CityCyclingEdinburgh was launched on the 27th of October 2009 as "an experiment".
IT’S TRUE!
CCE is 16years old!
Well done to ALL posters
It soon became useful and entertaining. There are regular posters, people who add useful info occasionally and plenty more who drop by to watch. That's fine. If you want to add news/comments it's easy to register and become a member.
RULES No personal insults. No swearing.
FYI, a Derby councillor is recommending that recumbent riders visit Dignitas as an easier route to death.
His contact details and a link to what he said are in this handy LFGSS thread.
https://www.lfgss.com/thread95734.html
Some fairly choice language in said thread as well...
"You are not one of us. You deserve to die".
Same old same old. Poor bloke, south Derbyshire must be even more of a reactionary motorist hell than Scotland.
"out of control" sigh.
Pick up trucks have a truly ghastly safety record but I doubt the councillor knows that and thinks he is safe inside. Pot, kettle, black etc.
"Same old same old. Poor bloke, south Derbyshire must be even more of a reactionary motorist hell than Scotland."
Oh, it is.... My mother's family comes from that neck of the woods & the reactionary motorist hell down there is in another league altogether from Scotland. My experience is that Scotland is tremendously tolerant. Comparatively speaking, of course...
It may not have escaped your notice that the importer for Greenspeed is based in that part of the world, and reports a collision between a recumbent and equipment extending from the rear of a tractor, hence perhaps the reluctance of the man with the tractor to give his name and the rather disingenuous description of the collision as 'running into the back'
I suspect it is more than one recumbent - I know of a few riding around there, but the Councillor and his tractor driving colleague are all fired up and seem to be convinced it is one man and his wife (if they are so certain of this why no further description (libel?). Could it be the possible progress of an insurance claim regarding the alleged £9000 worth of damage (surely more likely £900?, unless it really was a serious incident) which the cyclist involved in the crash is seeking for repairs?
I do hope Cllr Stanton does not have to regret his last remarks, clearly it was fortunate that the bike passing with right of way on the road was not a small child crossing the access to his driveway or a low-slung sports car. Hitting the former would have been a devastating & tragic event, hitting the latter an expensive one.
Underlying attitude here is that driving is something that unavoidably happens to you, rather than a conscious choice to create a hazard.
Thus, if you drive a vehicle like a pick-up with limited visibility, then it's not your fault that you have a lifestyle that requires one, and therefore it's the responsibility of everyone around you to stay out your blind spots, not for you to drive under the assumption that there's someone in them, or to upgrade your mirrors until you have none.
And if you don't have a lifestyle that requires one, weeeeell it's still not your fault that you went and bought it anyway.
It's a wee can of worms, but I do think strict liability, if nothing else, is a statement that the creator of the hazard has to manage it.
Interesting to see this story in the CTC newsletter today. Rather a different angle to the Burton Mail!
Not taking it lying down
Rob Hague, a CTC member who is registered disabled and uses a velomobile as his main means of transport, has been subjected to an extraordinary verbal attack in a public meeting. Cllr Michael Stanton, who represents Repton on South Derbyshire District Council, claimed he nearly collided with Rob's velomobile as he pulled out of his driveway – a claim Rob disputes. Mr Stanton then said: "If he gets killed it probably serves him right." Adding he'd be "better off going to Dignitas.” The meeting also heard from someone who damaged Rob's velomobile when passing in a lane, for which Rob is seeking compensation. Meanwhile, the Safer Neighbourhood officer for the area refused to take action, telling the meeting: “Just cycling down the road on that vehicle is perfectly legal.”
So the Cllr was basically saying: "Oi, cripple! Out of my way before I kill you!"
I read that too - it couldn't really have turned out any worse for poor Michael...
Councillor: Disabled man "should have gone to Dignitas"
Suddenly this has my attention...
This also explains the rapid disappearance of said machine in Rob's "Glyde around Britain" blog, and the appearance of a Go-One Evo K, which was also damaged and since repaired.
The Glyde was a lovely looking machine but a bit of a white elephant for Greenspeeed as it turned out.
However, there's a follow-up article in the Burton Mail:
"...after my words were reported in the Burton Mail I realise they could have been conveyed in a more appropriate way. If anyone took offence, I would like to say sorry — I had the best of intentions at heart..."
Really, Mr Stanton? Really? A significant proportion of the UK's cyclists may not believe you.
Foot 'n Mouth incident! It always amazes me how well these muppets can pedal (backwards) once their verbal diarrhoea goes national.
"I realise they could have been conveyed in a more appropriate way"
Can't you get done for inciting disabled hatred in Paralympic year??
@chdot no it didn't involve a premier-league footballer, so Police not bothered about such hatespeak. All their officers are busy dealing with the "fans" and the players happily indulging themselves in who can out-hatred the other.
@k
Ah yes, I remember now.
I haven't had any response from Cllr Stanton on my request for further comment.
I wonder whether the council's equalities enforcement division (or similar) could be prevailed upon to give a cheering reassurance that disabled people are, in fact, welcome to live in his area?
I'm not sure how you would convey "disabled man should go to Dignitas" in a more appropriate way. You'd still be saying he ought to be dead, after all.
@Dave, rather than contact the Council about this, perhaps the editor of the Burton Mail might be a better target?
You must log in to post.
Cycling in Edinburgh Flickr group
Video embedded using Easy Video Embed plugin
posts