Cyclist injured in Ainslie

to the newbies – there was a thread here last year which concluded that at least 70% of all cyclists were dangerous lawbreakers.

mainly to themselves. as much as they dislike it, the laws of physics dont change for lycra clad cyclists.

mass + velocity = force

or for the softhead cyclists

car + road law ignoring cyclist = hospital trip for cyclist

i observe their behaviour dozens of times a year. frankly im surprised that so few cyclists end up in hospital.

Bonfire you encounter one extremely risky and downright stupid cyclist, and this is the justification for calling all cyclists selfish whingers? That guy is lucky to be alive, good for you for avoiding hitting him when he was clearly at fault. Thank heavens for good drivers.

well bonfire, if you used to ride a motor bike you should have a bit of an idea what life is like for a cyclist in the world of cars.

Mutley, I don’t belong to pedal power. I take it that is some kind of sarcastic jibe that should be interpreted as humour. I re-took up cycling for exercise about 6 months ago. I just wanted you guys to see the ‘other side’. 6 months ago I had no idea the crap that cyclists cop in this town. That being said the majority of motorists are respectful. It’s just that small element that has the attitude “why don’t you ride on the cycle pats, this is my bloody road and I pay taxes and I ….blah blah”. These people are the same that used to grab all the other kids toys in pre school and had racists for parents.

PS – I really like this website (been a long time lurker) I will calm down once I take my medicine

if its not clear from my previosu post, the cyclist was on the wrong side of the road – pedalling towards me and we did make eye contact.

i almost created that gold painted work of art mentioned in another thread.

Great comment Snarky, well put!

I wanted to respond to the Pedal Power one as well just by asking mutley why they would be surprised by comments by cyclists about road safety when the article is about a cyclist getting injured.

I’m not a member of pedal power although I have been and might be again, it’s just a group of people with common interests, interests like not getting killed or injured on the roads. A discussion about motorists and cyclists attitudes and behaviours is completely what this article is likely to spark.

Better out in the open than sitting in vehicles with steam coming out of their ears, better that we try and understand why this aggression is out there and what impact it has on us. Even if it is just trash talk, it’s still perpetuating an attitude, and a dangerous attitude at that. And as a cyclist I accept that we also need to understand which behaviours of theirs are causing this attitude, and of those assess which are fair and reasonable and which are just dumb.

i have never collided with a cyclist in my vehicle.

in my private life i have hit precisely ONE car and that was a few months after gaining my license and at about 5 kmh.

on a motorcycle i had many idiots in cars try and kill me.

it made me a better driver.

Looks like pedal power has found their way here

Can’t speak for the others, but although I’m a member, i’m not PedalPower in any sense that you’d recognise.

Atoz has put it the best – there is ample road to share, crossings, country roads, paths and all.

I reckon 99% of the trash talk on here is just that – talk, not action. I doubt even Bonfire has many kills stamped on the side of his car. But, like Atoz and Chariots and others I really really cannot fathom the antipathy to cyclists in Canberra. Sometimes out on the roads it’s like we live in a city of 9 year olds with bad attitudes. Hell, even other car drivers know this! So what gives?

Just to clarify, i mean the riding abreast on a country road is the stupid behaviour, not their presence on the country road.

i was reflecting upon how wrong i was about the law abiding fresh air breathing recycling green syustainable cyclists and then last night as i turned the corner in the stanley steamer one of your ilk was on the wrong side of the road in the middle of the lane about 15 meters from ginninderra drive.

pedalling away in his own little world.

so i swerved to avoid him and fortunately there wasnt anything coming the other way, otherwise i would have had to brake suddenly and incur a rear ender.

im sure the cyclist would have stuck around and provided details for my insurance report.

I can’t argue for one with that Blamemonkey, there’s an arrogance there that’s a bit staggering. Sure extend the finger if you think that will make your point, but swerve at them, try to frighten them with your horn that’s the a**ehole behaviour that we’re talking about.

Atoz says quite clearly that motorists abuse cyclists ‘for no reason’. And he/she is right this mindless abuse happens, every cyclist I know has had this happen to them even when they are just travelling on, minding their own business. Ever copped abuse when you’re just cruising along in your car, following the road rules, being a model motorist. I doubt it.

