Driver fined £1000 for passing cyclist who fell over

[OVERDRIVE]

7 hours ago, MORNE said:

why did you keep breaking the law in full sight of The Man?? 😇

It goes both ways. I used to have a friend at varsity. He was just too nice for his own good. We used to spend weeks in the studio where you'd go 3 days without sleep to get a project done...functioning on energy drinks and coffee. I myself have literally fallen asleep at a traffic light on the way home after one of these. 

One night he was driving home around 2am from varsity, it was raining and he was obviously barely functioning from being sleep deprived. He took out a street light...on his own, no one in sight. Most people would hit reverse, pick up any important bits...and drive off since no one else was involved and no one was hurt. I know I would have.

The good person that he was. He drives to the closest police station and tells them what he did...and they repay his deeds by throwing him in jail for the night. Our legal system being what it is....they just put him there and waited till the next day, where they then claimed he must have been drinking right? Surely he was drunk? why else? But they didn't test him obviously. (not that it would have mattered, he was a bit of church nut and a teetotaller ). So then that act of being a good person then changed into him needing to go to court for the next 3 years to prove that he wasn't drunk basically. His lawyer got him off in the end on a technicality and some cummunity dervice since he bumped his head in the shunt and didnt get any medical attention in jail. 

all because he did the right thing...

 

Geez. This is a scary story

[DieselnDust]

1 hour ago, Mamil said:

Sitting at my desk at home faffing with admin .... Screaming from the road. Dash out along with half a dozen work from home types on the road. Woman with baby in pram mugged at gun point. Well oiled machinery of local security there in 2 minutes. Perpetrators gone.... Another day.

Not far away in a direction I dare not ride my bike, kids getting killed in gang crossfire....Another day.

Me, the SO and our housekeeper shrug our shoulders and return to our respective work.

None of our adrenals even bother to respond.

Denmark sounds nice. Norway too.

 

MDK hits front page news in Scandinavia. Policing in Northern Europe is just ridiculous.

20year ago I was living in The Hague. On my way home from my SO I turn a corner and there in my face is a NINJA!! After i gather my piles and last nights supper, I realise its the KMar  and I get pulled aside and huddled in a corner behind an armoured van. After about 5 mins I summon the courage to ask the gentleman what the fuss was about . He points his semi auto rifle into the distance and all I can see if a large group of people holding placards and protesting...

The KMar was making sure it was a peaceful March. No tyres burning, no looting or rioting but they were there just shooting the breeze and smoking marlboro's.

I notice that the local recreational drug dealer is also being kept 'safe", then they released him to carry on his merry the local police patrol picked him up and tossed him down , friscked the poor bloke and arrested him. I just greeted the Police "dag Mevrou!... and hauled my ass around the next corner, not too fast but I'd have made the SA Athens Olympic Games walking team.

[Eldron]

2 hours ago, DieselnDust said:

MDK hits front page news in Scandinavia. Policing in Northern Europe is just ridiculous.

Exactly as it should. South Africans have gotten far too comfortable with crime and violence. The expression "Africa is not for sissies" should be banned.

Once you see the absolute horror/disbelief on a Dane's face when you tell them you've been hijacked you realise how desensitized to violence and crime we've become. There should be outrage and protests and uprisings and action. 

 

[OVERDRIVE]

7 hours ago, Eldron said:

Yup - the downside of being a trusting nation is having that trust abused by arseholes.

Mostly Danes are an unflappable lot. I witnessed a car accident last year - both drivers jumped out to ask each other if they were ok. No finger pointing and swearing - just two people getting on with life after an accident.

We use MobilePay over here - mobile phone based payment system where you type in the amount and number then swipe right to approve the transaction. I have never checked or asked to check the trasaction has gone through and never once have I been swindled.

Bike insurance just pays out - nobody comes to check the bike. I just send through a short report and quote and they pay me (all in under 48 hours).

South African criminals could loot the entire country in a few hours I reckon.

 

Whaaat????

