Almost saw 11 yr-old girl killed today

[PaulB]

Mebbe he's just nudged the conscience a bit sharply eh?

Mebbe. But mebbe he's a div. I vote for the latter option, personally.

 

[Globalti]

I have had a few preventative 'quiet words of advice' in the ear of the local boy racer (well he is about 25) that goes up and down our quiet road. Most of the houses have young children and wheel spinning out of his girlfriends parents driveway and hurtling up the road on a sunday arvo is not acceptable.

Not dragged him out the car and kicked living sheee ite out of him yet though.. I am the definition of restraint as you were.

You're wasting your time. Just 'phone the local beat officer and have a word, at the very least the reg will be put on the PNC and if he gets seen by a car equipped with ANPR he will get stopped for a quiet chat, at best the Police will go round to his place for a chat. Have faith, the Police are not all useless and this is the kind of thing they like to do because it looks good. We have done this with a similar idiot in our street and he is a much calmer driver now.

 

[summerdays]

The reason I started to cross was that if I had waited for it to stop in a conventional fashion (driver sees read light, starts to slow down etc), the lights would have changed before I could finish crossing the road, and being a very congested road drivers have no patience for that and start to move forward...

The problem is that the green man sequence isn't long enough to wait for cars to stop. (Boris Johnson take note, reducing the pedestrian crossing time will result in more of this)

btw, I've since then witnessed similar incidents several times at the same crossing - a car from the same direction and usually in the same lane going through at speed on red - possibly to due the fact that the crossing is just after a big road junction so drivers get the green light and just hit the accelerator.

PP - try contacting your highways department to complain about the light/timing. I did and they have adjusted the timing on the lights - its still not right but better and they seem to be aware that they need to adjust more (but its in a set of 3 lights so fiddling with the timing is difficult).

 

[hackbike 666]

It does worry me when I see this in London,people just step out without looking,some on their mobile phones.

 

[BLAKEY063]

I had an incident where half way across a ped crossing, on a one way street with my 5 year old, a car shot through a red light in the second lane.....methinks it will cost a bit to get the dent knocked out of the rear panel of his car in the shape of a footprint. Funnily enough he didn't stop.

 

[xpc316e]

Mebbe. But mebbe he's a div. I vote for the latter option, personally.

I may well be a div - you are entitled to your opinion. My comment wasn't intended as a joke; it was a comment equating the standard of truck driving with that of many cyclists. If it hit a raw nerve, then so be it.

 

[PaulB]

I may well be a div - you are entitled to your opinion. My comment wasn't intended as a joke; it was a comment equating the standard of truck driving with that of many cyclists. If it hit a raw nerve, then so be it.

It didn't hit a raw nerve. I don't live in a city, I've never cycled in a city and I never jump red lights. I just think you're a div.

 

[xpc316e]

PaulB, I respect your right to differ from me on certain matters, but why do you indulge in personal attacks?

 

[PaulB]

PaulB, I respect your right to differ from me on certain matters, but why do you indulge in personal attacks?

You started it by having a go at cyclists. If you do that on a cycling forum, then you have to expect to be challenged.

 

[purplepolly]

You started it by having a go at cyclists. If you do that on a cycling forum, then you have to expect to be challenged.

Challenged yes, but it doesn't mean you have to call someone a div.

Now let's all try an play nicely before teacher notices.

 

[xpc316e]

PaulB, all I did was point out the irony of there being a complaint about a driver going through a red light on the same forum that some cyclists use to steadfastly defend their right to ignore the same. This is incidentally the same forum which boasts in its tagline that it is 'a friendly place for everyone with an interest in cycling'. I was not having a go at cyclists in general, I wasn't even having a go at those who do go through red lights. I just pointed out what I saw as the irony of the situation. Had I been 'having a go' I might have expected a well-reasoned argument to counter my position. All I got was personal abuse. What a great spokesman you are for all those intelligent, friendly users of this forum who do not automatically regard all cyclists as paragons of virtue whose standards of riding are always above and beyond all reproach.

 

[Sh4rkyBloke]

Everyone chill out. I thought your comment was suitably ironic and a little amusing, xpc... shows what I know, eh?

 

[JamesAC]

PaulB, all I did was point out the irony of there being a complaint about a driver going through a red light on the same forum that some cyclists use to steadfastly defend their right to ignore the same. This is incidentally the same forum which boasts in its tagline that it is 'a friendly place for everyone with an interest in cycling'. I was not having a go at cyclists in general, I wasn't even having a go at those who do go through red lights. I just pointed out what I saw as the irony of the situation. Had I been 'having a go' I might have expected a well-reasoned argument to counter my position. All I got was personal abuse. What a great spokesman you are for all those intelligent, friendly users of this forum who do not automatically regard all cyclists as paragons of virtue whose standards of riding are always above and beyond all reproach.

Please note that inthe OP I did not mention anything about driving through a red light. The truck driver did not see the red light, or any lights at all. I think the impact of a cyclist choosing to cycle through a red light, and a truck oblivious of the red light and a little girl, would be quite different.

 

[hackbike 666]

I actually saw xpc316e's original comment as a joke but even if it wasn't,so what.He's entilted to his opinion.

He's right in a way IMHO as I see many cyclists shooting through red lights.

 

[AWG]

Just thinking to myself how many mistakes I've made this past year as a motorist that equal this one? Answer = none. I've cut it very fine once on a roundabout, but thankfully the Citroen's highly responsive 16 valves saved the day. I've used the threatening big bull bar on my old 4x4 to stop a few BM's from failing to give way in a railway tunnel when they are supposed to the direction they were travelling.

As a cyclist I frequently jump a red light to hop left onto a cycleway which I suppose is technically an offence.

No, - no excuse for this guy in the truck. There is no excuse for common law assault either however, so words are fine, but I'd keep the testosterone under control at such events as you'll only end up on an assault charge, or threatening behaviour.