Blamemonkey, I agree that there are cyclists that do not always use there common sense or courtesy. That being said, I do think they have a right to ride on country roads. I ride on them, not in a group mind you, but I don’t think I ever slow anyone down.

Look, all I’m saying is that there is ample road to share. If you think about it, cyclists are helping big time in suburban areas. If all those cyclists I see riding each morning in inner north canberra decided to drive one morning (each of course in their own car with no passengers as per canberra guidelines) then you find a hell of a lot more cars on the road.

God, you only have to look at parts of europe to see the positives if cars and bikes got along.

It’s just seems that here in Canberra there is such an element of hatred towards cyclists. A month ago I was on the cycle PATH next to a road in Gun’lin and was abused by the finger and vocals of a driver – man, I wasn’t even on the road. A few days later I went to move off with other traffic after a light turned green and got cut off as a car turned left. As he turned he gave the finger. I just don’t get it. I tend to think canberrans have it so easy that this is where people vent there pathetic frustrations.

Looks like pedal power has found their way here

Blamemonkey, how does that relate to the above discussion about pedestrian crossings, exactly?

Atoz, what about the cyclist that ride 2+ abreast on rural roads full of blind corners and with a speed limit of 100ks? I feel I should be able to beep my horn and extend my middle finger to these people, because not only are they being inconsiderate but also dangerous.

Dear Bonfire, I’m afraid your views make you out to be an ignorant moron. And the whining as you put it has not come from the cycling sector but from you – the motorist -having your weekly bit*h about cyclists. For the life of me I don’t understand why canberrans (an most australians) hate cyclists. I drive and cycle. When I drive, I don’t have a problem waving a cyclist through a pedestrian crossing. Wow, that was like 1 second of my life. When I ride, i may cycle through a pedestrian crossing, but only when it’s safe.

The issue I have is that you are the type of motorists that abus me for no reason, cut me off on corners, and show absolutely no respect to other road users.

You gotta learn to respect others mate, the world is not all about you and your narrow minded views.

I share the other cyclists’ views with respect to pedestrian crossings. It’s hardly in my interests as a cyclist to zip across a pedestrian crossing on a bike without regard for the traffic. In the same way it’s not in my interest to skateboard, rollerblade or run up to and across a pedestrian crossing. Making me get off the bike and walk across holds up traffic.

As long as we’ve eyeballed each other motorist and I, and it’s clear that I’m going across, where’s the problem? Additionally all the motorist has to do to accelerate again is lightly depress a pedal and off they go, to regain momentum on a bicycle requires a great deal more energy. The one true advantage to cycling is that you can be a pedestrian and a vehicle, follow the rules for either and what’s the freaking problem?

Why so angry at cyclists Bonfire? My father used to cycle to work and the number of cyclists that actively tried to scare him and harassed him was ridiculous. Is this where your anger leads? Pointless abuse of others, possible injury to someone’s father, mother, son or daughter? And for what? What I hate is your attitude, shared by others is what drives poor behaviour towards cyclists, and who knows what happened to this poor chap with the head injury, but I for one wouldn’t rule out road rage. My thoughts are for him and his family.

Softheads.

wpb its not proactical for me to stop at red lights because im travelling at an optimum speed but i have to.

more typically selfish whining from cyclists.

Thumper,

1. It’s illegal

Yes it is, no argument there. But why exactly does that piss you off? Surely you’re grateful they’re out of your way faster.

3. It’s a ‘pedestrian crossing’

… meaning.. what, exactly? Cyclists are allowed on the paths and on the roads. Where would you prefer they crossed? A whole new class of “cycle crossings” where cars must stop and give way as well as all the existing pedestrian crossings? Or just leap randomly out of driveways perhaps?

2. It’s dangerous; and
4. A cyclist zipping out across a crossing leaves the driver no time to stop.

Effectively the same thing, and again, agreed – it’s suicidal for the cyclist and extremely distressing for the motorist to have to keep an eye out for them. By all means REQUIRE cyclists to stop, look left, look right, look left again – exactly as pedestrians are supposed to do. Any sane rider does this anyway.

