QFT.

I was in a really violent bike vs taxi accident (me being the bike) and sustained serious roadrash on 10% of my body. The taxi driver was charged with wreckless driving and im still waiting to get a new bike 1.5 months later.

That said this is a biased article, the poster should be fucking ashamed.

The news stories about this assault are clear: Unjustified road rage committed by a criminal. The bicyclists were NOT at fault in any way.

My sympathies and well wishes to the injured cyclists.

And my condemnation to the criminal who assaulted them as well as the drivers who jeered at the injured cyclists.

It never ceases to amaze me how second-class we bicyclists are regarded. There is no contest between a bicyclist (be they racer, commuter, or migrant worker on a $25 Huffy) and a car or truck. No contest at all. It’s not ever a fair match, regardless of whose behavior (carelessness, anger, mistake) causes the collision. So why are people so quick to side with the motorist, who is cocooned in 1-2 tons of steel and glass, rather than the flesh-and-blood and 22-pounds of tubes that is the bicyclist?

Ride on.

As I said, if people want change, then they must stop engaging in the same old rhetoric about who’s at fault and work towards a shift in our transportation paradigm.

Thank you, drive through please.

…beyond that, i find freedom of expressive choice to be a beautiful thing…whether we’re all on the same page as far as basic opinion is concerned (((& hopefully as cyclist that will be true to some extent ))) , i reserve the right to allow you to express yourself in any manner you see fit…of course, i expect the same for myself & while hopefully a modicum of civility will always be applied, if i feel passionate enough about a subject then i’ll damn well say it as i see it…

…if you personally find me not to your liking, c’est la vie…i only go to grouphugs.com when i feel the need…otherwise starkreality.com is good pour moi…

- no charges have yet been laid….since the law has not found it fit yet to lay charges, why are we all judge and jury?
- some “facts” were hardly that…one biker said that they were pushing 60km/h and another said 40km/h
- Jared’s point about this being an “old” pot that doesn’t need stirring….it seems that the pot has been stirred and if he doesn’t deem it worthy of discussion, then luckily everyone isn’t like him.

I am sure that the point if this story wasn’t to determine where the guilt lies….but to open a valid discussion on a topic that is forefront in most bike commuters minds. How do we stop this terrible conflict that occurs between biker and driver at times? Very few people here have actually addressed this and instead have acted no better than the driver that likely caused this horrific accident. How did this happen? When people acted on emotion instead of reason.

First of all, you need to learn some manners. Judging from your foul language and personal attacks, you feel an anonymity behind the safety of your keyboard, similar to that which the road raging motorists out there feel behind the wheels of their cars.

Second, my comments were directed at Stu’s post, which is why I put what he said in comments at the top. The point I was making is that being a pro cyclist, does not make you better at obeying traffic laws.

Fixedgear said, “The theory is that when motorists see groups of cyclists behaving poorly they’ll want to take it out on the next lone cyclist that they see. I used to subscribe to that theory, but I’m not so sure any more”. Speaking from experience, I KNOW this is true. I rode into work one day to learn of the death of a coworker, so to say the least I was in a pretty down mood for my commute home. The road I was on had a very narrow shoulder, but as usual I did my best to stay clear of traffic. A large, red Dodge pickup felt I wasn’t over far enough, and swerved over towards me as he passed even though there was no traffic coming the other way. I know my actions that followed probably weren’t the smartest, but my foul mood took over and the fickle finger of fate made its appearance. The brake lights came on, he pulled over and proceeded to back up towards me VERY quickly. The first thing he said when he got out was, “Someday I’m going to get one of you bicyclists”! We had a very heated discussion, and I thought more than once it was going to come to blows. My actions caused him to pull over, but I now realize by his comments, that it was not my actions that caused him to swerve at me. He’d obviously had run-ins with other cyclists, and was taking it out on me. The name of this site practically guarantees non-cycling motorists will never read these words, but I know my actions are seen every day I ride.

Third, how dare you make assumptions of my sensitivity to the people involved in this crime? I have had more than my share of bicycle related broken bones, stitches, dislocations and concussions, not to mention more roadrash than I’d care to remember. I’ve seen myself and all my friends hurt in racing accidents, as well as training and commuting rides. As far as the physical pain felt by the 50 in Australia, I’ve been there and feel for each and every one of them. The emotional trauma is a different story, and I’m sure none of them will feel any type of restitution, until this maniac is caught and placed behind bars. Elizabeth, I truly hope your partner is ok, and I send my best wishes.

I apologize to everyone here for venting like this. I used to read this website often, and have recently rediscovered it. I try to post comments that are respectful to others, and possibly pass along information I have learned over the years. Public forums are no place for some of the language and comments this thread has generated. If we can’t discuss stories and ideas with each other like civilized human beings, how can we ever expect to be taken seriously by motorists and lawmakers? We’re supposed to be on the same team here.

Actually drivers do lose it(mentally) when they’re behind a slow moving truck but then not a lot they can do when encountered with something weighing 10 tons.

Yeah it irks me when I see cyclist riding on the sidewalk or going the wrong way in the bike lane, etc… but just like certain drivers they kind of fit into a category of their own and I think the ignorant/less educated types operating the automobile will not differentiate between the “different” types of cyclist out there where as there are certain drivers(a low % I’m sure) who totally respect that bike commuters who’s out there day in and day out.

In a way you can sort of break it down like this:

You’ve got the serious commuter type that follows at least 90% of the traffic laws, knows the rules applied to him and maintains excellent visibility for himself in all situations.

Then you’ve got the road racer type decked out in full gear/decent visibility who again most likely follows all the rules applied to cyclist but at times just like the commuter might roll through a stop sign if no one is anywhere near the intersection.

Finally you’ve got the guy wearing dark clothes, no helmet, no lights, either riding a bike too small for him or a beater mountain bike that may or may have not ever seen a mountain, riding on the sidewalk going the opposite direction of traffic who is more likely to encounter a motorist by either pulling in front of it’s path or the motorist coming not seeing that cyclist and and inadvertently mowing him down.

Of course not all cyclist will fall into these general categories but based on simple observations in my daily commute its what I’ve come up with.

As far as this article the driver was clearly at fault…period. No need to discuss that any further.

I understand the point you are trying to make, but this was a clear case of road rage enacted by a delinquent driver. They were going at about 50-60km/hr in an 80km zone at 6.40am, out of peak hour and in the opposite direction to the beginning commuting vehicles heading into the city. Cars passed them on the fairly empty road about every 30 secs (indicating just how empty this road was at the time). Passing vehicles could pass safely in the adjacent lane without being slowed down or hindered. It was not an accident. Who knows why the driver did it but he has a criminal record, drove off, didn’t report the incident, is now in hiding and I doubt this is the first time he has driven dangerously or intimidated others, including motorists.

I just wonder whether this question would be being raised if it had been an issue of road rage between motorists?

Unfortunately, most comments against the cyclists around the web seem to be coming from people who don’t understand how these training rides work and why they ride in bunches of two abreast. Most members of the public won’t have ever watched a cycling event or even heard of our most famous professional cyclists, so most arguments about bunch riding have been treating this case as if they were talking about commuter cyclists, which most know nothing about either. The fact that the fallen cyclists were taunted by subsequent passing motorists really sums up the attitude here in Australia.

I hope this publicity does something to educate the public rather than perpetuate the ignorance. I fear though that since the NSW Government aren’t behind the cyclists in this case it may be a lost cause!

The inccodent in Australia- that was clearly the motorist fault, a clear case of road rage. Everyone should realize/know (and I suspect this guy did) that a peloton is A vehicle.
Is a spider 4 seperate bi-pedal organisms? No