Danny MacAskill is back doing ridiculous things on two wheels; Shocking attack on cyclist punched to the ground; Anti-LTN MP criticised for directing hate with bizarre lights tweet; Motoring group stop calling crashes ‘accidents’ + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
American Automobile Association to stop describing 'crashes' as 'accidents'
I refuse to be cynical about this. It is legitimate progress.
AAA officially declares that it will use the term crash and not accident. pic.twitter.com/R1kPKFMGmJ
— Peter Flax (@Pflax1) January 28, 2021
This is something that many cycling advocates have been hoping would become more widely accepted standard practice. The American Automobile Association (AAA) has said it will no longer use the term ‘accident’ when describing a ‘crash’. Molly Hart, a spokesperson for the group, explained that crashes are drivers’ responsibility and not something that “just happen”.
It’s not the first the AAA has helped promote better safety for cyclists. In 2013, they teamed up with the League of American Bicyclists to produce a Share the Road public service announcement video that spread the message that we’re all people regardless of how we choose to travel.
Anti-LTN MP criticised for directing hate with bizarre cyclists need lights tweet
Bully for you!
Hope they all had lights – been pitch black other there for a good couple of hours https://t.co/k73eMI9Keh
— Rupa Huq MP (@RupaHuq) January 27, 2021
Rupa Huq tweeted this bizarre response to someone pointing out how many people had been out cycling, walking and scooting in an LTN in Ealing. The Labour MP for Ealing and Central Acton has been a vocal critic of LTNs and suggested in a Telegraph column that a referendum could be the only way to reach a decision on their future…No, really. In the same article she described the “Lycra brigade” as “surprisingly vicious”.
Huq tweeted saying: “Bully for you! Hope they all had lights – been pitch black other (sic) there for a good couple of hours,” and left a link to The Highway Code: ‘Rules for Cyclists 59 to 82’. Earlier in the thread she shared a photo of an article claiming £1 million has been wasted on LTN schemes that were later reversed. Yesterday, Adam Tranter pointed out an Auto Express article on the same topic and suggested they weren’t as concerned by the £49 million spent on an abandoned roundabout near the M49.
Every tweet like this makes the streets more unsafe for the individual trying to do the right thing and travel under their own steam as it directs hate towards users. It also makes it harder to redesign our cities for a low carbon future. You really need to wind it in.
— The Ranty Highwayman (@RantyHighwayman) January 28, 2021
What a strange response. Do you respond to tweets about people shopping for food with “I hope they weren’t stealing it”?
— The Dynas Low Traffic Neighbour (@TheDynaslow) January 28, 2021
The cyclists did. Admittedly, I didn’t see any pedestrians with lights. 🙂
— Andy Hillier (@andy_hillier) January 27, 2021
Pick your fighter: Ventoux or Stelvio?
Mont Ventoux or Passo dello Stelvio?
Photo: @GettySport pic.twitter.com/KyfsdjZwzV— Deceuninck-QuickStep (@deceuninck_qst) January 28, 2021
Tour Series 2021 moves to August, host towns and cities to be announced in the coming months
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The Tour Series will be delayed until August, the races organiser SweetSpot has confirmed. The multi-round circuit race series across several locations towns and cities in the UK is normally held in May but will be run during the first two weeks of August due to the global health situation. Exact dates and locations are to be announced in the next few months. Should the pandemic not allow for the traditional crit format, SweetSpot say they have actively explored the possibility of staging the event virtually. As with previous years the event will remain free-to-air on ITV 4 in the UK.
Watch at your own risk...Thoughts and prayers to that bike
Vidéo insoutenable. pic.twitter.com/KeyUrHXIux
— Dans la Musette (@DansLaMusette) January 28, 2021
Bath cyclists hoping to complete seven Everests in seven days
Conor and Nic, two local cyclists to road.cc offices in Bath, are undertaking a monumental Everesting challenge to raise money for World Bicycle Relief. The pair will attempt to ride seven Everests in seven days on Ralph Allen Drive. That’s 76 ascents of the 1km climb, which averages 10%, every day for a week…On their GoFundMe page they say lockdown “has sent us crazy, so we decided to do something even crazier”. They’ve even taken into account Everest’s new height, 8849m, after scientists agreed on a new figure for the summit’s peak before Christmas. So far they’ve raised £440, almost half of their £1,000 target.
