Scaremongering ?

[jefmcg]

I take it back. I've found the text of the article here, and while it is truly turgid prose, the gist is pretty horrible: she was knocked off her bike in a hit-and-run by a 4x4 in Regent's Park. She had surgery and was in hospital for a week. Now she's is dealing with the aftermath, and working out if/how she can get back on the road again. I've certainly been there

Edit: she was in the gutter, by her own admission, but it doesn't make it any better.

 

[Justinslow]

I take it back. I've found the text of the article here, and while it is truly turgid prose, the gist is pretty horrible: she was knocked off her bike in a hit-and-run by a 4x4 in Regent's Park. She had surgery and was in hospital for a week. Now she's is dealing with the aftermath, and working out if/how she can get back on the road again. I've certainly been there

Edit: she was in the gutter, by her own admission, but it doesn't make it any better.

Agreed but that doesn't equate to everyone in Britain needing to "call a paramedic" before you ride, which were the headlines.

 

[steveindenmark]

A lot of us have been there but we dont feel the need to stop the rest of the World cycling on our streets.

I bet she has never had a baby

 

[Milkfloat]

Where can I buy it?

The bit of throw up or the book?

 

[mjr]

I take it back. I've found the text of the article here, and while it is truly turgid prose, the gist is pretty horrible: she was knocked off her bike in a hit-and-run by a 4x4 in Regent's Park. She had surgery and was in hospital for a week. Now she's is dealing with the aftermath, and working out if/how she can get back on the road again. I've certainly been there

Edit: she was in the gutter, by her own admission, but it doesn't make it any better.

There's a whole load of stuff from that article which doesn't follow. There's so many logical disconnects that it makes the flying spaghetti monster seem like a completely substantiated idea. The gutter cycling doesn't really agree with the "confident cyclist" junk in the subheading, does it? It's pretty well-known that if you move too far left, some nobbers take that as a signal that there's room to squeeze past without changing lane, which sounds like it might have been what happened there, not to excuse it.

If "With 139 deaths in Britain last year, “cyclist” is clearly just a euphemism for “organ donor”" then what does that mean for the 12,000 killed by motoring each year in London alone?

And as for "we could just pressurise Boris Johnson to give us cycle paths to protect us from psychopaths" - well, we know they're no use against psychos because they'll just drive onto them, like they currently do with footways - they're about reducing the potential for a mistake or misjudgement to end a life.

 

[mjr]

She has another book to sell....

If its narrative is as incoherent as her articles about cycling, then it must be an awful book or a great work of post-surrealism.

 

[mcshroom]

I bet she has never had a baby

I'm going to guess you haven't either. Struggling to see the relevance?

 

[steveindenmark]

I'm going to guess you haven't either. Struggling to see the relevance?

Because she is suggesting nobody rides bikes because she hurt herself in an accident.

If she had a baby would she be advocating celebacy? I hear it stings a bit.

 

[winjim]

If she had a baby would she be advocating celebacy? I hear it stings a bit.

That's why nobody ever has more than one child. Anyway childbirth doesn't have to hurt. In my recent experience transition's pretty uncomfortable but the rest of it really isn't all that bad.

Edit: I've just reread the article and she does mention childbirth. But only as a lazy cliche.

 

[steveindenmark]

That's why nobody ever has more than one child. Anyway childbirth doesn't have to hurt. In my recent experience transition's pretty uncomfortable but the rest of it really isn't all that bad.

It hurt me. She dug her nails in my arms and screamed In my ears for hours.

 

[DaveReading]

what does that mean for the 12,000 killed by motoring each year in London alone?

You might want to check that figure.

 

[winjim]

It hurt me. She dug her nails in my arms and screamed In my ears for hours.

Really? I took her through the relaxation techniques we'd been working on, read the script we'd been practicing, reminded her how much I loved her, and tried to give her the confidence in herself to have the calmest, most comfortable birth she could. And I was in charge of the CD player.

 

[Justinslow]

You might want to check that figure.

That does seem a trifle high! Ban vehicles!

 

[mjr]

You might want to check that figure.

Figure is from http://StopTheKilling.org.uk/ and includes motoring-related pollution and inactivity deaths as well as those killed on the roads. This is indeed the scale that the motoring crisis has reached.

 

[winjim]

I take it back. I've found the text of the article here, and while it is truly turgid prose, the gist is pretty horrible: she was knocked off her bike in a hit-and-run by a 4x4 in Regent's Park. She had surgery and was in hospital for a week. Now she's is dealing with the aftermath, and working out if/how she can get back on the road again. I've certainly been there

Edit: she was in the gutter, by her own admission, but it doesn't make it any better.

There's a better version of the article here: http://britainweekly.com/life/kathy-lette-on-why-london-cyclists-are-being-scared-off-the-road/