Cyclist down - Johan Labuschagne

[Dubber]

Once again a taxi......... WTF are they doing in the yellow line....... Cutting ques,shooting up the inside and pulling infront of the que again........

 

Cutting queues is one reason. But this is the lesser of the evils as, when they do this, they generally they have full vision of what is in front of them in the yellow line.

 

The **** hits the fan when they are tail gatting another taxi and/or other large vehicle. At this point they have no idea what is in the yellow line ahed of the them. They then decide to either pull off into the yellow line to pick up/drop off a fare or to undertake the vehicle in front. They pull into the yellow line at 80km/h and boom, there is a cyclists a few meteres in front of them.

 

Looking at the impact point in the photographs I'd say this is probably what happended today.

[nathrix]

 

 

^{It seems however that no-one is ever held accountable - that is the point. What happened to the taxi driver in Burry's case?}

 

Exactly, nothing ever happens, you said it and like I said, I'm not going to sit on my hand and just complain and complain and complain! That's why we will ride in mass, as frequent as necessary, until such time something is done about the lawlessness.

[Wyatt Earp]

Who cares what he does - my guess would be the next cyclist knocked down by a lawless taxi driver.

 

If you think that a mass protest is going to have an impact then go ahead and protest, I hope you are right. I do not share your sentiment however - simple.

 

Give a solution then.

 

**Edit**

 

It's about getting problems to and issues coming to light.

We go on a mass ride and disrupt the traffic it hits the radio stations, the radio stations broadcast to thousands out there, it's bound to hit someones ear ,perhaps someone from the government.

 

A mate and myself were discussing this issue on our morning ride and the sad part it was at the same time of the incident.

I have seen Taxis drive on the sidewalk knocking pedestrians over because they refuse to sit in traffic.

 

He mentioned the Rudy Guiliani window project in New York city , it's an old theory he adopted.

It's basically a case of fixing the small things to be able to deal with the bigger issues.

The only way JMPD will address the small things (taxi drivers) is if us, the public make them aware of the fact that they need to start seriously address the issue.

Edited November 28, 2013 by Wyatt Earp

[nathrix]

Critical Mass Joburg ‏@CriticalMassJhb

We ride tomorrow morning, 7am from Grosvenor Crossing, Bryanston, in protest against unsafe cycling in our city. All welcome

 

 

Grosvenor Crossing, Grosvenor Rd, Sandton

 

Here's it on google maps https://maps.google....y, Gauteng&z=17

[Wet Ears]

I thought that that was what my first post did - the law enforcers need to give some teeth to the rules of the road because if the rules are not enforced (which they are not) then there is no real deterent when one breaks them. I honestly believe that impounding the taxi's (if they are proven to be in the wrong) will have the desired effect. Although they should be doing that when they are found to be unroadworthy too.

 

How to alert the authorities to this scourge is the problem as I don't believe they really care. Voting in the DA seems to be the only viable solution. That said we still need to see if they are able to enforce the 1.5m rule down there in Slaapstad.

Edited November 28, 2013 by Wet Ears

[Wet Ears]

Critical Mass Joburg ‏@CriticalMassJhb We ride tomorrow morning, 7am from Grosvenor Crossing, Bryanston, in protest against unsafe cycling in our city. All welcome Grosvenor Crossing, Grosvenor Rd, Sandton Here's it on google maps https://maps.google....y, Gauteng&z=17

 

Where are you cycling to?

[Wyatt Earp]

I thought that that was what my first post did - the law enforcers need to give some teeth to the rules of the road because if the rules are not enforced (which they are not) then there is no real deterent when one breaks them. I honestly believe that impounding the taxi's (if they are proven to be in the wrong) will have the desired effect. Although they should be doing that when they are found to be unroadworthy too.

 

How to alert the authorities to this scourge is the problem as I don't believe they really care. Voting in the DA seems to be the only viable solution. That said we still need to see if they are able to enforce the 1.5m rule down there in Slaapstad.

 

I would also like to believe in fairytales and dreams come true, we have a few more years with this scourge of a government we have.

