Another cycling article - this time The Sunday Times

[Crankarm]

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/article6936082.ece

Another cycling article from Murdoch's media empire this time today's Sunday Times. Not very pro cycling IMHO. The usual London centric ignorance and stereo types, but then compared to the comments below it's very much sympathetic.

I don't believe the journo is actually a serious cyclist. At least the course she had to attend for committing her misdemeanour of riding in a pedestrian area may yet save her life .

 

[hackbike 666]

If she breaks the pavement rule (and moans about it) I bet she breaks a few dozen more rules.

 

[ComedyPilot]

Yet another frikkin' journo trying to 'be one of us' and then playing the 'rules don't apply to me' card.

She got caught and (through her paper) has communicated how she felt about being made to take responsibility for her actions. Thereby possibly inlfluencing others to try the same tack?

You got caught you stupid cow, now grow up and take your piunishment and stop yer infernal whining.

 

[Flying Dodo]

If you read the article in full, you'll note she realises her errors. She makes a good point about the course she was on opening her eyes to the dangerous ways she had been cycling.

 

[Rohloff_Brompton_Rider]

am i missing something. she is one of 'us' probably more than most as she commutes her kids to school as well. i just thought she was just openly writing about her experience and being caught. is she any different to a bloke in pub saying he got caught speeding?

 

[ComedyPilot]

am i missing something. she is one of 'us' probably more than most as she commutes her kids to school as well. i just thought she was just openly writing about her experience and being caught. is she any different to a bloke in pub saying he got caught speeding?

Yes, she's getting paid for that vitriol, and it is read by a good few hundred people.

 

[PK99]

From the article:

The czar turned out to be a passionate cyclist himself and explained that if what he grandly calls the “cycling revolution” is to come to pass, riding a bike has to stop being a lawless occupation for the brave few and come into the mainstream.

the proportion of law breaking cyclists (IME) is far higher in london than anywhere else i have seen in europe.

If we want to be taken seriously then as a group we must act more responsibly than we do.

At a red light in London, the norm is for some cyclists to RLJ long after the llight is red and traffic stopped.: Does that happen in Munich?

Just the other day, i had to break sharply in the car the avoid hitting the dark clad, unlit cyclist who bumped down off the pavement infront of me heading 90 degrees across the road at (guesstimate) 15mph. For anyone inclined to post the usual "But motorists do all sorts of crap too" - the clear message from the quote above is that you are part of the problem, not the solution

 

[lit]

That's a poor generalisation, it's far from lawless, though I find it amusing they call it a "occupation".

 

[ComedyPilot]

At a red light in London, the norm is for some cyclists to RLJ long after the llight is red and traffic stopped.

Ambiguity alert

 

[ComedyPilot]

For anyone inclined to post the usual "But motorists do all sorts of crap too" - the clear message from the quote above is that you are part of the problem, not the solution

1) I don't live in london
2) I don't RLJ/jump off pavements/ride without lights
3) my preferred means of transport does not kill approx 2500 people per annum.

I am not the problem, my means of transport is one of many solutions.

I'd say a death toll of approx 7 per day is more news-worthy than bitching about being caught riding on a footpath and attending a corrective behaviour course?

 

[Flying Dodo]

Fair enough, she was being honest about her feelings about being caught, but the article ends with:-

"So, surprised as I am to say it: fair cop, chaps. I promise to cycle more safely in future. The rest of you should, too."

What's wrong with that?

 

[hackbike 666]

If she had any common sense she wouldn't have had a problem in the first place.

 

[Downward]

Good to see all the paper reports centering on how London Cyclists act.

 

[brokenbetty]

Good to see all the paper reports centering on how London Cyclists act.

I think people outside London underestimate how big it is. The population of Greater London is larger than the population of the next largest 15 cities in the uk combined. Newspapers talk mostly to London because more than 1 in 10 of us live there.

For cyclists, how London cyclists behave matters because compared to other cities the proportion of cyclists is high and increasing. As utility cycling become more and more popular, the tensions playing out here today will be in other towns and cities of the UK tomorrow.

We are the experiment for what happens when cycling, both good and bad, goes mainstream.

 

[Crankarm]

Fair enough, she was being honest about her feelings about being caught, but the article ends with:-

"So, surprised as I am to say it: fair cop, chaps. I promise to cycle more safely in future. The rest of you should, too."

What's wrong with that?

She is trying to imply or give the impression that all or the vast majority of cyclists behave as she does or break the law as she does. My response is "No we don't you silly cow!" and I object to her not having the intelligence or integrity to recognise this or at least carrying out or refering to proper research to realise her assertions are probably wrong. Perhaps she should have enrolled on an approved cycle training course.