’s knowledge, why not just post the same picture with “Don’t forget under the new Highway Code rules you must let the cyclist proceed before turning left?”
Rendel Harris wrote:
Although Halfords’ intentions may have been good, posing it as a question implies that the matter is open to debate, and clearly many drivers have taken it to be so. If their aim was to improve people’s knowledge, why not just post the same picture with “Don’t forget under the new Highway Code rules you must let the cyclist proceed before turning left?”— stonojnr
Exactly, if they are trying to educate then why not post the correct answer and reply to those that think it was a debate. That’s why it’s inflammatory.
Based on that image, it is
Based on that image, it is impossible to tell the events that led to the positioning of the car and the cycle.
Was the car already in that position, clearly signalling left turn and the cyclist came up the inside?
Was the cyclist already moving forwards and the driver overtook and left-hooked?
Has the cyclist stopped all forwards movement to allow the driver to make their turn following a conversation along the lines of:
D – sorry buddy, I’m lost. Can I turn in front of you?
C – yes pal, no worries, I’ll stop here.
Could the vehicle be in the process of having a mechanical failure and the cyclist has stopped to let them past?
Whatever the scenario you might want to invent, the car driver had not signalled their intentions. That’s clear to see as the indicator is not shown as lit.
the bike doesnt even have a
the bike doesnt even have a back wheel showing, and the pedals seem to extend upto the handlebars, which seems a pretty odd setup, maybe its a penny farthing.
or maybe its just a generic picture and were supposed to take the overall themes from it, and not pedantically pick it apart.
If the question isn’t correct
If the question isn’t correct, then the answer will not be either.
So … which scenario are you deciding on here..
Cyclist undertaking
Driver left hooking
Driver turning by mutual consent
What’s the image telling *you*?
Except they didn’t explain
Except they didn’t explain the rules regarding the Traffic Act. They tossed in a grenade and stepped back.
Their £1 florescent and
Their £1 florescent and reflective slapbands are alright.
The question shouldn’t be who
The question shouldn’t be who has right of way, it is who should have the GoPro on their bike for when the car inevitably tries to run you over. I used to think a helmet was the most important piece of safety equipment, but now I know it’s a camera.
bigwheeler88 wrote:
Pedantry possibly, but I don’t count “something which may help assigning blame after the bad thing has already happened” as “safety equipment”. Particularly as we don’t implement a proper safety review and feedback system in the UK like industries or other transport sectors do (e.g. MAIB).
“Safety equipment” would be “things which prevent (separate infra) or help you avoid crashes (brakes, mirrors) or help reduce consequences (helmet, hand, knee and elbow protection). Or at the lowest level help others avoid hitting you (we’re into hi-viz, lights to be seen by and reflectives territory, or maybe a loudspeaker blasting out “cyclist – please drive carefully”).
chrisonatrike wrote:
My PassPixi is sort of the equivalent of that, although the sentence should have the addendum “or you may find yourself in court”. It genuinely does work!
As I understand it, the
As I understand it, the airplane’s black box isn’t an item of safety equipment…
ktache wrote:
Aviation is the safest form of transport for good reasons, including an abundance of caution in maintainance repair and overhaul (MRO) enterprises, and the flight safety notification system that shares valuable insights from Air Accident Investigation professionals. Their investigations are significantly enabled by the flight recorder ‘black box’ which you can imagine has a lot of data in the digital cockpit typical in commercial aircraft today.
Taking a temporal view the ‘black box’ fitted to previous aircraft provide safety relevant information for each current service, just like the training of their flight crew, ground crew, maintainance staff and air traffic control staff. Better information and understanding provides better outcomes.
A qualified pilot.
IIRC there are people
IIRC there are people involved in the airline industry who frequent this forum who would know far better than my speculation below.
As you note it’s not just “information from crashes will hopefully make flying safer in the future” (maybe too late for you, but others may benefit). I imagine after “events” and perhaps routinely recordings (or maybe even live flight data?) of systems will be interrogated. There is testing at all levels, both proactive and reactive.
This is absent from driving. I guess that would be akin to taking your car into the garage for quick checks at the end of every journey and opting in for extra driving lessons, retests and indeed a medical regularly. And a course whenever you change your car! And an investigation when you close-pass someone, or speed…
As you note we seem to have lost that expertise in the police – although I think it also needs to be at a more general (e.g. not just “legal fault”) level.
