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Post by malxscfc on Nov 8, 2007 16:33:28 GMT
Sorry to hear that (again), Sal. Have cycled for 30 years, and around town centres like Bristol, Bath, Luton, Reading and Canterbury with only 2 incidents where women threw a car door open in front of me, but I guess the Metropolis is a rather different fish kettle. Hope you've got a half-decent bicycle repair man [Palin-stylee!] who is (very) local, and preferably are not forced to resort to the dreaded Halfords who are habitually useless...
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Post by ambersalamander on Nov 8, 2007 20:39:38 GMT
Thanking all of my friends who care enough to have sent me messages of sympathy I'm in one piece.
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Post by ambersalamander on Nov 8, 2007 21:34:59 GMT
That's not a dig at anyone who hasn't, by the way ;D
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votp
Steaming Bovril
Posts: 328
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Post by votp on Nov 8, 2007 22:11:17 GMT
I should hope not too! Has it made you less than enthusiastic to get back in the saddle though? I know I got to the stage where I thought I'd done enough without major incident (bar the buggered knee and lack of teeth) that it was time to give up. Mind you moving job to central Lunnon helped the decision. I think it does make you more aware as a car driver having been a cyclist but of course not all drivers are like that and you appear to have met a couple of those. Beware, there are thousands more out there!
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Post by ambersalamander on Nov 8, 2007 22:17:34 GMT
Believe me, I wasn't exactly enthusiastic about cycling to Tooting five times a week and London Bridge once a week to begin with. I only do it because it doesn't cost anything. Except teeth, of course.
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Post by medibot on Nov 8, 2007 22:20:19 GMT
I was reserving my sympathies for when i got to see yer bruises and say "cor, look at that!" Such bad luck though, my dad has been cycling Sutton to Surbiton most days a week for years and the biggest incident he's ever had is a puncture. Personally i don't cycle as much as i'd like as living in Brighton a nice bike will get nicked and a crap one (like mine) rusts to bits in a few years (the pedal fell because of rust the other day!) but have only came a cropper once when i was about 14 and that was on loose gravel and because i was travelling at about 30mph down a hill and assuming it was a smooth surface. Still not entirely sure how i survived the impact on my head that time (yes malx, no helmet...) but an absolutely lovely lady who i never got to thank properly due to being a bit groggy drove me and my bike all the way from the arse end of Wallington to Beddington CC to make sure i got home safely. That said, as she was driving up the hill towards me she was probably just relieved that i wasn't dead having seen the crash!
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Post by malxscfc on Nov 8, 2007 23:52:36 GMT
As you and Amber have both noted, it's always the treatment received at the hands of kind strangers which seems to stick in the mind most in the midst of trauma, even if it can sometimes take months to fully register. I wrote off my beloved (aged) BMW at about 90 mph an age ago, and the one redeeming frame in that disturbing episode of my youthful life was the Kentish Man who pulled over and insisted on knowing I was okay. [The AA took literally hours to turn up - and meantime - mark this, guys! - they had called the Police. The Kent Police had sent a Squad car from Dartford to near Canterbury just to give me a (negative) breath test. The Boys in Blue weren't bothered about me or my car since we weren't an obstruction, so they left soon after.] It's the little, positive kindnesses which tend to figure large in the memory over time. Glad to hear about the helmet too, Medibot. Just imagine your brain as a walnut without the shell....
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Post by Sultan of Cannock- SRFC on Nov 10, 2007 6:00:38 GMT
Poor Sal. Hope you are well enough to enjoy your saturday footy fix.
These incidents hit dreadfully close to home as one of my workmates lost his son to a similar incident 3 weeks ago. Although i don't know the full details, Luke, (12-13 yrs old) was biking to school when someone came off a car park and didn't see him. He finished up under the axle of the car so at least this bugger couldn't get away. Luke's head injuries were so severe that he passed away the following day.
