Saturday 4 February 2012

Why Should They Listen To You?

God knows, they don’t listen to people with real problems…
Families of the cyclists killed in crashes accused politicians of "not listening" as they prepared to join cyclists in central London on Sunday as part of a campaign to improve road safety.
Maybe they are listening, but they just don’t like what you’ve got to say?
Newspapers, now including The Times as well as The Independent and the Evening Standard, have added weight to demands for legislation that would require lorries to fit safety devices, and improve the layout of increasingly crowded roads.
So the responsibility for safety is shifted away from one section of the road population, and on to another.

Great! That’s not caused any problems anywhere else, has it?
Kate Cairns, whose sister Eilidh was killed by a lorry driver in London in 2009, accused politicians of "complacency". She said: "There is an implicit idea that there are accidents, that they are unavoidable. But these are not accidents."
Then what are they, you hysterical dimwit? Murder? Do you think lorry drivers are all out to ‘get’ you?

Sensible discourse with this rabble is clearly impossible:
Roads Minister, Mike Penning, faced criticism over comments he made to the House of Commons Transport Committee, suggesting that cyclists running red lights were responsible for deaths and injuries. He said last week: "It would help save a lot of cyclists' lives and stop a lot of serious injuries if so many of you didn't go through a red light... Now that's not saying that we should make them all criminals and all pariahs and there are motorcycles that go through but it is so bloody dangerous."
Who could argue with that? Well, apart from the usual suspects.
Ms Cairns, along with RoadPeace, is campaigning for laws requiring all HGVs to be fitted with sensors to eliminate blind spots. They plan to meet on Sunday – the anniversary of Eilidh Cairns' death – to launch a website called SeeMeSaveMe as part of a campaign to make the sensors a legal requirement.
I think I’ll launch a website: Don’tTakeStupidChancesWithMultiTonneVehiclesAndYouWon’tNEEDSaving...

20 comments:

Hogdayafternoon said...

JuliaM, you should join MAG (www.mag-uk.org)We could do with you trying to help us translate `the bleeding obvious` into stuff politico's understand.

Anonymous said...

How dare Mr Penning say such things! Doesn't the truth hurt some people? In addition to running red lights and failing to comply with any statutory obligations/requirements let alone the bloody Highway Code. Biggest cause of cyclist deaths is where they are crushed by left turning large vehicles.

WV= juspoo

nisakiman said...

As an ex articulated truck driver I can safely say that on a sliding scale of stupidity and lack of spacial awareness, cyclists are right up there at the top. Car drivers come in second and motorcyclists tend to be fairly well down the scale, probably because the dumb ones have already taken themselves out of the gene pool

I used to say to any who would listen that all road users should have one driving lesson (not necessarily on the public highway) in a truck with a forty foot trailer. They might then understand the geometry of negotiating a left turn in town in a 56 foot semi (artic). It would, I'm sure, save a lot of crumpled fenders and avoid the self-righteous ire of apoplectic eco-warriors, hopping around in their indecently tight lycra with hands of bananas strapped to their heads. (They really don't do themselves any favours, do they...)

Two wheels on my wagon said...

RoadPeace? RoadPeace!? Surely they mean RoadTakingThe Piss.

What is it with dimwit "action" groups that have to have such right-on bold names suggesting a superior way of being? Do they imagine that getting what they want, and purely what they want when they want it, then somehow a golden glow of contented happiness will break out over the world?

No, I thought not either.

(Here's a small thought: more equipment on lorries mean more expenses for lorry companies which means dearer prices in shops, which means unhappy cyclists among others. or is the Cycle Fairy going to cough up?)

microdave said...

@ nisakiman - many trucks carry a sign saying "If you can't see my mirrors, I can't see you" I wonder if any of this lot can read?

Andy said...

I like your blog but your anti-cyclist approach is a bit grating. I cycle every day and hate twatty cyclists but so many cars and lorries don't look at all.
Here's a question, why don't we ever see sports cars - porsches etc hitting cyclists? Because they care about their vehicle. Lorries and Buses don't care so much as either a.) It isn't their's b.) It won't get scratched by a cyclist.
Cyclists who ride down the left hand of lorries are clowns and fools but whilst there are plenty of cock cyclists, there are as many if not more cock drivers and cyclists need protecting from them since cock cyclists don't harm other people

Curmudgeon said...

Surely Julia is not against cyclists per se, but rightly criticises their assumption of moral superiority and their refusal to accept any responsibility for their own safety.

Captain Haddock said...

"Biggest cause of cyclist deaths is .. "

Cyclists themselves, many of whom mistakenly perceive themselves as always being "in the right" & who are prepared to die in order to prove their point ..

Anonymous said...