[slowpoke]

Heal up soon

[sometime]

My sympathies with Johan and I wish him a speedy recovery and I fully support any cyclist safety awareness campaign. But we are not going to easily change a seemingly entrenched South African culture of lack of respect for the law and each other. To that end we also need to take responsibility for our own safety within the context of the reality of the society we live in. Put simply minimise the risk of riding your bike on our roads by choosing to ride when and where appropriate.

 

Riding a bicycle on Main road Bryanston at a time when we all know taxis (and others) use the yellow line is in my opinion, taking an unacceptably high risk. The same goes for many other roads around the country and we all need to consider the risks these roads pose to us and consider alternative routes & times. If that isn't possible then we seriously need to consider not riding those routes at those times.

[nathrix]

Where are you cycling to?

 

Ask @CriticalMassJhb on twitter as they are the organizers nat ore?

[Wet Ears]

Give a solution then.

 

**Edit**

 

It's about getting problems to and issues coming to light.

We go on a mass ride and disrupt the traffic it hits the radio stations, the radio stations broadcast to thousands out there, it's bound to hit someones ear ,perhaps someone from the government.

 

A mate and myself were discussing this issue on our morning ride and the sad part it was at the same time of the incident.

I have seen Taxis drive on the sidewalk knocking pedestrians over because they refuse to sit in traffic.

 

He mentioned the Rudy Guiliani window project in New York city , it's an old theory he adopted.

It's basically a case of fixing the small things to be able to deal with the bigger issues.

The only way JMPD will address the small things (taxi drivers) is if us, the public make them aware of the fact that they need to start seriously address the issue.

 

I hear you. I think they are aware but don't care. I also read somewhere that a load of JMPD officers actually own taxis themselves so they have a conflict of interest. Take their taxis away however when they break the law then you will see things happen. This would be up to the prosecutors and judges to enforce, although they can only do their jobs if the cops complete the dockets correctly etc which they will not do if they have a vested interest.

 

Maybe I am being too cycnical.

[nathrix]

I hear you. I think they are aware but don't care. I also read somewhere that a load of JMPD officers actually own taxis themselves so they have a conflict of interest. Take their taxis away however when they break the law then you will see things happen. This would be up to the prosecutors and judges to enforce, although they can only do their jobs if the cops complete the dockets correctly etc which they will not do if they have a vested interest.

 

Maybe I am being too cycnical.

 

Interesting, that's a very scary thought!

 

Where did you read this, link?

Edited November 28, 2013 by nathrix ® ©™

[Wyatt Earp]

I hear you. I think they are aware but don't care. I also read somewhere that a load of JMPD officers actually own taxis themselves so they have a conflict of interest. Take their taxis away however when they break the law then you will see things happen. This would be up to the prosecutors and judges to enforce, although they can only do their jobs if the cops complete the dockets correctly etc which they will not do if they have a vested interest.

 

Maybe I am being too cycnical.

 

Dangerous combination that .

Man this country depresses me at times.

[Hennie VR]

I'm all for awareness but are you going to do it the right way. Did they get the necessary permissions etc. Otherwise all you will be making the public aware of is how unlawful we are whilst demanding that other road users be lawful.

[Bonus]

Taxi must have hit him hard.

 

These guys shoot each other when they have their taxi wars - does anyone really think they give even the slightest toss about cyclists, other road users generally or even the police?

 

Get well soon dude. Remember the "new South Africa" motto. . . "it could have been worse . . . "

 

B.

[RocknRolla]

in this instance it was a taxi, and i do agree that they are in a majority when it comes to yellow line driving.

 

BUT

 

There are almost as many other non commercial vehicles abusing the yellow line. For some reason some people think that they are above the law when late for a meeting, or perhaps they just think farkit, i dont want to sit in this traffic.

 

I have seen visible policing targeting yellow line drivers, but the taxis on the route probable are all on a whatsapp group, warning each other. So for the 5-600 metres that the cop can reasonable see the yellow line drivers, everyone is acting like little angels, and as soon as they pass the cops, it's back to lawlessness. Think of schoolchildren when the teacher leaves the class.

 

Unfortunately there is no viable public transport alternative.

 

There are attempts being made, with the likes of rea vaya and the gautrain, but untill there routes expand, I think the lawlessness of the taxis will remain.