Suggestion on Preventing CYCLIST being knocked

[Gumpole]

a guy was knocked down right in front of me this morning doing the Engen Classic. 

head-on collision with an Audi.  the poor guy flew right over the car.

the guy is OK' date='  but the bike was in 3 pieces.

this was 100% our fault - going the wrong way around a traffic circle as we do every single morning! 

one might think that the pack learnt something from this,  but 20 minutes later it was more of the same!

- still a hell of a ride though!!!!


[/quote']

 

eeish, very naughty... now you know why I dont do weekday rides excepting around kyalami.

 

saturday riding = dangerous

sunday riding = almost as dangerous

Weekday riding = deathwish

Riding in the dark (no matter what lights clothes etc) = deathwish

Riding on your own = hijack call

Woman riding on her own = rape call

[Napalm]

 

Have you laid a formal charge?

 

Yes, and the eyewitness went down to the station to give a statement. They never did a thing.

 

[Canaris]

TWo things are important to note:

 

 

 

Cycling in groups is dangerous because:

 

 

 

the stupidity of an idiot increases exponentially when there is a crowd to hide in. This results in training groups taking risks that indivdual cyclists would not normally take.

 

the courage of a coward increases when he has a crowd to back him up. This results in the "me and my army" mentality and a willingness to swear at and attack motorists.

 

the spead of the group increases as the group get bigger, resulting in motorists and cyclists misjudging distances and clearances.

 

the size of groups result in more road being taken (even if you cycle in single files).

 

lastly, there is an increased false sense of security, where we all hope that the other guy will get the car in an accident.

 

 

 

Motorists, when seeing cyclists think like this:

 

 

 

Helmet and cycling kit = better bike handling skills, therefore less need to give space.

 

 

 

male = can handle the bike better, and handle the fall better, therefore even less space.

 

 

 

(this last bit has been validated by UK research) therefore do not where cycling kit and replace the helmet with a wig and padding up front.......but don't ride alone because you might get unwanted sexual advances from non cyclists.

 

 

[Windbreaker]

Have you laid a formal charge?

Yes' date=' and the eyewitness went down to the station to give a statement. They never did a thing.
[/quote']

 

Mmm... I had a similar thing a while back (not cycling - burglary). Spent R300 on a lawyers letter to the station commander and it got investigated pronto. Not saying that it would work in every case but you should try something.

 

Good luck!

[TNT1]

Sorry to hijack the thread slightly, but on a tangent, my wife almost got hit by a police car yesterday. No, she wasn't on her bike. She was walking back to the car in a shopping center car-park. No, the police car was not responding to an emergency, just being driven in an arrogant, reckless, illegal and slovenly manner.

 

Point is, it aint only cyclists. I think we as cyclists see more of it, are exposed to more of it, but there is a general culture in this country that once you get behind the wheel of a car, you can through the law and common decency book out the window.

 

You know what depressess me sometimes? Sometimes (wether on bike or in car) you'll see a driver of a car acting in the most insane manner. Recklessly putting cyclists and other road users lives in danger, and you see they have a bike rack thingy on the back of their car. Crazy.

 

I've seen cyclists get off their bikes at a race, get into their cars, and begin to shout and curse at cyclists to get out of their way. This whilst breaking several traffic laws in the process.

 

Cyclists aren't saints, and break enough road rules themselves, but realistically, if I on my bike skip a stop street (and I don't...) I stand a real chance of endangering my own life. When someone behind the wheel of a tonne or more of steel does it, they endanger countless more lives.

 

 

 

[TNT1]

A while back, some local newspapers asked the community to wear red to show how "gatvol" they are of crime. I wrote the following response to my newspaper (it even got printed)

 

I think this is a

pointless gesture. I think that the only people who are actually going to wear

red are the exact same ones who will violate twenty different traffic laws just

reversing out their driveways. There will naturally be 1 or 2, but the rest of

them don?t realize that just as charity begins at home, so does a culture of law

abiding respect. I too am tired of crime, but I?ll do the best I can every day

to keep the laws of the country. I think people should rather stick together and

act together to show they can be law abiding citizens. I am not going to wear

red, cause that will identify me along with those who speed, fail to stop at

stop signs, don?t maintain a legally safe following distance, don?t wear

seatbelts, the list goes on.

I think the newspapers

in question should rather use their ability to communicate with a large audience

in communicating a message that encourages people to uphold the law. People are

too lazy, and too quick to point fingers. Sure, rape, murder, theft are ?worse?

than minor traffic violations, but like the saying goes, ?people in glass

houses??. Of course this will never happen, it requires people to be

responsible, accountable, respectful and actually go beyond their comfort zones

to change some aspect of their behaviour. And as we know, respect and

accountability, in fact common human decency are so politically incorrect, that

no-one even remembers what they mean.

On the day in question,

I will spend my commute counting how many people in red I see commiting traffic

violations, being rude and insensitive to one another, lying, and so on. That?s

the real statement.

As for me, I will do my

very best to do what is right. To teach my family what is right. I will make my

statement each and every day, by being a righteous law abiding citizen, and God

willing, showing firstly my children, and then those that I come into contact

with, that my actions indeed make a statement.

Ok, that's it, my entire two cents on the subject.