For driving we don’t even have a dedicated organisation which picks over the report of accidents and looks not just at what went wrong here but if this indicates some more general issue. And what might be done to tackle that.
We may have the RSIB (seems in limbo currently) and if you’re lucky there are coroners’ Reports to Prevent Future Deaths (which rely on the diligence of a coroner and of course while knowledgeable they are not specifically experts in infra design, road legislation and road safety). Not sure what if anything the (several) organisations with responsibility for roads do here?
Along a similar line, I seem
Along a similar line, I seem to recall that drivers could have a ‘black box’ fitted to their cars to prove they were safe drivers and thus reduce their insurance premium.
From what I can gather, many people who tried this, no longer have one as the ability to drive safely is too onerous.
Telemetry data is sent to the insurance company daily (some might even realtime) and analysed for spikes indication rapid acceleration, braking etc.
Won’t pick up close passes though.
If you are driving you never
If you are driving you never have “right of way” under any circumstance.
It makes no difference if its a cyclist, mobility scooter, horse, another car undertaking on a wide road, you can’t just crash your car into them.
This is the correct answer
This is the correct answer
Exactly!
Exactly!
If Halfords wanted to improve road safety they should have asked “which of these road users is most likely to be injured or killed in this situation and how would you feel as either road user if there was a collision resulting in serious injury?”.
Rather than replying on
Rather than replying on Facebook and getting involved in a pointless debate with a lot of petrolheads I suggest contacting Halfords direct. Let them know your views without adding to their clickbait clicks and online attention.
This can be done here.
https://help.halfords.com/wss/getting-in-touch/customer-support/make-a-complaint
Safety wrote:
Good idea. Anyone is welcome to use any of my text:
“Please don’t post any more ill-informed clickbait like this.
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=737402688415398&set=a.674209678068033
The suggestion that it *could* be OK to close pass and turn across a vulnerable road user is wrong and reinforces some dangerous prejudices.
It’s also my understanding that no-one has “right of way” on the road: “The rules in The Highway Code do not give you the right of way in any circumstance, but they advise you when you should give way to others.”
http://www.gov.uk/guidance/the-highway-code/general-rules-techniques-and-advice-for-all-drivers-and-riders-103-to-158“
I love the way that social
I love the way that social media allows clueless folk to out themselves to the world.
I think the Halfords pic
I think the Halfords pic might be showing 3 potential scenarios.
1) The cyclist and driver are travelling side by side at the same speed approaching the junction.
The driver wants to turn left into the side road.
Who has priority?
The cyclist, as the driver would either end up driving into the cyclist or have to speed up to turn left in front of them which is a clear no-no.
2) The driver is approaching the junction, wanting to turn left.
The cyclist approaches from behind looking to go straight on.
Who has priority?
This is debatable but in principle the highway code states that drivers should look out for cyclists who may be coming up from behind on their left.
If the driver has used their indicators properly on the approach then the cyclist might be sensible to slow to allow the driver to turn.
But again, this situation can vary as if the driver has only just overtaken the cyclist then this would be a dangerous left hook.
3) The cyclist is ahead of the driver on the approach to the junction. The driver wants to turn left.
No brainer, the driver must wait behind untill it is safe to turn left once the cyclist has gone straight on past the junction.
Sadly this is the situation many of us see almost daily, resulting in left hooks.
Avon and Somerset Police’s
Avon and Somerset Police’s speed warning as road deaths rise
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-67468005
I believe Leto II used
I believe Leto II used sandworms to improve his body.
HoldingOn wrote:
Yeah – that worked out so well, didn’t it… ?
Who could have foreseen that,
Who could have foreseen that, though?
This clue in today’s
This clue in today’s crossword raised a smile…
Sir Bradley cycled around those who got there first (5,5)
Nice.
Nice.
Albec1 wrote:
I’m rubbish at crosswords – what’s the answer?
Early birds – anagram
Early birds – anagram (indicated by “cycled around”) of Sir Bradley meaning those who got there first.
Re Trek giving 500 bikes to
Re Trek giving 500 bikes to help 40,000 cyclist that is going to be an amazing balancing act 80 people on one bike!