Heinrich Haussler to race UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships
Bahrain Victorious’ Heinrich Haussler will take to the start line in Oostende for the cyclo-cross world championships this Sunday. The 36-year-old told Belgian newspaper Het Nieuwsblad that the discipline is an off-season hobby and that he won’t have a camper or mechanic like most competitors. Instead, the Aussie says he’s just happy to have the opportunity to compete at the biggest races.
“You can’t imagine how happy I am – like a child – to be able to attend the World Championships,” he said. “I don’t have a camper or a mechanic, but that doesn’t bother me. I’m a hobbyist among pro cyclists, but I know that even as a veteran on the road I get better from such an intensive winter in the field.”
Haussler’s best result at the UCI World Cup series was 47th in Dendermonde and the veteran competitor says he regrets not racing cross sooner, saying it has helped improve his performance on the road too.
“I was immediately attracted to this discipline and immediately experienced how hard an hour in the field is. The cyclo-cross itself is only ten per cent of the work. I go to the races all by myself, I arrange and pay for everything myself. I do the reconnaissance and then I have to quickly clean my two bikes myself before the actual race.”
Yesterday, the UCI confirmed the World Championships will go ahead as planned, despite an outbreak of the South African coronavirus in Oostende. All riders, media and organisational staff are having an additional test tomorrow before the women’s and U23 races on Saturday.
Shocking attack on cyclist punched to the ground in Gran Canaria road rage incident
🔴 BRUTAL AGRESIÓN A UN CICLISTA EN GRAN CANARIA
El suceso ocurrió en la carretera que va desde Sta. Lucía de Tirajana hasta Ayacata, cerca de Cruz Grande. Tras una discusión, el conductor arremete contra el ciclista dejándolo en el suelo. Otro conductor tuvo que separarles. pic.twitter.com/XFiM4LfG4l— Conexión BTC (@Conexion_BTC) January 25, 2021
This shocking road rage incident happened last weekend in Gran Canaria. A driver can be seen punching a cyclist to the ground before continuing to attack him. The attacker has been reported to the police for the assault which was captured on video by another driver. It happened between Santa Lucía de Tirajana and Ayacata on the Spanish island where several pro teams, including Ineos Grenadiers, have been training this winter.
Salsa's new steel adventure and touring bikes for 2021
Check out these smart new colourway offerings in Salsa’s 2021 steel line up.
The Vaya is Salsa’s triple-butted steel all-road adventure bike, with clearance for 45mm tyres, as well as versatile frame and fork mounts for a wide range of cargo carrying options. Plugged in at the front is a Waxwing carbon fork which has internal routing for dynamo hub wires and mounts for mudguards (that can accommodate 38mm tyres when in use). Full-length cable housing guides can be found on this light touring bike. Frameset only the Vaya is £980, while the Vaya GRX 600 build comes in at £2,400.
The Marrakesh is Salsa’s world touring bike with a geometry that is designed to keep the bike stable and predictable when fully loaded. The triple-butted Cromoly steel tubing has Alternator 1.0 dropouts, with its chainstay length adjustable from 455-472mm. There is ample clearance for tyres up to 50mm, and 40mm with mudguards mounted. It also comes tour-ready with two three-pack mounts on the fork legs, an Alternator 135 Low-Deck rear rack and Down Under front rack, spare spoke mount and kickstand plate. The Marrakesh frameset is £870 and the Marrakesh Alivio is £1,990.
President of the International Association of Professional Riders, Gianni Bugno, condemns threats to Dylan Groenewegen as "inadmissible, unworthy and indecent"
The president of the International Association of Professional Riders, Gianni Bugno, today condemed the horific threats that Dylan Groenewegen said he received in the aftermath of the crash on the opening stage of the Tour of Poland. Earlier this week Groenewegen revealed he was sent death threats, including a noose with a note saying he should hang his unborn child and needed a police guard at his home.