Why are cyclists like 'Andy' so bloody sensitive? Is it because he knows that much of the anti-cyclist rhetoric is actually true? Every weekend these days it seems our small roiads are clogged by 'clots' of cyclists riding 2/3/4 abreast - holding up traffic. The arrogance is breathtaking.

Captain Haddock said...

Years ago we never had this ongoing animosity between car drivers & cyclists, they co-existed quite happily ..

But then many (by no means all)cyclists climbed aboard the "Eco" bus ..

Their language, with slogans like "Reclaim The Streets" & "Road Peace" became that of the zealot .. and like so many others blinded by a cause, or religion, they became impossible to reason with ..

As with so many other "causes" e.g. Feminazism, Political Correctness, the RoP, the Race Relations industry, the Climate Change scammers, the Anti-Smoking lobby etc .. they see moral superiority as being theirs & theirs alone .. and to gainsay them equates (in their twisted pygmy-like minds) to heresy ..

Magnus o'Pus said...

Ha ha ha. The Cap'n's really on top form tonight. That he is.

Lerxst said...

I saw this in the Times on Thursday and I noticed not a single one of their called for "action points" related to cyclists' behaviour or education.

It was just the usual arrogant 'I'll go where I want. The highway code doesn't apply to me. Everyone else has to get out of the way' garbage.

nisakiman said...

@ microdave

Unfortunately, even if you can see a truck's mirrors, the driver can't necessarily see you. Mirror technology has improved hugely since I was driving those things in the 70s. The sides of the cab nowadays are positively festooned with mirrors trying to cover every angle, but there's a limit to what you can encompass visually during a manoeuvre.

Which is why I think all drivers / riders should spend some time in the driving seat of a truck so they can maybe, just maybe, understand the relative paucity of rear-view vision a truck driver has, and act accordingly.

the man who fell back to bed said...

I've never been almost run over by a truck running a red light in london.

can you guess what group of road users I cant say that about?

Mrs Grey said...

Melvin is being naughty so apologies to everyone for his cod Irish and impersonating Mr o'Pus.

You have to admire his one-handed typing, though, plus being handicapped with his thick, thick spectacles too, poor boy!

Anonymous said...

Wasn't there some footage not long ago of some cyclist being an obstructive awkward git to a police officer who stopped him for going through a red light or something.

Think everyone was too focussed on the policeman being not up tomspeed on his powers to notice how arrogant the cyclist was.

Perhaps that cyclist can be the pin-up boy for this cyclist rabble.

Longrider said...

... and there are motorcycles that go through

Oh. Perhaps he could name some. There are cars that run red lights too, but it is a rarity.

Cyclists running red lights is a daily occurrence, unfortunately.

And, if you don't want to be run over by a truck turning left, no need for any safety devices except the one between your ears. Don't creep up on their nearside.

Anonymous said...

When I used to cycle with a club many years ago, there was something called road discipline, if you were on a busy road, you rode single file. Quiet roads two abreast, keeping an eye out for cars, either singling out to let them past or waving them through if appropriate. There was a particular shout of 'car up' or 'car down' dependent on the way the car was travelling. Most likely we would get a wave from the motorist which would be returned. Courtesy, simple and easy.

As for red light jumping, great idea for suicide, doesn't appeal to me at all. On a cycling forum there was a bloke who used to claim it was safer and said there was government stastics or TFL stats to back it up. He was a knob and used to get treated like one.

Absolutely right about campaigning groups, self righteous bunch of tossers. I will keep cycling, doing the lycra and banana bit if necessary, however I will keep using common sense and courtesy to other road users and try to stay alive.

Bunny

JuliaM said...

"...you should join MAG..."

Heh! I think getting them to understand is beyond even me... ;)


"Biggest cause of cyclist deaths is where they are crushed by left turning large vehicles."

And it still keeps happening!

"Here's a small thought: more equipment on lorries mean more expenses for lorry companies which means dearer prices in shops..."

Well, indeed! But they always think the cost will magically stop before it gets to them. Or, that as the advert puts it 'they're worth it'.

Idiots!

"I like your blog but your anti-cyclist approach is a bit grating."

I'm not anti-cyclist. I'm anti idiot and entitled cyclist.

JuliaM said...

"I saw this in the Times on Thursday and I noticed not a single one of their called for "action points" related to cyclists' behaviour or education. "

Indeed! Unlike the guide printed just below this article, which does indeed impress upon them that they should take responsibility...

"Think everyone was too focussed on the policeman being not up tomspeed on his powers to notice how arrogant the cyclist was."

I wasn't! A plague on both their houses...

"There are cars that run red lights too, but it is a rarity."

There are plenty that 'speed up' on yellow!

"On a cycling forum there was a bloke who used to claim it was safer and said there was government stastics or TFL stats to back it up. He was a knob and used to get treated like one."

I think I might know who you are speaking of. Blogger, is he? ;)