Charlie Alliston case - fixie rider accused of causing pedestrian death

[Drago]

@stiffknees gets my vote for Justice Minister.

 

[stiffknees]

I thang you Drago.

When cyclist are on the end of so much dislike,justified or not, I have to wonder about those who are debating the bicycle ins and outs of this affair rather than lament the death of a young mum. Last time I was in London, walking through Hyde Park at office chucking out time I was quite taken aback at the aggression from a lot of the cyclists I encountered in the park which has plentiful cycle lanes. Especially these right on hipster types.

I also ride motorcycles and am an advocate of aggressive defensive riding, but I have yet to kill anyone, not even myself, and this year I have been riding motorcycles for 55yrs. I give a polite warning toot when approaching a rider, and a wide berth, I have even been known to slow down to give a panting rider a bit of a tug; now and again my polite toot is rewarded with the one finger salute [shite, if I made you jump, take the bloody earphones out]


The question has to be asked, Are some types of cyclists their own worst enemy?

 

[mjr]

Last time I was in London, walking through Hyde Park at office chucking out time I was quite taken aback at the aggression from a lot of the cyclists I encountered in the park which has plentiful cycle lanes. Especially these right on hipster types.

That must be a different Hyde Park to the one I ride through which seems to be trying to squash the cycling boom into a fraction of the width of a minority of the routes through the park, adding crash hazards to the places where walkers cross and closing cycle lanes seemingly on a whim with no advance warning with the only options being a U-turn or a dismount+push that disabled riders cannot easily do! While motorists are also restricted to a minority of routes, I've yet to see the park put up "alight and push" signs for drivers.

The question has to be asked, Are some types of cyclists their own worst enemy?

Yes. The ones who are screaming to convict other cyclists before the evidence is all heard are the worst by far

 

[slowmotion]

The question you could ask yourself is why do some people react badly to my polite toot? Does it sound polite at the receiving end?

With their headphones in, they don't hear it. There must be an alternative explanation.

 

[Wobblers]

I also ride motorcycles and am an advocate of aggressive defensive riding, but I have yet to kill anyone, not even myself, and this year I have been riding motorcycles for 55yrs. I give a polite warning toot when approaching a rider, and a wide berth, I have even been known to slow down to give a panting rider a bit of a tug; now and again my polite toot is rewarded with the one finger salute [shite, if I made you jump, take the bloody earphones out]

It is rather difficult to distinguish a "polite toot" with the other type indicating:

"GET OUT OF MY WAY"

It's hardily surprising that you get that sort of response.

You don't need the horn. If you're on a motorbike, they already know you're there. Try a cheery wave as you go past on a wide berth, I bet you'll get a more polite gesture back in return.

 

[Wobblers]

That not what I wrote at all is it?

although convicting people who use twatter is not such a bad idea.

Two children have needlessly lost their mum, a bloke has lost his wife,and folk are debating his bike? this idiot should apologise to the trees for wasting the oxygen they made. I hope he gets a jail term, the only bike in there will be him and ridden daily.

Uh, no. I'd far rather people were convicted on the crimes that can be proven that they did. It's this thing we call justice, you see. After all, if it's as clear as you're making out, it shouldn't take too long, should it?

 

[growingvegetables]

Are some types of cyclists their own worst enemy?

Nope.

Are there individuals who are their own worst enemy? Ah - that's different.

 

[glasgowcyclist]

I have to wonder about those who are debating the bicycle ins and outs of this affair

What do you mean by 'bicycle ins and outs'?

 

[voyager]

At the end of the day a cyclist with only one brake ( a fixed wheel ) knocked down a pedestrian who died a week later .
What ever the outcome of this case let us hope that the message gets through to all track bike riders and brakeless bmx riders that brakes are a legal and useful part of everyday cycling on the road.
When we rode to our local track meets we road fixies to the track and removed the front brake before scruteneering and then raced and refitted the brake to ride home.

This case is trying to open up a can of worms using very old laws that have been on the books for more than a century.

The outcome will be very interesting.

Yes I still own an old fixie and still enjoy riding it ( with a front brake )

regards emma

 

[Drago]

Indeed, they simply don't care.

 

[swansonj]

Hands up anyone who, when they were a young adult, didn't behave at some time or another in a way that was reckless, selfish, dangerous, and probably illegal. It seems to be a characteristic of growing up that we do not emerge from childhood as the fully wise and mature and responsible adults that we have now all become, but go through an irresponsible phase on the way.

Society needs to set bounds, and behaving in a public space in a way that has a significant potential to injure someone else is clearly and unequivocally unacceptable*. But it seems to me that being occasionally reckless and silly and yes selfish is part of being young and we'd lose something if we ever managed to eradicate it. Some of this thread has just a slight whiff of old-fogey-ism about it.

*i am 99% sure someone will ignore the fact that I said this and accuse me of condoning the manslaughter of innocent pedestrians

 

[voyager]

That was like the 4 morons on brakeless bmxs i saw yesterday riding though the centre of Brighton.

They look cool as one youngster told me when I asked , he uses his foot on the tyre to stop ..

 

[Fab Foodie]

Yeah, let's make convictions on the basis of how annoying people are on Twitter

It would be a good start .....

 

[mjr]

What do you mean by 'bicycle ins and outs'?

https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/can-you-sleep-with-your-bike-on-a-ferry.221858/ - fnarr!

 

[mjr]

At the end of the day a cyclist with only one brake ( a fixed wheel ) knocked down a pedestrian who died a week later .
What ever the outcome of this case let us hope that the message gets through to all track bike riders and brakeless bmx riders that brakes are a legal and useful part of everyday cycling on the road.

That would be one hell of a way to misunderstand it! Riding with only a back brake isn't great, but plenty of people in bustling Amsterdam ride with only a weak rear coaster brake without mass carnage. I think the rider's attitude had much more to do with it than the bike.

If you are going to pass so close to someone that you couldn't miss them if they stepped out, you're going too close or too fast, so pass wider or slow down. Ride so you can stop within what you can see to be clear, not what you merely can't see to be obstructed yet.