But – and this is what I don’t like – once a cyclist has stopped what possible merit is there in walking a bike across a crossing? It slows down the cyclist and slows down the motorist. If there are pedestrians on the crossing there are already cycling rules in play re right of way of pedestrian versus cyclist (see previous discussion on RiotACT), firmly in the pedestrian’s favour so there’s no safety advantage gained here by walking a bike.

I’m afraid I don’t agree with the cyclist pedestrian crossing law. It’s not practical for a cyclist to walk, and for those who are in cycling shoes, not particularly safe either. While I acknowledge it is downright dangerous for a cyclist to approach a pedestrian crossing at speed and expect cars to stop, the way it works in reality (from 25 years of cycling and driving) is in most cases, cyclist slows down, checks for cars and if no cars, crosses. If there is a car, cyclist stops and either lets car go through or in most cases the car kindly waves the cyclist through.

A better law would have cyclists simply giving way to cars at pedestrian crossings.

To use an analogy, how would you feel if there was a law that you had to push your car through an intersection. You simply wouldn’t obey it would you?

The problem is that cyclists are sometimes road users and sometimes pedestrians – we all just need to be mindful of that. Our road/cycleway/footpath system is designed that way, our footpaths lead to cycleways and our cycleways lead onto roadways- that’s just the nature of things.

Thumper, you’d be surprised how easy it is to get around Canberra by bicycle. Riding to and from work can become the best part of your day and you save heaps on petrol, parking etc. and are doing great things for the community like reducing parking/traffic congestion, not adding to smog/CO2 etc. Give it a go!

And while pedestrian crossings are off topic, I will add that my observations are that Australian drivers actually pay more attention to pedestrian crossings than every other country I’ve been to. In Europe, cars don’t stop for pedestrians.

Yeh, bonfire, tone it down. I was going to suggest a spanking, rather than a thrashing 🙂

yet more outrageous slanders!

;-]

Thumper, why?

I think bonfire was just living up to his/her/its (after the Jey thing you can’t be too careful these days) moniker, you know a joke/flame/troll type thing…

C’mon bonfire, it’s not like you’re above bending the rules when it suits you and you see little harm to others.

The point I was trying to make in commiserating with a cyclist who has suffered a serious accident was that I hope it was not the result of an angry driver. I merely raised the incident to highlight the anger, physical and verbal, that cyclists often suffer from car drivers. I don’t think anyone benefits from this kind of road rage.

you deserve a stern thrashing.

im with the driver.

you flout societys rules and then cry poor me!

I forgot to mention in my last post that in the exchange with the driver, he ended up getting out of his car and physically threating me, as well as that he said that all cyclist ought to be run over. All this for what?

I went home and checked and yes it is law to dismount. I acknowledge that. But does that give drivers the right to physically threaten cyclists?

Lastly, in response to terubo, I always give way pedestrians and I do not cycle into them.

As far as I remember it’s the law to dismount and walk your bike across a pedestrian crossing, Ainslie76.

Well if other pedestrians are trying to get across, it may not be too smart to cycle into them. I just stick my brolly into their spokes.

…I only hope it wasn’t the result of one of these kinds of drivers

I live in Ainslie and cycle almost everyday into uni. One afternoon coming home I had this guy pull up behind me at the lights and give me an ear full for not walking my bike across lights at the intersection(namely the pedestrian crossing).

I reckon that there is a high possibility that if a recumbent cyclist was to be in a frontal accident that they would land on their feet. Kind of like when you pour something out of a wheel-barrow quickly.

please make my day and say it was a recumbent cyclist.

i hope he she it isnt seriously hurt and sees this as a sign to stop breaking gods laws by cycling and return to normal modes of transport.

Poor bugger. Head injuries (self inflicted or otherwise) are never good. If it was a hit and run, the driver is a gutless wonder.

WTF? Wasn’t a cyclist hit and killed on that same street about 3 weeks ago?

cycling should be avoided at all costs