RussellZero
Wannabe Stravati
- Location
- New Forest, Hampshire, UK
My thoughts exactly, couldn't read on past that comment
'Vigilante' cycle gang attack taxi in bus lane
- Thread starter machew
- Start date
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My thoughts exactly, couldn't read on past that comment
glenn forger
Guest
too right
ComedyPilot
Secret Lemonade Drinker
- Location
- The Kingdom of Yorkshire
2 sides to every story, so if the taxi driver has footage, they why only selected snips in the paper?
It's a bit like the CM incdent where the copper got a roasting on here, till people realised the man in the wheel chair had actually got out of the chair and thrown the copper over the bonnet of a car.
It's a bit like the CM incdent where the copper got a roasting on here, till people realised the man in the wheel chair had actually got out of the chair and thrown the copper over the bonnet of a car.
asterix
Comrade Member
- Location
- Limoges or York
"Cyclists and police fail to apprehend criminal cabbie.".
jdtate101
Ex-Fatman
- Location
- Boring Birmingham
Just to note guys that I know one of the guys who took part and what actually happened is NOTHING like what was reported. They did block the junction in protest as someone had been hit there the previous week by a car driver using the prohibited lane. Yes a wing mirror was damaged, but the taxi driver was using his car aggressively and actually hit the cyclist (who panicked when trying to get out the way). Overall it's a very one sided journo piece that doesn't represent the facts. What is more shocking is that the police who attended didn't know the law regarding the crossing (subsequently confirmed by the council as Buses and cycles ONLY...no taxi's of ANY kind) and proceeded to argue the point even in the face of evidence. One of the cyclists involved went on local radio and rebuffed the papers story and they have video evidence to back it up.. Taxi's here (especially the barely licensed mini cabs) are a huge nuisance for other road users as they are a law unto themselves and break every traffic law going.
I suggest before you all criticise them, get the full facts..
I suggest before you all criticise them, get the full facts..
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Rohloff_Brompton_Rider
Formerly just_fixed
From the link above from one of the 'vigilante's'. Personally I think an IPCC complaint should be put in about the copper telling the illegally driving taxi driver to carry on driving illegally when he could have quite easily turned left legally. He should have done his job and issued a fine for dangerous driving when he ran over a PEDESTRIAN and document presentation and then reported him to the hackney licence committee....I know I know I'm naive.
I feel its important in view of the massively sensationalist front page spread on the front of the Birmingham Mail today. When we devised the event in the pub after the last Critical Mass, I had envisioned a mass ride between the two roundabouts either side of the bus gate at Longmore Street/Balsall Heath Rd and Gooch Street/Conybere Street. I thought we would be in perpetual motion apart from when stopped at red lights at the junction. It might have been the shortest and most boring group ride ever suggested.
Other people had different ideas. Some people had introduced themselves to me, saying they had the "Push Bikes email". Others were adamant that to stop in the bus lanes and only let buses past was the way to go. And that is how the evening evolved, quite organically and peacefully. Many drivers were happy to drive round us, now aware of their "mistake", others sped past in the wrong lane, one giving a one-fingered gesture as he did so. During all of this people took shifts at the opposing sides of the Middleway, changing through boredom or because they wanted to chat to their mate on the other side.
Then, quite ridiculously, Mr Hussain decided he was not going to budge when we refused to do so as we occupied the bus lane on the Horton Square side. He was not "surrounded" as he erroneously claims, we were in front of him, in the bus lane. the lane he should have taken, to his left remained clear throughout the incident, apart from when cars occupied it as they waited for the lights to change when joining the ring road.
I saw the incident with the wing mirror. The "cyclist" in question was not on his bike at the time. So should he be referred to as a pedestrian? And, by association, is he then giving all pedestrians a bad name? Anyway, the police officer ushered the taxi into the right hand lane to continue, illegally, across the bus gate. I don't know if the PEDESTRIAN saw the taxi coming but the next minute, he was rolling off it's wing, and off came the mirror, as per its design, so that it did not injure the PEDESTRIAN further.