[Pure Savage]

21 hours ago, DieselnDust said:

This is a great outcome. The driver admits guilt, there's a bit of a change. Consequence of being fonud guilty is loose your license for 6months and a hefty fine. Even if the driver still doesn't believe he/she did wrong (the SAFFA mindset = not dead therefore no harm done) the fine and the admission of guilt will make them think twice about their decisions when encountering other vulnerable road users again. That's how change happens, small uncomfortable steps sort of like attaching jumper cables to the drivers nipples and flipping the switch randomly while cranking the voltage up and down

Agreed. None of this, "now another person who has a bad perception of cyclists nonsense" Its clear and proven daily that a cyclists actions have zero bearing on drivers actions, this whole notion of obey the rules or die is bollocks. 

If you drive a 2 ton killing machine its your responsibility not to kill people while operating it. 

Drivers have the worst "rap" when it comes to road use, they keep killing people every day, but that is socially acceptable. But a random cyclist rolling through a red light when there are no other people around, that is not socially acceptable. 

 

[Eldron]

18 minutes ago, Pure Savage said:

Agreed. None of this, "now another person who has a bad perception of cyclists nonsense" Its clear and proven daily that a cyclists actions have zero bearing on drivers actions, this whole notion of obey the rules or die is bollocks. 

If you drive a 2 ton killing machine its your responsibility not to kill people while operating it. 

Drivers have the worst "rap" when it comes to road use, they keep killing people every day, but that is socially acceptable. But a random cyclist rolling through a red light when there are no other people around, that is not socially acceptable. 

 

Being a dick is never socially acceptable - whether it's buzzing a cyclist in a car, jumping a red light on your bike or jumping the queue for your mochapumpkinspicedvanilla latte.

[Mamil]

46 minutes ago, Pure Savage said:

Agreed. None of this, "now another person who has a bad perception of cyclists nonsense" Its clear and proven daily that a cyclists actions have zero bearing on drivers actions, this whole notion of obey the rules or die is bollocks. 

If you drive a 2 ton killing machine its your responsibility not to kill people while operating it. 

Drivers have the worst "rap" when it comes to road use, they keep killing people every day, but that is socially acceptable. But a random cyclist rolling through a red light when there are no other people around, that is not socially acceptable. 

 

Preach it!!!

I've ruined dinner parties by holding forth on this topic 

I'm so sick of PPA telling me cyclists lives matter and advising me to steer clear of Constantia Nek and wear bright clothing.

 

[ChrisF]

1 hour ago, Pure Savage said:

Agreed. None of this, "now another person who has a bad perception of cyclists nonsense" Its clear and proven daily that a cyclists actions have zero bearing on drivers actions, this whole notion of obey the rules or die is bollocks. 

If you drive a 2 ton killing machine its your responsibility not to kill people while operating it. 

Drivers have the worst "rap" when it comes to road use, they keep killing people every day, but that is socially acceptable. But a random cyclist rolling through a red light when there are no other people around, that is not socially acceptable. 

 

 

Nonsense ....

 

Our behaviour DO impact driver behaviour.

[DieselnDust]

18 minutes ago, ChrisF said:

 

Nonsense ....

 

Our behaviour DO impact driver behaviour.

to some degree....

all actions have consequences

If there were no cyclists on the rad would there still be D***Head drivers?

Edited April 5, 2022 by DieselnDust

[Eldron]

7 minutes ago, DieselnDust said:

to some degree....

all actions have consequences

If there were no cyclists on the rad would there still be D***Head drivers?

This isn't a difficult concept to understand. If you don't want drivers to jump stop streets, red lights and drive like tonsils then you shouldn't ride through stop streets, jump red lights and ride like a tonsil.

Walkers and runners feel exactly about riders how we feel about cars. 

The onus should always be on the more powerful/dangerous to protect the weaker but that doesn't give the weaker the right to behave as they wish.

[Mamil]

21 minutes ago, Eldron said:

This isn't a difficult concept to understand. If you don't want drivers to jump stop streets, red lights and drive like tonsils then you shouldn't ride through stop streets, jump red lights and ride like a tonsil.