“I read the threats received by Dylan Groenewegen after the incident at the Tour de Pologne and got from the press that he was placed under police protection who feared the worst for him and his family. What happened is inadmissible, unworthy and indecent. Words and actions have weight and those that have been addressed to this boy are unacceptable,” Bugno said.
The former pro cyclist also blamed the barriers at the race for the crash and said that although Groenewegen made a mistake, the barriers “determined the severity of the fall”.
“The first point on our list of requests that we sincerely hope will become operational as soon as possible concerns the barriers that must be homologated and certified,” Bugno continued. “The finger must be pointed at the dangerous barriers that determined the severity of the fall in which Fabio Jakobsen suffered the most serious consequences. Dylan made a mistake in the race that he paid dearly.”
Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana cancelled
⚠️La organización de la #VCV GP @BancoSabadell ha decidido aplazar su 72ª edición, prevista para la semana próxima, entre el 3 y el 7 de febrero. Pronto daremos las nuevas fechas, esperamos vuestro apoyo y comprensión.
¡¡Nos vemos muy pronto!! 🚴🚴♀️ pic.twitter.com/lL6cLAQgLD
— Vuelta CV (@VueltaCV) January 28, 2021
Pro racing fans were looking forward to the return of some form of road racing in Europe next week. We’ll have to wait a little longer (Grand Prix Cycliste la Marseillaise and Etoile de Bessèges excluding) after today’s announcement that Valenciana has been cancelled. The race had a stacked startlist with top riders from most of the WorldTour teams, including Caleb Ewan and Egan Bernal, expected to start their campaigns at the five-day stage race that was last year won by Tour de France champion Tadej Pogačar.
Danny MacAskill's latest adventure
28 January 2021, 09:09
28 January 2021, 09:09
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Latest Comments
@chrisonabike True, things went back to normal once the pandemic was over. In this case, however the problems are still ongoing, and aren't likely to be resolved in the near future. If anything, they're going to get worse. Food shortages are predicted because of the effect that the heatwave has had on crops. This is bound to push prices up. The Straits of Hormuz aren't likely to reopen anytime soon and the strategic oil reserves are running low. Russia is having to import petrol because its own refineries have been badly hit, so that's even more competition for an even more scarce resource. I think that more and more people are going to see cycling as a way of cutting household bills.
I think if "grown up" cyclists * are quibbling about ASLs we've very much missed the road safety point anyway. (Not to mention the wider "better transport choices" picture). ASLs are poor-to-useless "cycling infra", even for their design intent. If the idea is "for less confident cyclists" then a design that requires that you re-position in front of the motor traffic - waiting to accelerate - seems unhelpful. Of course they're only designed to help when traffic is stopped, and you can reach the front in time and if vehicles aren't already occupying them. As we're noting here drivers frequently ignore them - whether that be deliberate, a lack of road craft, because they were concentrating on following the vehicle in front, or because the paint has rubbed off. * Aside: shouldn't cycling also be safe and accessible for kids? Or should they only be allowed to do this when accompanied by sufficient qualified adults? Or be limited to parks and otherwise being driven around by their carers? Perhaps there is another way...?
Hi Bungle, I saw you follow-up comment. I can't imaging there's a tolerance of 4 seconds on camera enforced lights, seems an odd decision - an offence is committed if a vehicle starts crossing on a red, any tolerance is discretionary. There does seem to be some odd thinking about 'advanced stop lines' where the rules relating to them are identical to a regular stop line, as explained correctly elsewhere in the Highway Code. It does seem a regular offence. Where I live it doesn't help that some of them are very faint and disappear in rain.
@ktache Not sure he's totally ruled out of the worlds yet (though I think it would be best if he doesn't), normal recovery time is about eight weeks but surgery can halve that...depending on the nature of the break he could be just about fit to ride by the time of the elite men's race, but he'll have missed a lot of training. Hopefully his managers and team will persuade him to wait until Lombardia, if not just to knock it off for the rest of the year.
@Bungle_52 The Met told me a couple of years ago when rejecting a submission that they needed a clear three seconds of red visible before they would consider it for an RLJ prosecution. I pointed out to them that this meant that at 30 mph a driver could see a light change to red from 40 metres away and still get through without sanction, or 55 m if they accelerated to 40 as most do. They just replied "them's our rules..."
