It was only a few days ago I wrote about the danger of cycling.What a tragedy on Sunday the deaths of the cyclists in Wales, my thoughts and wishes go out to all their family's,loved ones and friends
While it appears to be at this stage a tragic accident we should never forget that metal is stronger than flesh.
The roads are a dangerous place and should be treated with respect and care.
I noted when I spoke about tickets for those who commit road traffic offences on pedal cycles and motorists who blatantly ignore stop lines I got a few interested readers from cyclingplus
I read the forum and posts on the subject and while I agree with many of the posts there I see the leak of the loonies seep in.
For the record - Police officers are people just like you. Until certain members of the public accept that and remove their own stereotypes of power hunger badge welding Nazi's they are no better than those who commit hate offences them selves.
I am probably going to get hammered for this post, but I detest all forms of hate crime and bigotry. The only people I dislike are those who commit offences, even then I treat them with respect and professionalism.
Be safe, be seen.
Wear your safety gear and ride carefully folks
8 comments:
While it appears to be at this stage a tragic accident
One of the problems that much of the cycling community is having with this is that we dont feel that it is just an accident - it is looking as if it was entirley preventable: poor gritting, driver travelling too fast for the conditions accident earlier on in the day recorded by police, but no action taken to prevent immediate danger (even a police slow sign might have alerted people to the ice till it was regritted)
Personally I thought that it was sickening to see the senior police officer announcing that it was an accident caused by ice while the investigation was still ongoing - there may be a whole myriad of things that contributed to the accident that could result in criminal charges being brought, and he might have blown them out of the water by dismissing it as an accident!
hmmmmm.......
The BBC News article did say that the police said it didn't look like the driver *was* going too fast for the conditions. Of course if you hit black ice, which had been reported to the council hours before and they had done *nothing*, then any speed above stationary is too fast.
particuarly when met office forecast was for freezing conditions, and the councils own gritting plan (on their website) appears to state that this road gets gritted as part of the routine gritting plan, starting at six O'clock, morning and evening - taking approx 2 1/2 hours, mening this road should have been gritted well before the first accident at nineish!
whilst I have every sympathy for those who perished in the accident, I must ask, if the condiditons where so dangerous, why were the cyclists out on a ride? They don't exactley hang around when they get going do they?
gonorr:
You will note that all the cyclists appear to have navigated the dangers without harm. The only danger they failed to navigate was an out-of-control vehicle leaving the carriageway.
Maybe we should ask why the driver of the vehicle was out for a drive if the conditions were so dangerous?
fair comment.
Not entirely sure where the Nazi comment comes from, although all internet fora attract their own brand of loony. I think it's more a case of 3500 deaths a year being treated by many as an unavoidable and, even worse, acceptable price for the freedom to use the private motor car that gets many of the C+ers upset. It seems a tad unreasonable for the police chappy on the news report to have come out with such a concrete statement about lack of fault before the investigation had really got going.
There was also quite a bit of coverage in the media that took pains to point out that the cyclists were riding two abreast and were wearing helmets - as if somehow this would have made a difference. Unless you are on the receiving end, every day, of the shoddy treatment meted out to cyclists by other road users, then it's entirely likely that you may not see what all the fuss is about.
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