The Guide Dogs charity, which helps blind and visually-impaired people, said more Londoners were calling their helpline to report being hit or involved in near misses.
The most dangerous incidents involved cyclists riding on pavements or skipping red lights at pedestrian crossings, the charity said.
Which are a menace enough for those of us with 20/20 vision, but there’s special pleading to be done!
The Cycleyes safety campaign, launched today, is backed by London’s biggest bike rights group, which said cyclists have a “duty of care” to look out for others.
And a goodly number will heed that.
But there are those that won’t, because there are simply
no consequences for not doing so:
Deborah Persaud was hurled to the ground by a cyclist who was riding on the pavement.
Ms Persaud, a civil servant who is partially sighted, suffered a damaged shoulder and hip in the collision as she walked home from Highbury tube station.
The force of the collision left her sprawled on the pavement.
Not just physical damage, either – a significant amount of property damage:
To add to her trauma, Ms Persaud said the male cyclist then tried to ride off and only stopped when she called the police.
Ms Persaud said she was left shaken, her dress was ripped, the contents of her handbag spilled everywhere and her mobile phone smashed.
And what happened to the cretin who caused this? Was he arrested?
Why, no:
Islington police said the cyclist “was spoken to regarding his future conduct and warned by police” .
That’s it? That’s
all? What, is this another Rotherham? Was his surname Bin Peddelin…?
11 comments:
I imagine that a walking stick that accidentally finds itself stuck in the spokes might reduce pavement cycling.
Whilst Mark in Mayenne has come up with an excellent idea, almost every time I come across one of these lycra-clad, holier-than-thou, greener-than-thou monstrously ego'd idiots, I am reminded of Pamela Stephenson discussing proposed penalties for yobs in an old Not the Nine O'Clock News - "Cut their goolies off".
Simple, cheap & I have every confidence it would prove effective.
I condemn cyclists who get too close to pedestrians and refuse to acknowledge them as 'fellow cyclists'. However I freely confess to riding along empty pavements adjoining main Huddersfield roads, particularly our known 'cycling blackspots'.
It's simple enough to rejoin the road 30 yards from any pedestrian and not risk accidents with idiotic 'close encounters'. I enjoyed many Summer cycling trips around Holland. The same sensible traffic segregation is thoroughly justifiable here but the expense is certainly no vote winner.
There are usually at least two sides to every story. In this case we have only Deborah Persaud's version of events. Some of which doesn't ring true.
"To add to her trauma, Ms Persaud said the male cyclist then tried to ride off and only stopped when she called the police. Ms Persaud said she was left shaken, her dress was ripped, the contents of her handbag spilled everywhere and her mobile phone smashed."
If the cyclist wanted to ride off he would have ridden off rather than hang about to find out who she was phoning on her broken phone, wouldn't he?
XX Mark In Mayenne said...
I imagine that a walking stick that accidentally finds itself stuck in the spokes might reduce pavement cycling. XX
Does not work. I have tried it. It breaks the stick, and the peddle on regardless.
What is REALLY needed is throat high cheese wire strung across the pavements.
Nothing is more annoying than an idiot with the ability to read and write on an elementary level.
I await with a heavy heart every post on here where Julia disagrees with police actions and then shouts "Rotherham".
How can you link a cyclist in Islington to gang-rape in Rotherham? You can't but you will....
Jaded
PS if police officers were to blame up north then prosecute them.If anyone plays the race-card in front of me it doesn't make me back off, it makes me determined to get to the bottom of why they are saying it.As long as I act within regulations then shouting racist at me doesn't scare me.
In one sense, Jaded is right. It's not an impossible task to imagine a small conurbation where honest plod are cherished and respected, Julia.
Nothing is more annoying than a pompous repetitive oaf who claims to be an expert on everything without explaining why.
Jaded
"I imagine that a walking stick that accidentally finds itself stuck in the spokes might reduce pavement cycling."
:D
"If the cyclist wanted to ride off he would have ridden off rather than hang about to find out who she was phoning on her broken phone, wouldn't he?"
Maybe other passers-by stopped him?
Frankly, she'd have done better to snap his picture & put it on Twitter than rely on the police!
"I await with a heavy heart every post on here where Julia disagrees with police actions and then shouts "Rotherham"."
I'm sure when the next police fuck-up is exposed, it'll be a different town...
I totally cracked up.....Bin Peddelin.....LOL
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