Things I've learnt from commuting

[devocean]

And you got on your bike and rode further on with 2 broken ribs and a punctured lung? Dude, Chuck Norris will be scared of you!

Heal quickly, and take decent pain meds to help you sleep with the sore ribs. (Been there, done that, and some other bits too. )

Thanks man. It's been all good. Should be discharged tomorrow. Not often you get to chill in bed all weekend watching TV and being waited on

[DJR]

Thanks man. It's been all good. Should be discharged tomorrow. Not often you get to chill in bed all weekend watching TV and being waited on

Are you going to ride your bike home from hospital?

[Mokgaga'a mmakubela!]

probably the wrong forum but is it safe to cycle during the week in the cradle? i am on leave from from 18 Sep to 03 Oct  :clap:   . will probably arrive at the cradle at around 9am as i have to drop-off my kids at school in Bryanston. i hope the morning traffic from Bryanston to the Cradle is not too bad

[Warren_G]

Shame (also not helmet)

http://41.media.tumblr.com/12ef1dc8e5c367b743b482489376b8cc/tumblr_ntjkwfunsO1qa7a94o1_500.jpg

[Velouria]

So, I had a little incident with law enforcement yesterday (#piggate of another sort).

 

The short version - a Stellenbosch Traffic Officer eventually told me "I don't care about your safety". What I learned is that Traffic officers don't like it when you give them (innocent) hand signals.

 

Here is the long version in a letter I've sent to various people:

 

 

To put the incident into context, as a cyclist, I often have to go around buses and taxis on the R44 picking up passengers in the yellow line, particularly near Stellenbosch Square, and the Mooiberg intersection, and cars parked in the the yellow line for whatever reason. Yesterday was no different.

 

Every time I have to enter the left hand lane, I'm taking a risk. Cars come whizzing past me, often within 1m (and so breaking the law) at 100km/h. The less I have to venture into the left hand lane, the happier I am.

 

So, as I am going passed Eikendal, just before the Eikendal road turn off, I pass two traffic police vehicles parked in the yellow line. They were parked in such a way as to obstruct the entire emergency lane, forcing me to pass them by entering the left hand lane (buses and taxis usually pull over a bit more than these traffic police vehicles had). There are only a few centimetres between their wheels and the yellow line.

 

Once past the vehicles, I made a hand gesture indicating that they should move over further to the left to leave more space for cyclists in the emergency lane. I might have had some rude thoughts in my head, particularly since traffic police should know better, but there was nothing rude in my gesture.

 

Before I know it, I hear sirens behind me - one vehicle then pulls in front of me and the other brings up the rear, forcing me to stop. Four traffic officers get out of the two vehicles and head towards me. I see the driver of the vehicle in front of me zipping up his jacket to obscure his name badge.

 

With all four of them around me (I have several witnesses who saw the scene as they drove past), the driver of the front vehicle proceeds to tell me that I mustn't use hand signals to communicate with him. If I have a problem, I must stop, tap on his window and ask him to move. I am also lectured on respect and politeness.

 

I then try to explain my actions, telling the officer that I didn't mean any disrespect by my hand signal (as a cyclist, this is how I communicate with the world), and that I was concerned for my safety by the fact that they were forcing me to enter an unsafe situation. I acknowledge that my hand signal might have offended him, and in return I want him to understand why I signalled in the first place. I ask him something along the lines of "Can you not see that this is about my safety?", to which I got the response "I don't care about your safety".

 

As this is happing, a security guard from Vetus Schola approaches the scene on a bicycle. I had passed him a few moments earlier. Instead of passing our scene by entering the left hand lane, the security guard dismounts his bike, and then passes on the left, pushing through the grass and weeds on the verge. When I point this out to the officers that our presence in the yellow line is also placing this commuter's life at risk, and that he has to resort to pushing his bike through the grass, rather than pass on the right, I again am told that the officer doesn't care about him, and that the conversation is about me, not the security guard.

 

Again, while be lectured about politeness and respect, I try to explain my actions one last time, this time referencing Mr Deetlefs death not two kilometres away on this very road. I was told that his death had nothing to do with the current situation, and that we're "not talking about that".

 

We finally ended our conversation, and as I took down the licence plate of the front police vehicle, I could hear the driver shouting at me something like "Go ahead, take my licence number".

 

Details of the incident:

Time: 17:20

Location: 100m south of Eikendal Road turnoff

Officer's name: I only got the name of one officer involved: *******************8

Licence plate of front vehicle: *****************

Duration of discussion: 2 minutes 5 seconds

Witnesses: 4

 

I'm not looking for punishment or disciplinary action. I now have absolutely no faith in the traffic officials to have my safety as their primary concern. I believe that this isn't an isolated incident, and is something endemic within the culture of the Stellenbosch Traffic Department. What I would like to see is a change in attitude, and somehow, a restoration in the faith that we place in officials that are supposed to have our best interests at heart.

 

[Belgarath]

So, I had a little incident with law enforcement yesterday (#piggate of another sort).