@Ben Graham I have just checked the footage from my report. The driver crosses the 1st stop line 4 seconds after the light turns red. All on camera from behind the vehicle. No further action. So I assume the margin is at least 4 seconds.
Oh, and active travel funding per head (in England at least) is laughable compared to other places. Plus it is delivered intermittently. It's more like a Blue Peter contest...
Yup, I see those opportunities being missed all the time in Edinburgh. When it gets really bad, dig it all up and put it back down again how it was. Contrast with what seems to happen in NL - when things are dug up the whole thing seems to get a "let's redo this according to the current standards" treatment. They even coordinate with the utilities, so that after a refurb the street isn't immediately dug up again because of leaking pipes / we suddenly realised the new estate being planned for round the corner will want broadband etc. Pros and cons of course - you may wait longer there for changes as smaller changes may be deferred until a major redo is due. (Though in the UK case you likely wouldn't get them at all...) It seems we "can't have nice things" in the UK in part because a) we have greater motor traffic speeds/volumes spead across "streets" / within urban areas b) the funding and organisational responsibility differs. Are we in the "Sam Vimes boots" territory (being too poor to afford better products which not only save money over time but actually work)? There is long term money pressure on LAs and it seems that due to poor construction and maintenance we have to regularly pour money into (pot-)holes in the road. And it seems there's no budget to check up on or enforce adequate standards from utilities work or even private building.
Shame about the world champs defence. Speedy recovery. https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/aug/30/tadej-pogacar-vuelta-a-espana-cycling-crash-hospital-stage-nine
I believe the accepted form for this kind of argument is "I know you are, you said you were, but what am I?".
35 thoughts on “Danny MacAskill is back doing ridiculous things on two wheels; Shocking attack on cyclist punched to the ground; Anti-LTN MP criticised for directing hate with bizarre lights tweet; Motoring group stop calling crashes ‘accidents’ + more on the live blog”
“Motoring association to stop
“Motoring association to stop describing crashes as ‘accidents’ + more on the live blog”
Good!
don simon fbpe wrote:
Meh!! It’s not a UK motoring group… 🙁
No, but it’s a step in the
No, but it’s a step in the right direction rather than one backwards which seems to be the case a lot of the time
OK, so it’s bad then. Boo!
OK, so it’s bad then. Boo! Hiss!
don simon fbpe wrote:
Nah of course not, just disappointing we’re still behind so many countries in this (and especially, the normally pro-car US)
EddyBerckx wrote:
Yay! It’s good again!
As I understand it, the UK
As I understand it, the UK police changed to calling them road traffic collisions many years ago, maybe a couple of decades. Personally, I don’t see the problem with “accident”. I doubt if many are deliberate.
Because “accident” implies
Because “accident” implies there’s nobody to blame.
The outcome (i.e. the crash) might not have been deliberate, but the decisions that led up to it normally are.
The story last month when a
The story last month when a driver crashed into several off duty police man on a rememberance ride new Las Vegas was reported as a tragic accident by local news. I thought it was weird at the time as it was obvious they had been hit by an out of control driver from all the descriptions (Hit whilst off the road, plenty of visibility etc). This explains it.
OnYerBike wrote:
The outcome is rarely deliberate. However the incident is usually due to deliberate decisions taken recklessly, and is foreseeable (number of incidents where this is not the case s vanishingly small).
Therefore crashes/collisions/incidents are not accidental but are typically a result of the negligence of one or more parties.
It’s never an ‘accident’.
It’s never an ‘accident’. Agreed that it may not be ‘deliberate’ or premeditated but there is always cause; speeding, distraction (mobile phone etc) bald tyres, drink . . . . Which is why there are rules, because they reduce the risk of a collision.
From Norfolk constabulary
From Norfolk constabulary twitter feed:-
A man has been seriously injured after the grey Mini Cooper he was driving crashed into in a tree on the B1150 at Tunstead
really should be
A man has been seriously injured after he crashed the grey Mini Cooper he was driving into in a tree on the B1150 at Tunstead
it wasn’t the cars fault after all.
carlosdsanchez wrote:
Thus diverting blame from the driver. This is extremely common, and I have sometimes responded pointing out that it was the driver, not the car, sometimes successfully, but more usually falling on stony ground.
