I hope I'm still cycling at 75!
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Infrastructure
Cyclist Injured - Craigentinny
(177 posts)-
Posted 13 years ago #
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:( Thoughts with the lady involved.
5 minutes from my house.
Posted 13 years ago # -
"I hope I'm still cycling at 75!"
Me too.
Wonder if battery technology will have improved enough for electric bikes to be affordable...
Posted 13 years ago # -
I hope she will be okay.
Posted 13 years ago # -
...she remains in a "critical" condition.
Horrible. My sentiments echo yours, Min.
Posted 13 years ago # -
From the Evening News:
"Mrs Darling, 46, a social worker, said: "It seems the woman has been clipped by the Vectra as she was cycling up the road.
"It looks as though she had shopping attached to her bike.""
Now we don't know anything about this case, and I'm not going to intiate a driver bandwagon lyching type thing. But I don't like the inference in the quote above (assuming it's quoted correctly) that she was clipped because she had shopping attached (panniers?) and this was the reason she was clipped.
I don't think the quote is intentionally making that inference, but is just an immediate psychological reaction.
Posted 13 years ago # -
My immediate reaction was "clipped? they mean hit by a car passing too closely."
Posted 13 years ago # -
Not to mention the implication the car acted independently...
Posted 13 years ago # -
Yes, that's true as well. Clipped makes it sound sort of incidental, just one of those things. Hit doesn't.
Posted 13 years ago # -
Witness might have meant bags hanging from bars.
(All speculation is speculation is speculation).
Whatever - "clipped" sounds like "too close" - even IF it was 'old lady with messages wobbled too much'.
(All speculation is speculation is speculation).
Posted 13 years ago # -
Although, Kirst, as I say we don't know the facts, so maybe the
cardriver wasn't passing too closely and the cyclist actually moved out.Posted 13 years ago # -
To my mind "clipped" has different connotations to "hit"* - one a glancing blow, say by a wing mirror, the other is a full-on collision, say bonnet-on - so the use of "clipped" gives me a clearer mental picture of what is reported to have happened.
*Clearly, neither is acceptable. Both would involve the driver being too close (obviously)...
Posted 13 years ago # -
Very very sad, glad the story is closed to the wingnut commenters.
Gut feeling for what it's worth is someone overtaking too closely which is a minor annoyance 99% of the time, something more serious the rest. Guess it goes to the mantra, if there's no room to overtake, dont.
Posted 13 years ago # -
To me 'clipped' implies that the driver hit the victim while passing (as opposed to a full-on through-the-windscreen effort).
It doesn't make it any less serious. Would we be forgiving if an airliner crashed because it "only" clipped wings with another plane in the air? Obviously not. Motorists, like airline pilots, have a duty to drive around things, not into them.
I always find it sadly amusing that a rear-end shunt between two cars is inevitably the fault of the following motorist, but when the same motorist hits a cyclist in the same way, all the apologetics and excuses come out.
Posted 13 years ago # -
Yeah, but Dave, that's because cyclists are all over the road in the middle of the road with no thought to their own safety innit.
Posted 13 years ago # -
@anth
Yeah
And motorists don't have to think about their own safety because they are 'safely' inside a metal cage.
As someone said 'safest cars are the ones with metal spike in the middle of the steering wheel'.
Posted 13 years ago # -
Sadly looks like her condition is critical
http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/edinburgh/Cyclist-critical-after-crash.6816069.jp
Posted 13 years ago # -
Intriguing that the EEN "quote" the "clipped".
No information on whether either vehicle was using the junction rather than just going along the road. Don't know in which direction things were heading. Can't see from the picture if there's a rack on the bike.
Posted 13 years ago # -
Sadly many motorist think that clipping a cyclist won't do any harm, so they just try to squeeze past. We really do need a law of Strict Liability.
Posted 13 years ago # -
'clipped' by one ton of metal.
Yeah, great stuff.
A friend was hit last week, an over the bonnet job. Happens all the time, only makes news when it is 'serious' or in this case noteworthy as an old lady.
Drivers need jailed for this to sink in.
Posted 13 years ago # -
At the very least we need to brake the culture of the Sacred Driving Licence, it is not a licence to kill and injury. A driving licence grants the holder the privilege of using a dangerous machine. That privilege should come with responsibility not to harm others, if this privilege is abused, the licences should be withdrawn, and no excuses accepted.
Posted 13 years ago # -
Evening News front page had photo of bike - which seemed OK and still had pannier fixed on rear right.
Pretty sure person is experienced CTC member.
Posted 13 years ago # -
Very sad news. Very odd way of reporting it:
http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/Bike-horror-OAP39s-organs-set.6816720.jp
Posted 13 years ago # -
Sad news indeed.
And as I said above, we don't know the facts so can't make any calls on what happened, but despite this, and the EEN saying at the end of the article that the police are still appealing for witnesses, they still state as fact, and as if it would make it okay, "... after she suffered severe head injuries when she was clipped by a car in Portobello Road..."
Posted 13 years ago # -
Have emailed the author to express concern at the use of that one word.
Posted 13 years ago # -
...which they placed in quotes yesterday...
Posted 13 years ago # -
I was dismayed by the language used in this short article in the Scotsman today: http://news.scotsman.com/edinburgh/Crash-puts-elderly-cyclist-in.6816541.jp
AN ELDERLY woman was in a critical condition in hospital last night after hitting a car while riding her bicycle.
The implication that she hit the car, of error on her part... Assigning blame.Posted 13 years ago # -
Or
'experienced cyclist seriously injured after collision with car'
Or
'experienced cyclist seriously injured after car clips bike'
Or
'experienced cyclist seriously injured after car nudge. Driver uninjured.'
Posted 13 years ago # -
The new is worst today, it really is time for zero tolerance of bad driving!
Posted 13 years ago # -
A licence to drive should not be a licence to kill. If you hold a shotgun licence and accidental shoot someone (yes, it can happen), no one say says we will let you off this time but don't do it again. You loose the right to hold a shotgun licence for life, it should be the same with driving. People do not take dangerous driving seriously enough.
Posted 13 years ago #
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