Julie Burchill is at it again.
http://ind.pn/jUbKMp
Cyclists pedalling self-righteousness
I wrote back in winter about my contempt for cyclists over the age of 12 and on any wheels less than three who lose the moral high-ground they so seem to believe is theirs the minute they mount the pavements and terrorise the young, the old and the disabled – especially when there are perfectly good cycle lanes in right-on Brighton. Now it's summer there's more than ever here – on packed pavements alongside roads which are all-but empty.
Yes, I KNOW cars injure and kill far more non-drivers than cyclists do. But why do pavement cyclists not understand that they are adding to this problem rather than preventing it? Their self-righteousness is monstrous.
Last week in Brighton, 200 people attended the funeral of Tony Magdi, a local shopkeeper killed by a cyclist after Mr Magdi had accidentally knocked another cyclist off his bike while opening his car door. The killer – a paranoid schizophrenic who saw fit not to take his medication – was sentenced to 18 months and will probably serve only half that due to the Government's curious, almost kinky policy of forgive and forget – forgive the criminal, forget the victim.
Getting drunk drivers off the roads is admirable. But in the current two-wheels-good, four-wheels-bad climate, getting the psychopaths back on the cycle-paths seems to be a lost cause.
http://ind.pn/jUbKMp
Cyclists pedalling self-righteousness
I wrote back in winter about my contempt for cyclists over the age of 12 and on any wheels less than three who lose the moral high-ground they so seem to believe is theirs the minute they mount the pavements and terrorise the young, the old and the disabled – especially when there are perfectly good cycle lanes in right-on Brighton. Now it's summer there's more than ever here – on packed pavements alongside roads which are all-but empty.
Yes, I KNOW cars injure and kill far more non-drivers than cyclists do. But why do pavement cyclists not understand that they are adding to this problem rather than preventing it? Their self-righteousness is monstrous.
Last week in Brighton, 200 people attended the funeral of Tony Magdi, a local shopkeeper killed by a cyclist after Mr Magdi had accidentally knocked another cyclist off his bike while opening his car door. The killer – a paranoid schizophrenic who saw fit not to take his medication – was sentenced to 18 months and will probably serve only half that due to the Government's curious, almost kinky policy of forgive and forget – forgive the criminal, forget the victim.
Getting drunk drivers off the roads is admirable. But in the current two-wheels-good, four-wheels-bad climate, getting the psychopaths back on the cycle-paths seems to be a lost cause.