We have had less furore in recent weeks in the local media after a cyclist was killed. Yet alas, due to an easily repairable bit of damage to a Hackney Carriage, reported entirely from the point of view of the driver and with the added flashing lights and bells and whistles of the entirely disgusting sensationalist headline, members of this group have decided to condemn events that they did not witness themselves. An absolutely reprehensible source, generating some oddly vehement feedback, in my opinion.
Before Monday night, there was no such group as the "Vigilante Cycle Gang". It is entirely a construct of the Birmingham Mail's "journalist". But now it is a badge of honour, and one I will wear with pride.
I feel its important in view of the massively sensationalist front page spread on the front of the Birmingham Mail today. When we devised the event in the pub after the last Critical Mass, I had envisioned a mass ride between the two roundabouts either side of the bus gate at Longmore Street/Balsall Heath Rd and Gooch Street/Conybere Street. I thought we would be in perpetual motion apart from when stopped at red lights at the junction. It might have been the shortest and most boring group ride ever suggested.
Other people had different ideas. Some people had introduced themselves to me, saying they had the "Push Bikes email". Others were adamant that to stop in the bus lanes and only let buses past was the way to go. And that is how the evening evolved, quite organically and peacefully. Many drivers were happy to drive round us, now aware of their "mistake", others sped past in the wrong lane, one giving a one-fingered gesture as he did so. During all of this people took shifts at the opposing sides of the Middleway, changing through boredom or because they wanted to chat to their mate on the other side.
Then, quite ridiculously, Mr Hussain decided he was not going to budge when we refused to do so as we occupied the bus lane on the Horton Square side. He was not "surrounded" as he erroneously claims, we were in front of him, in the bus lane. the lane he should have taken, to his left remained clear throughout the incident, apart from when cars occupied it as they waited for the lights to change when joining the ring road.
I saw the incident with the wing mirror. The "cyclist" in question was not on his bike at the time. So should he be referred to as a pedestrian? And, by association, is he then giving all pedestrians a bad name? Anyway, the police officer ushered the taxi into the right hand lane to continue, illegally, across the bus gate. I don't know if the PEDESTRIAN saw the taxi coming but the next minute, he was rolling off it's wing, and off came the mirror, as per its design, so that it did not injure the PEDESTRIAN further.
We have had less furore in recent weeks in the local media after a cyclist was killed. Yet alas, due to an easily repairable bit of damage to a Hackney Carriage, reported entirely from the point of view of the driver and with the added flashing lights and bells and whistles of the entirely disgusting sensationalist headline, members of this group have decided to condemn events that they did not witness themselves. An absolutely reprehensible source, generating some oddly vehement feedback, in my opinion.
Before Monday night, there was no such group as the "Vigilante Cycle Gang". It is entirely a construct of the Birmingham Mail's "journalist". But now it is a badge of honour, and one I will wear with pride.
Frood42
I know where my towel is
- Location
- Magrathea, Horsehead Nebula
I want to see the cabbies video.
However from what I have read so far I am not happy with the police officers who attended, and it is starting to sound like we have an ignorant cabbie who needs to have his license reviewed/removed, but video first.
However from what I have read so far I am not happy with the police officers who attended, and it is starting to sound like we have an ignorant cabbie who needs to have his license reviewed/removed, but video first.
Black Country Ste
Senior Member
- Location
- West Midlands
I was there; Levenes Cycle Injury solicitors have kindly allowed me to submit a guest blog to them and I spoke to BBC WM twice last week about the incident.
http://blog.cycleinjury.co.uk/2013/10/the-vigilante-cycle-gang-what-really.html
Birmingham Mail also published an article in response to their story:
http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/local-news/your-communities-want-birmingham-roads-6215830
http://blog.cycleinjury.co.uk/2013/10/the-vigilante-cycle-gang-what-really.html
Birmingham Mail also published an article in response to their story:
http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/local-news/your-communities-want-birmingham-roads-6215830
Sheffield_Tiger
Guru
Well, yeah, but....
I did feel more sympathy when we got to the bit "Nazan Fennell contacted the Mail and said she had taken part in the ‘Flash Ride’ to improve cycle safety...."
I doubt Ms Fennell is out just for a jolly given her tragic loss