Walkers and runners feel exactly about riders how we feel about cars. 

The onus should always be on the more powerful/dangerous to protect the weaker but that doesn't give the weaker the right to behave as they wish.

Of course but the popular conversation out there is that we cyclists are a menace on the roads. This perception not helped by awareness campaigns that emphasise our self evident responsibilities to behave well. 

Fact is the small percentage of motorists who make passes like the numpty in the video above get away with murder in ZA and this is where emphasis must fall .... Surely?

I say small percentage because of the hundreds of cars that pass me on any given ride it only takes one.

Anyway we've done this to death... Literally. For my part I stop at robots unless it's plain dangerous or too deserted. And I try not to tear too many Muppets a new one when I inevitably catch them on their cell phone at the robot having close passed me on their way to their next delay.

A while back I picked up an empty KFC box another box three out of his van and dropped it onto the driver's lap saying "I believe this is yours". He flung it out the window as he roared off in a cloud of carbon emissions. 

I'm told I'm going to get smacked one day. 

[Eldron]

10 minutes ago, Mamil said:

Of course but the popular conversation out there is that we cyclists are a menace on the roads. This perception not helped by awareness campaigns that emphasise our self evident responsibilities to behave well. 

Fact is the small percentage of motorists who make passes like the numpty in the video above get away with murder in ZA and this is where emphasis must fall .... Surely?

I say small percentage because of the hundreds of cars that pass me on any given ride it only takes one.

Anyway we've done this to death... Literally. For my part I stop at robots unless it's plain dangerous or too deserted. And I try not to tear too many Muppets a new one when I inevitably catch them on their cell phone at the robot having close passed me on their way to their next delay.

A while back I picked up an empty KFC box another box three out of his van and dropped it onto the driver's lap saying "I believe this is yours". He flung it out the window as he roared off in a cloud of carbon emissions. 

I'm told I'm going to get smacked one day. 

Given the size and budget of Arrive Alive and various other road safety campaigns I'd say the emphasis IS squarely on the motorists (as it should be).

For every conversation we have here there is another on a motorist website saying how dangerous it is when cyclists dive bomb through red lights and almost get killed.

Same with cyclists throwing their gel wrappers and leaving their old tubes on the road.

How does the old adage go? Be the change you want to see in the world.

That and the fact that every cyclist on this thread is also a motorist. Or are we just "the good ones"?

 

[Mamil]

11 minutes ago, Eldron said:

Given the size and budget of Arrive Alive and various other road safety campaigns I'd say the emphasis IS squarely on the motorists (as it should be).

For every conversation we have here there is another on a motorist website saying how dangerous it is when cyclists dive bomb through red lights and almost get killed.

Same with cyclists throwing their gel wrappers and leaving their old tubes on the road.

How does the old adage go? Be the change you want to see in the world.

That and the fact that every cyclist on this thread is also a motorist. Or are we just "the good ones"?

 

Arrive alive messaging appears addressed to cyclists judging from the social media and email they send me. 

No doubt cycling has made me a better road user in all the roles I occupy on the roads. 

I have a fantasy where bikes outnumber cars. Judging from the climate report issued today this had better become reality. Also I've decided I have bought my last carbon bike. Alu or titanium from here on in. I know steel is real but I don't have the legs for it.

[DieselnDust]

4 minutes ago, Eldron said:

Given the size and budget of Arrive Alive and various other road safety campaigns I'd say the emphasis IS squarely on the motorists (as it should be).

For every conversation we have here there is another on a motorist website saying how dangerous it is when cyclists dive bomb through red lights and almost get killed.

Same with cyclists throwing their gel wrappers and leaving their old tubes on the road.

How does the old adage go? Be the change you want to see in the world.

That and the fact that every cyclist on this thread is also a motorist. Or are we just "the good ones"?

