More discouragement of cycling in Australia

[simonsch]

[QUOTE 4777404, member: 43827"]A serious point. Is making jokes about any nationality ever acceptable?

As a Welshman I must admit I have never taken "sheepshagger" as a racist insult, or taken the comments about our supposed dour nature as racist.[/QUOTE]

It does depend on the context. If every time there was a discussion in this forum about cycling incidents in Wales, the same person piped up "but they're all just sheepshaggers, they probably deserve it", it may not be.

 

[simonsch]

[QUOTE 4777437, member: 43827"]Sorry, you just replied just after I deleted my post, and I agree with your point.

I deleted it because I remembered that threads involving discussion of racism often descend into insults.[/QUOTE]

Matched deletion above to preempt similar. Lets stick to chainsaws.

 

[jefmcg]

[QUOTE 4777437, member: 43827"]I deleted my post,[/QUOTE]
Good call. I was torn between continuing the derail or not. Thanks.

Now, back to chainsaws.

I had wondered how you injure someone with a chainsaw, but not kill them. Looks like the incident was not quite as bad as it sounds. They were attacked by a man with a pole and bitten by his dog, and then chased with a chainsaw. Terrifying, but not on the scale of being actually struck with a running chainsaw.

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/m...h-chainsaw-in-dandenongs-20170426-gvt3g0.html
Approaching with a running chainsaw, is not an attack, it's to drive them away. You could easily outrun him on foot - as you are not carrying a petrol engine that could kill you if you trip - and of course, they had bikes. Doesn't mean it's ok, but it's just not this.

Unsurprisingly, the police have a suspect "Loony with dog close enough to scene to go home and get a chainsaw" must narrow down the search a bit.

 

[Milzy]

There's only 2 things I hate in the world and that's racists and Gypsies.

 

[Saluki]

Amazing as it may be to some, there are a diversity of people and views in Australia.

The people we stayed with were racist bigots. We no longer have anything to do with them. However, most people we met over there were lovely, open minded folk.

 

[Markymark]

The people we stayed with were racist bigots. We no longer have anything to do with them. However, most people we met over there were lovely, open minded folk.

It's almost as if a population of over 20million has a spectrum of opinions, well there's a thing.

 

[Saluki]

It's almost as if a population of over 20million has a spectrum of opinions, well there's a thing.

Now now. I was just saying.

 

[classic33]

Link?

Says she would now incur the fine
http://www.pennysharpe.com/no_bike_fine_increases

 

[simonsch]

Says she would now incur the fine
http://www.pennysharpe.com/no_bike_fine_increases

Good find.

 

[david k]

Well if the law is that you have to wear a helmet and you dont. You can handlings be shocked if you get pulled.

As for carrying id. We all carry id in Denmark. Its our yellow cards which we use for everything from taking out a library books to getting medical treatment at the doctors or hospital. Its not a problem carrying it. With the amount of illegals in the UK I would have thought it would be an advantage to have a national ID scheme. It only becomes a problem if you have something to hide.

As for the old Bill having nothing else to do. I am guessing most of these tickets were issued to commuters on the way to work. A quiet time for police officers. They do this once or twice a year with cyclists jumping red lights in Copenhagen.

It may sound a pointless exercise but it will get the point across pretty quickly. The police are paid to enforce the laws of the land and fortunately the public dont get a vote as to which laws they enforce.

That's interesting, what's the security like for the yellow badges, I worry for me is that someone may steal them, is it easier to pretend to be someone else?

 

[jefmcg]

I've just realised the worse part of this for Australians, cyclist or not. From next year, cyclists in NSW will be required to carry ID. That means that police will be able to demand that a cyclist produce ID, even if they have committed no offence. This is the thin end of a very nasty wedge of expanding police powers. Australians, like British, do not currently have to carry ID (unless they are driving, when they are expected to carry a license). I think they should think very carefully before giving the police (especially NSW police, unless their reputation has improved greatly) this power.

"First they came for the cyclists, but I said nothing ....."

The could news is that this didn't happen.

 

[jefmcg]

In your opinion. My experience is very different.

There is no ethic group in Australia that it is acceptable in polite discourse to denigrate the way gypsies/travels/romany are in the UK.

My first day in a UK workplace - a tech start up similar to the one I had left in Australia - I was introduced to "Gypsy" James. Called that because he "stole" something once. No one but me thought this was racist. With the casual sexual jokes in the workplace and smoking, I wondered if I'd been in a time machine and not an aeroplane

 

[Shut Up Legs]

I didn't know whether to post this here, or in the Indian Pacific Wheel Race thread:
https://cyclingthere.wordpress.com/...-mike-hall-the-ipwr-and-cycling-in-australia/

Unfortunately, Frank is spot on about the attitude to cyclists here - we're at the bottom of the pecking order, which is: motorists with big cars or trucks, then motorists with smaller cars, then motorcyclists, then pedestrians, and then cyclists. This won't change in my lifetime.

I don't know if the above blog has been posted in CycleChat yet, after all it is a few months old now, but if it was, let me know, and I'll delete this post.

 

[simonsch]

Thanks - I think I read Frank's blog when it first came out but had not seem the comments made since.

 

[Shut Up Legs]

Again, Australia's getting notoriety worldwide for all the wrong reasons:
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/13/...lists-melbourne.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&_r=0