Cyclists' Safety in the light of Burry and other's recent deaths - Merged Thread.

[Ryanpmb]

 

 

Enough said! The brunt of my anger was how can This be put this up within 3 days of his death! And and 2 deaths this weekend I just find it right I appologize for my anger towards hubbers. There was a better angle to this argument.

Nice one pal. Everyone's a little emo over this horrific incident. Rant understood

[awesme]

Ryan

 

If you look at the earlier pictures of the street and the taxi, you will see taxi coming up towards the camera on the right, Burry it seems was on the left, going away from the camera, down hill. Taxi turned from right across the road, in front of Burry, causing Burry to tBone the passenger door, looks like he took the passenger window out with his head, which implies the force.

 

If the tax was doing a u turn he might have been further along the circle implying it would not have been a direct side on impact, more like a glansing blow, so my thinking is that the taxi was turning into the street which is visible on the left of the picture.

 

G

 

Wasn't being sarcy. Genuine question amongst all the speculation. Figured he hit the taxi head on (I know he T boned it - but he was head on) and so head trauma or neck. No need for the source. I'm sure details will come out as the dust settles.

[HeyYou]

DuaneRockwell on twitter: Cyclists blame motorists. Motorists blame cyclists. Stop looking for someone to blame. YOU do the right thing! Starts with you.

 

Yup. afraid so, CYCLISTS on bikes, in cars, wherever, need to start obeying the laws. I've been cycling 40 odd years and it's got worse. more cars on the road, more cyclists, each (a generalisation) thinks he/she owns the road.

 

Let's stop yellow line driving, it's crazy anyway, not allowed anywhere else.

Let's be more patient.

There are 11.5 million cars on our roads, the cycling laws were made when there were thousands of cars, with a top speed of 40 km/h.

 

Car speeds now????

 

We need to think 'out of the box', we need to change things.

 

As you can see, I live on the Garden Route. Went for a road ride this morning. Probably 500 cars with bikes on the back went passed me (going home), quite a few of them going too fast, overtaking on solid white lines, on and on it goes.

 

You/Me, as a cyclist, needs to take responsibility.

 

We can break this 'cycle' only if we do it ourselves, Don't break the law, consider other road users.

[LOOK695]

 

 

Sorry I do not agree with you, taxis are a law untoo themselves. Here in Ceres you can be riding deap single file in the yellow lane and the most vehicles will give you a wide berth if there is nothing coming from the front. Most taxis on the other hand will see how close they can get to the yellow line even when there is nothing coming from the front. Now why they do this I do not know mabe lack of drivers license or they just don't care, its a toss up. I agree accidents do happen but why is it, that the most horrific ones are mostly comitted by taxis.

Interesting. Here on my training routes I find that taxis show more respect than many others on the road. It is all a matter of respect for each other. That said, if I had to move to a place like JHB, I would probably hang up my bike. I would be too scared to cycle there.

[Witkop]

[Ryanpmb]

He also had a tailwind which the taxi driver would not be aware of and therefore going much faster than expected.

 

What I do know though is while down there this past week I saw impatience and speed on VERY busy roads. Chances are the taxi saw a gap that wasn't there....we will never really know

Agreed.. Traffic (taxi's, cars, bikes, beach buggys, sunburnt beach goes...) was insane down there over the festive season. The Shelley Beach area near the mall was often gridlocked.

[ccc2]

i t boned a car at 45 kph, the 19 year old driver only saw me when i burst thru his passenger window. 8 days in hospital, with punctured lungs, broken ribs and very sore muscles on the rhs of my body. i was lucky. 2 years later got taken out by a truck - i was ridin down the lhs of backed up traffic when the driver decided to make a quick left thru the burbs. i managed to turn left with him but the cab took me out. ended up in the gutter spitting out my front teeth. the sap who witnessed the incident said i was at fault as i should have been rather splitting lanes and ridin down the middle of the double lane. i've been lucky so far.

[Jaco-fiets]

I also struggle to have any sympathy for the taxi or to even think that it is not the fault of the taxi. I have seen too many taxis putting other people's lives in danger.

[GrumpyOldGuy]

Interesting. Here on my training routes I find that taxis show more respect than many others on the road. It is all a matter of respect for each other. That said, if I had to move to a place like JHB, I would probably hang up my bike. I would be too scared to cycle there.

 

Yeah, I find the same, and I cycle and run daily amongst taxi's, trucks and some of the most horrendous traffic in JHB and I rarely have issues.

 

I believe if you treat others the way you would like to be treated, they will return the favor, people are not too different anywhere you go and even if we like to paint many with the same brush, few will get up in the morning and say I feel like driving into a cyclist / runner / pedestrian today,... but sadly, we are human and fallible, we lose concentration, we think of other things and we make mistakes, it happens to all of us, not one person here or elsewhere can say otherwise.

Edited January 6, 2013 by GrumpyOldGuy

[Escapee..]

You can change or make all the laws you want. If its not going to be enforced, it will be a waste of time.

 

On your way to work tomorrow have a look at how many people speed, talk on cell phones etc.

 

Its a joke

 

This thread also makes it sound like motorists are out to get cyclist. Because they saw them ride through a red light or got stuck behind them riding two or three abreast.

[pastapouch]

 

Sadly, yesterday we were discussing that rechlessness and ill-behavious of, not only motorists, but most in SA. and there is only one conclussion, this has become a country filled with common petty criminals and thugs, and they come in white and black.. I'm not proud to say it, but unfortunately, thats how it it. Ignorance of traffic rules and regulations, no consideration, schools a mess, littering...name it.

[Azonic]

Well, from what I can tell from what I heard, I'm going to tell myself he probably felt no pain. Whether he saw it coming or not, at the point of impact there was no-one home anymore.

[Riekert]

1300 people died on our roads in one month. Lets not kid ourselves where the problem lies!

[Vetseun]

In Bloem the N1 is very popular. Glen and back or to toll gate and back

Edited January 6, 2013 by Turtle Man

[HeyYou]

But it's still up you.

 

If you don't break the road law, you're probably saving a life.

 

You can't change the a... holes, but you can change you.

[StevieL]

South African roads are a bit of a joke. Everybody has an axe to grind with every other road user... Aaaah, look at these cyclists riding 3 abreast.... Aaaah, look at the asshole in the car cutting off the cyclists. Cyclists hate cars. Cars hate cyclists. Motorcyclists speed too often... Bla. Bla. Bla.

But you know what? I guarantee that every person reading this, and every hater out there has broken a road law in the last year. No? Have you done 60 or less in every 60 zone? Have you not been over the limit once? (Bearing in mind the limit is 1 beer, I believe). Until you can be honest and say you don't break any road laws, that's when the road carnage will drop, cyclists cycle safely etc. it starts with each individual. The law is the law.

P.S. I don't pretend to be innocent in all of this, I am as guilty as the next guy. I just think our perception of breaking the road laws needs a change.