BBC Inside Out tomorrow - reminder

[Lizban]

I think it is around 50, not 500 seriously hurt per annum.

good spot will adjust my post

 

[on the road]

The annoying thing was them calling them lycra louts, yet most of them were wearing jeans.

 

[Origamist]

No sh1t Sherlock, I was referring to totals killed, not just on the pavement.

Why did the total number of pedestrians killed by cyclists surpise you? Most figures quoted on cycling fora usually relate to pedestrians killed by cyclists on the pavement - these figures that get bandied about (one every two years, or one every four years etc) are always going to be a lower figure than the total number of pedestrians killed by cyclists on the roads and pavements/verges combined - I have no reason to doubt the fatality totals.

I assumed that pavement cyclists were separate, but I am willing to be corrected. Certainly the number of pedestrians killed by cars on the pavement is so much higher than those killed by cyclists on the pavement, that the latter stat doesn't even seem to be counted separately.

I am sure these figures have aggregated both pavement (aka footapth)and road pedestrian fatalities, but if you know different, please let me know as I would be interested to see a nationwide breakdown.

 

[Jezston]

+1

Another +1. I was living and working in London when all this happened. I have a friend who had to help clear the bodies out of the underground. You should have heard the kind of gallows humour that came out of people's mouths at the pub that very evening.

Making jokes about such horror makes people feel better about it. It alleviates the fear and misery. And long shall it continue.

 

[Crankarm]

Another +1. I was living and working in London when all this happened. I have a friend who had to help clear the bodies out of the underground.

had? Was he is a member of the emergency services?

You should have heard the kind of gallows humour that came out of people's mouths at the pub that very evening.

Drunk people still in shock then.

Making jokes about such horror makes SOME people feel better about it. It alleviates the fear and misery. And long shall it continue.

You hope.

You don't address why it is inaccurate and false suggest those cyclists who jump red lights, ride on pavements etc., are those people who previously travelled on the Tube prior to the bombings?

 

[GrumpyGregry]

You don't address why it is inaccurate and false suggest those cyclists who jump red lights, ride on pavements etc., are those people who previously travelled on the Tube prior the bombings?

Have you done a proper survey to determine that it isn't?

PS a few of them couldn't previously afford the Tube but used to get the bus instead.

 

[Twanger]

The annoying thing was them calling them lycra louts, yet most of them were wearing jeans.

Yup...that's what I thought, and what I referred to in my post.

I have been thinking about it since I posted my rant a few pages back, and I think the root of the discourtesies is that these people are POBs, not cyclists. Their absurd antics result from the fact that while their backsides are on saddles their brains are still on foot. They try to use the streets on a bike in the same way they would use it on foot. This ties in with the way that they tend to be suited, skirted and be-jeaned rather than lycra'd

 

[Jezston]

had? Was he is a member of the emergency services?

Yes.

Drunk people still in shock then.

You hope.

I hope, and I believe.

You don't address why it is inaccurate and false suggest those cyclists who jump red lights, ride on pavements etc., are those people who previously travelled on the Tube prior the bombings?

I'm just talking about the use of the term 'bomb dodgers'. Have to admit that actually it's something I'd not heard before. It is in poor taste perhaps, but that's London humour for you.

 

[Cab]

I'm just talking about the use of the term 'bomb dodgers'. Have to admit that actually it's something I'd not heard before. It is in poor taste perhaps, but that's London humour for you.

Classic example really. And very evocative of how people in London react to such hardship; doesn't matter whether you refer back to how they dealt with IRA bombings or even back to the second world war, its just part of the survival mechanism in that city.

You'll note that in no way does that have a go at those killed. Its all about how people change their activity to make do and get on with things.

Really, theres no problem with that.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

Yup...that's what I thought, and what I referred to in my post.

I have been thinking about it since I posted my rant a few pages back, and I think the root of the discourtesies is that these people are POBs, not cyclists. Their absurd antics result from the fact that while their backsides are on saddles their brains are still on foot. They try to use the streets on a bike in the same way they would use it on foot. This ties in with the way that they tend to be suited, skirted and be-jeaned rather than lycra'd

How do we, and the public at large, tell the difference? Some of the people in the clips on the show looked a lot like cyclists to me. But then I'm not sure I'm a 'cyclist'

 

[BentMikey]

There is no difference, it's snobbish. POBs are simply cyclists, just as you and I are.

 

[Twanger]

There is no difference, it's snobbish. POBs are simply cyclists, just as you and I are.

It's not snobbish. It's simply a useful distinction.

When I'm cycling I try to think as part of the traffic, not like someone drifting through the urban landscape. So, I stop at lights, signal, remain aware of what's going on and acknowledge other road users. When I am a pedestrian, I am not part of road traffic, and don't behave as if I am.

Different thing.

 

[BentMikey]

Get your leg over a bike, pedal, and you're a cyclist. Anything else is elitist and snobbish.

 

[trustysteed]

Get your leg over a bike, pedal, and you're a cyclist.

You mean like this?

 

[BentMikey]

LOL, I thought someone might come up with that.