You’ve probably noticed that it’s never vice versa, and it’s always the cyclist’s fault, never the bicycle’s.
Yes, I don’t remember reading
Yes, I don’t remember reading ‘the bike Charlie Alliston was riding crashed into a person crossing the road.’
Like those times you read
Like those times you read about how “a person was injured after their car flipped on its roof” as if their Seat Ibiza is some sort of wild bronco…
Last Sunday’s single vehicle
Last Sunday’s single vehicle incident reported by the local rag as “Car overturns on M54 as snow falls on motorway”
On a straight, flat section near Wolverhampton. TBF the paper didn’t have much to go on (cops’ original tweet here).
they blame the low sun and
they blame the low sun and icy conditions here for a lorry leaving the road… https://twitter.com/NSRAPT/status/1353662946900144128
Tree not wearing hi viz, no
Tree not wearing hi viz, no lights, came out of nowhere. So tree’s fault, obv.
The problem here is all those tree lanes, never seen anyone using one.
Trees should pay road tax,
Trees should pay road tax, like everyone else
“[T]he government’s rules for
“[T]he government’s rules for cyclists” seems like an odd way of referring to the Highway Code. I’d assumed that the link was going to take me to some new edict on cycling lockdown restrictions that I’d missed.
Yes, it’s developed by government bodies, but this makes it sound like it’s something imposed by the current administration, rather than it being built up over decades by the bodies responsible for road safety. And it’s neither all the rules that apply to cycling, nor only rules (it’s a compilation of rules, good practice, and general advice).
Rupa Huq neatly demonstrates
Rupa Huq neatly demonstrates the gammon approach to everything; when in doubt blame the cyclists even if there was no suggestion that they did anything wrong. Such ingrained hatred is very concerning in an MP, and I hope some of her constituents who are also cyclists, are raising this with her and demanding that she stops attacking cyclists and displaying her own ignorance.
Didn’t she once say that a
Didn’t she once say that a tree falling over in a storm was just like the council putting in cycle lanes?
I think that outburst started
I think that outburst started with her tweeting about the money wasted in ripped up cycle lanes:
The silly thing is that the newspaper clipping she posted actually says that relatively few lanes have been ripped out
Quote:
While singing ‘Happy Birthday’?
A bit random but I thought I
A bit random but I thought I’d add this
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-55813850
“driving while disqualified, without a licence, without insurance, and using a vehicle with unauthorised blue lights.”
Giving other Asda customers a
Giving other Asda customers a bad name.
Re: the Gran Canaria road
Re: the Gran Canaria road rage. Those were british Q plates which seems weird.
They are Spanish plates – 4
They are Spanish plates – 4 digits then 3 letters, I think 0483BLV. The driver sounds very Spanish to my ears!
Thanks for clearing that up.
Thanks for clearing that up. There was a slight mark on the camera/reg plate which I thought gave it a Q tail but yes i see it as a zero now. I was thinking it was weird as the driver was very fluid in Spanish. Anyone want to translate the moans?
My Spanish girlfriend
My Spanish girlfriend translated some of it as… ‘Be a man!’ ‘Do you know who I am?’
Think it’s a Ronnie Pickering moment ?
He’s clearly speaking Spanish
He’s clearly speaking Spanish, I don’t think he is Spanish.
on bikes falling off trailers
on bikes falling off trailers – on a DH MTB uplift day a few years ago (minibus with big trailer), one guy wouldn’t let the driver put his bike on the trailer – he insisted on securing it himself. When we got to the top of the hill, his bike was gone!
He spent the rest of the day walking the route looking for it, but no luck.
The MP’s tweet is so petty,
The MP’s tweet is so petty, constipated, mean and shrivelled. It’s like a vicious, old person bitterly complaining about young children’s laughter.
Regardingvthe road rage
Regardingvthe road rage incident in Gran Canaria, did nobody else pick up in the fact that whatever actually occurred previously, the cyclist takes his cycling shoes off and squares up to the motorist before being hit? Looks like he was either expecting, or encouraging a physical confrontation….
PP
Just watched the Danny video,
Just watched the Danny video, just WOW!