 

The short version - a Stellenbosch Traffic Officer eventually told me "I don't care about your safety". What I learned is that Traffic officers don't like it when you give them (innocent) hand signals.

 

Here is the long version in a letter I've sent to various people:

via Imgflip Meme Maker

[DJR]

So, I had a little incident with law enforcement yesterday (#piggate of another sort).

 

The short version - a Stellenbosch Traffic Officer eventually told me "I don't care about your safety". What I learned is that Traffic officers don't like it when you give them (innocent) hand signals.

 

Here is the long version in a letter I've sent to various people:

I urge you to pursue this matter to the fullest. Go to the higher up authorities and do not stop until all 4 these idiots are reprimanded for abuse of power. That is what they did! It should be a black mark on their employment records for ever. Most likely it was one stupid testosterone fueled idiot trying to impress his chommies. However, those chommies are just as guilty because they were supposed to step up and protect you from abuse. (This is how the Rodney King beating started!) 

Edited September 22, 2015 by DJR

[Velouria]

I urge you to pursue this matter to the fullest. Go to the higher up authorities and do not stop until all 4 these idiots are reprimanded for abuse of power. That is what they did! It should be a black mark on their employment records for ever. Most likely it was one stupid testosterone fueled idiot trying to impress his chommies. However, those chommies are just as guilty because they were supposed to step up and protect you from abuse. (This is how the Rodney King beating started!) 

Thanks DJR - I am on it. Between Minister Winde, and Martin Smuts of Stellenbosch, it looks like there will be some repercussions. I'm a little disappointed with PPA and their lack of a response...

[DJR]

Thanks DJR - I am on it. Between Minister Winde, and Martin Smuts of Stellenbosch, it looks like there will be some repercussions. I'm a little disappointed with PPA and their lack of a response...

As an employer (not a lawyer), in my opinion, for a traffic officer to tell you to your face that he doesn't care about your safety, is enough grounds for a written warning. If one of the doctors staff tells you they don't care about your pain, that is grounds for it. Why not the traffic officer? His NUMBER ONE function is to ensure the SAFETY of ALL road users, including you. What he feels about you has nothing to do with it. He should be doing his job, no matter what! Now I'm sommer the moer in for your sake!  I hate bullies!

[cfcjim]

Lots of cops on the way home on the cycle path from town to Paarden Eiland yesterday afternoon.

 

None this morning though (at around 0620).

[DJR]

Lots of cops on the way home on the cycle path from town to Paarden Eiland yesterday afternoon.

 

None this morning though (at around 0620).

As much as I appreciate what the Metro Cops and the SAPS are doing when they patrol and do "visible policing", I think it is merely a temporary deterrent. All it does is to keep the baddies away while they are there, or it makes them move elsewhere to still rob people.

 

What they should be doing is to catch these people. That solves the problem for a lot longer. There are relatively few of these baddies that make it look like a crime wave. Catch those responsible and the problem disappears. Well, at least until they get out of jail or someone else get the same idea. (Devils Peak a few years ago. Caught 1 guy. Problem solved for a few years.)

 

Going undercover as bergies. Hidden observation points. Monitoring cameras. Sting operations. Stoppers to block their escape routes. Just to name a few things that nobody in law enforcement seems to know about. Bloody hell, catch them! Just do it!

 

[Tayyib]

So I learnt on my commute home last night that your bike can be a serious weapon when you least expect it....

 

At the exact moment a lady in her Nissan juke was passing me a stone shot out from my back tyre and shattered her passenger window showering glass on both of us...she was shocked but concerned for my safety...I said it may of been a stone from my tyre but she waved it off and said it can't be (I know it was)...I'm curious to know what are the legal implications in this situation? Should I have been liable for the damage?

[cfcjim]

First rule of accidents (once everyone is determined to be OK of course).

 

DO NOT admit liability.

 

That's what's written in all of my accident/short term etc.policies.

 

Seems like a very nice lady. I think you'd be liable for repairs if it could be proven.

[Bateleur1]

So I learnt on my commute home last night that your bike can be a serious weapon when you least expect it....

 

At the exact moment a lady in her Nissan juke was passing me a stone shot out from my back tyre and shattered her passenger window showering glass on both of us...she was shocked but concerned for my safety...I said it may of been a stone from my tyre but she waved it off and said it can't be (I know it was)...I'm curious to know what are the legal implications in this situation? Should I have been liable for the damage?

 

Your not liable.  If anyone should be held liable it would be the municipality where the road is as they are suppose to keep it clean.  Her insurance should cover it none the less.

[Warren_G]

Why do I never see this when commuting?

http://41.media.tumblr.com/26f81f1cd82249e29fe8c8e4a5819f84/tumblr_nt7eu4ZZvN1qz7utco1_1280.jpg

[Bernard Horn]

No matter how often you cycle your regular route.Beware! The city council might dig up a section of your route overnight and leave no warning signs.Outside ON TAP, near the Harbour entrance a section of tar has been lifted and I hit it in the dark and almost had a rude awakening.