 

I wholeheartedly agree with being the change. But my question was a simple one and the answer is simple ; there would be d***head drivers because in life people fit a bell curve from super nice to super douche bag and sometimes one person will cover the whole spectrum in a day. 
targeting a weaker demographic and stating that their action leads to their death is a gross oversimplification. 
min some cases it does e.g . Running a red light on a busy road on Saturday morning. It’s. It dangerous if there is no other traffic about. If a cyclist runs a red light and there’s no one to see did they run a red light?

Do runners have a stay wider of the runner campaign to avoid collisions on the sidewalk? No. Do they consider cyclists to be douche bags? Generally not unless cyclists are riding in big groups and motorists pass the cyclists but venture to close to a running group on the opposite side of the road.

there are many scenarios where one group will feel justified in it’s vitriol to the other. But the simple facts are 

passing vehicle has the duty of care to do so safely without endangering the other road user. This applies to cyclists passing pedestrians joggers runners cycle commuters, motorists truck driver etc.

it falls over because feel entitled. 
 

yoo can educate the cyclist or motorist till the cows come home but it won’t change the behaviour until the law is applied and people start doing the time for the crime.

this is not a defence of cyclists but rather defending a principal of protecting the vulnerable and not obscuring this will but first we must blah blah blah. If that is the condition  of change then no wonder we get nowhere

 

[Eldron]

3 minutes ago, DieselnDust said:

I wholeheartedly agree with being the change. But my question was a simple one and the answer is simple ; there would be d***head drivers because in life people fit a bell curve from super nice to super douche bag and sometimes one person will cover the whole spectrum in a day. 
targeting a weaker demographic and stating that their action leads to their death is a gross oversimplification. 
min some cases it does e.g . Running a red light on a busy road on Saturday morning. It’s. It dangerous if there is no other traffic about. If a cyclist runs a red light and there’s no one to see did they run a red light?

Do runners have a stay wider of the runner campaign to avoid collisions on the sidewalk? No. Do they consider cyclists to be douche bags? Generally not unless cyclists are riding in big groups and motorists pass the cyclists but venture to close to a running group on the opposite side of the road.

there are many scenarios where one group will feel justified in it’s vitriol to the other. But the simple facts are 

passing vehicle has the duty of care to do so safely without endangering the other road user. This applies to cyclists passing pedestrians joggers runners cycle commuters, motorists truck driver etc.

it falls over because feel entitled. 
 

yoo can educate the cyclist or motorist till the cows come home but it won’t change the behaviour until the law is applied and people start doing the time for the crime.

this is not a defence of cyclists but rather defending a principal of protecting the vulnerable and not obscuring this will but first we must blah blah blah. If that is the condition  of change then no wonder we get nowhere

 

There are safety campaigns for all road users - nobody is targeting the weaker demographic.

Everybody is targeted - because this needs to be a group effort.

The law doesn't change people - I'd guess everyone on this thread has received multiple speeding and parking fines but speeding and parking illegally continue.

 

 

[DieselnDust]

31 minutes ago, Eldron said:

There are safety campaigns for all road users - nobody is targeting the weaker demographic.

Everybody is targeted - because this needs to be a group effort.

The law doesn't change people - I'd guess everyone on this thread has received multiple speeding and parking fines but speeding and parking illegally continue.

 

 

indeed it has to be a group effort. Everyone has to play a part and those with the biggest impact have to play a bigger role.

Its all very simple really. Respect peoples space. Think safety bubble. In a car you have a steel cage as the safety bubble. Asa driver think about the cyclist or runners safety bubble.

When driving in a busy area drive slowly. Give yourself space and time to assess and react. Instead we try and drive 70 in a 60 zone. In Europe they reduced the speed limit in residential areas to 30. Drive 40 and you're in deep doodoo. Here it's another form of tax collection.

I use hand signals when on the bike. Most motorists either don't understand them or simply could'nt give a hoot. A few of my elderly neighbours believe cyclists are breaking the law by being on the roads without a license disc on the bike. Therefore "if I crush one, I don't care because its their fault.." 

Laws are not there for people with good sensibilities and morals but for those who don't