What makes it even worse is the fact that his ex-wife (who had custody of the kids and made life difficult at every turn) has taken the opportunity to really put the boot in even freezing him out of the funeral arrangements and not even telling his current partner what was going on with Luke on the morning it happened. OK so there's often bitterness in a broken marriage and i don't know the facts from both sides but surely this should override it?
Our section managed to cobble together about £560 for Mick and his current partner and he's commissioning a memorial bench and a tree in the place he would have liked his son's ashes to have been scattered had he been allowed any say in the matter. We're all a bit under a cloud here in the office at the moment but just can't imagine - and hope never to find out first hand- what he's going through.
Sal, have you thought of putting down your bad experiences in a letter to the local rags or trying to get a call in to GLR or LBC? If it makes people think and just take an extra couple of seconds to look around them before making a turn it could make alll the difference to people's lives.
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Post by ambersalamander on Nov 10, 2007 12:03:07 GMT
Possibly
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Post by malxscfc on Nov 11, 2007 8:30:26 GMT
Sal, have you thought of putting down your bad experiences in a letter to the local rags or trying to get a call in to GLR or LBC? If it makes people think and just take an extra couple of seconds to look around them before making a turn it could make alll the difference to people's lives. Sorry to hear about your friend's tragedy. The fact is that Learner Drivers are not DRILLED into looking out for bikes. They're just not high enough profile for drivers to think about - so maybe continued cyclists' pressure will eventually have some effect. Meantime, if drivers don't see the cyclist, the cyclist has GOT to do something to be seen!
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Post by ojiveojive on Nov 11, 2007 19:04:11 GMT
The fact is that Learner Drivers are not DRILLED into looking out for bikes. Meantime, if drivers don't see the cyclist, the cyclist has GOT to do something to be seen! I have to disagree with the first sentence, learners ARE drilled to look out for cyclists, both pedal and motor. When I was instructing I used to freak my people out if I thought they hadn't seen a cyclist or motor cyclist I would SCREAM "BIKE" at the top of my extremely loud voice. The problem is with drivers. They not only do not look out for anyone other than themselves, in the main they also believe that once they've passed their test they no longer need to take positive steps to learn to improve their technique, indeed impuning someone's driving ability is akin to saying you've had carnal knowledge with their mother/sister/daughter, it's the quickest way to get into a fight I know. I do agree with your second point, though.
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Post by malxscfc on Dec 7, 2007 11:33:14 GMT
I have a confession to make........ Yesterday I very nearly knocked a cyclist off his bike! I suspect any other motorist would have done it, but luckily I looked twice (as I was taught) and the bloke's probably still alive. Circumstances are these. It was rush hour, dark, hammering down and windy. I was waiting at a roundabout where there were roadworks and no street lights. The f*ckwit was riding his dark red bike with no front light, no helmet, and was wearing a khaki jacket and black trousers. He was coming around the widest rim of the roundabout (a blind spot if there ever was one) which requires extremely acute peripheral vision from the Motorist. It was positively FREAKISH that I actually spotted him. "People like that probably deserve to be knocked off. " Discuss.
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Post by ojiveojive on Dec 10, 2007 9:36:25 GMT
They don't deserve to be knocked off but they do deserve to have some sense knocked into them. In the same way that I believe that people that park their cars badly/illegally should have them crushed, cyclists should have to wear a reflective jacket and those that don't and/or those that ride without lights should have their bikes crushed.
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Post by malxscfc on Dec 14, 2007 14:01:31 GMT
They don't deserve to be knocked off but they do deserve to have some sense knocked into them. In the same way that I believe that people that park their cars badly/illegally should have them crushed, cyclists should have to wear a reflective jacket and those that don't and/or those that ride without lights should have their bikes crushed. Goodness me! Your totalitarian State will be an unforgiving sort of place to live once you assume Supreme Power! Park badly once, and lose your £350,000 Ascari sportscar? Harsh. Next you'll be telling me that parents who leave their 3 year-old unattended should have it crushed...
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Post by peekay on Dec 15, 2007 11:36:18 GMT
Park badly once, and lose your £350,000 Ascari sportscar? Harsh. Did you watch Top Gear last week by any chance Malx?
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