[Moflojo]

Originally Posted by Undercover Elephant

They are entirely legitimate. They are [snip] the assorted collection of nutbags who hang around O'Connell Street every Saturday.

Fixed your post

[Pure Sound]

Some of the replies for that video on Youtube are horrible too, a lot of them justifying the maniacs actions. I know youtube is full of trolls but some of the posts seem like they really believe that the drivers actions were reasonable

Originally Posted by Moflojo

Anyone have an opinion on the legitmacy of these Critical Mass events?

One of the guys in the video said it was a protest to try and get safer roads or cycle lanes which would in turn reduce traffic, so yes it is legit and it is a peaceful protest, they also seem to be doing it off peak once a month so locals would know to avoid it.

Originally Posted by Dre as in Dray

None of this would happen if everybody drove cars

We would have far less problems worldwide if everyone travelled by bicycle I assume the was a sarcastic gesture towards an above post

[nitrogen]

Originally Posted by Moflojo

Anyone have an opinion on the legitmacy of these Critical Mass events?

To me they seem a little provocative and ultimately do more harm than good to the cycling "cause".

I know one or two of these events have been organised in Dublin but from what I saw they seemed to be very 'hipster' affairs.

Surely there are more constructive ways of promoting cycling than taking over the streets, pissing off motorists and enjoying the whiff of your own farts (South Park Reference).

By the way, I don't in any way condone the harvesting of cyclists as seen in the original video, that was completely wrong. I just think the Critical Mass idea is questionable also.

There's one in London every year and it does encourage people who've maybe got an old bike in the shed, or have small children and want to give them a chance to cycle around the capital. I wouldn't say the one in London is solely for hipsters, families definitely made up the majority.

[Canis Lupus]

Originally Posted by nitrogen

There's one in London every year and it does encourage people who've maybe got an old bike in the shed, or have small children and want to give them a chance to cycle around the capital. I wouldn't say the one in London is solely for hipsters, families definitely made up the majority.

Whilst I've never attended, Skyride do a lovely family ride where main streets are closed to cars and families etc are out and there's music along the route etc. That imo encourages people to cycle etc. Critical Mass on the otherhand just seems to contain the 'militant cyclist' aspect and I've no time for that.

[keano007]

I dunno has this video been posted already but it's certainly worth another look anyway.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oOL6...e_gdata_player

[xz]

Originally Posted by keano007

I dunno has this video been posted already but it's certainly worth another look anyway.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oOL6...e_gdata_player

The very first post of this thread is a link to an extended version of that video

[Beasty]

I merged the threads to avoid running two in parallel - keano007 had not realised there was already one running

Beasty

[seamus]

Originally Posted by Canis Lupus

Whilst I've never attended, Skyride do a lovely family ride where main streets are closed to cars and families etc are out and there's music along the route etc. That imo encourages people to cycle etc. Critical Mass on the otherhand just seems to contain the 'militant cyclist' aspect and I've no time for that.

Agreed. If anything, Critical Mass simply enforces the "militant hippie" stereotype of the cyclist and will discourage the lapsed, casual or fairweather cyclist from making more use of their bikes.

Events like have been held in Dublin for the last 2 (?) summers where the roads are officially closed off for an hour or so and a gentle 10k cycle done around the city centre are far more likely to get those rusting old cruisers (and their bikes!) back on the road.

I reckon they should make a larger event of that - multiple meet-up points in various suburbs within spitting distance of the city centre - everyone cycle into the city centre for a quick cruise around and then back out to their respective suburbs. Make people think, "Hey, this is easy, I can cycle into work".

[victorcarrera]

The general trend in responses to this thread and similar seems to be that the attacks or confrontations are as a direct result of actions or behaviour by cyclists.
Aside from the influence of alcohol, drugs and mental illness, more often than not it will be the result of some individual snapping as a result of them surpassing their coping stress levels at that particular time, for a variety of other personal frustrations and sometimes inadequacies .
The priority for someone under stress is to alleviate it as soon as possible and the easiest way to do this is through aggressive exercise. (fight or flight).
A motorist in city traffic does not have the flight option.
A mind under stress is not rational so the cyclist may be seen as a vulnerable easy target and that an anonymous attack can be carried out with little or no risk to the attacker.

The driver of the car said he was in a hurry. (Why?)
He was driving in a city but did not attack the traffic lights.

[SubLuminal]

It pleases me no end to imagine the kind of life the driver of this car is going to have in a brazillian prison with about 70 convictions for attempted murder.

Don't drop the soap buddy. For about the next 20 years.

[tomasrojo]

Originally Posted by Ant

I presume a yellow traffic light in the US means much the same thing as amber lights on this side of the Atlantic.

Sounds more like Canada. (The accents in the clip, I mean.)

EDIT: Yeah, Ursula Franklin College is in Toronto. That city seems to have some anti-cyclist feeling. I spent some time there, but never cycled. Their mayor, Rob Ford, make some outlandish statements in the recent past, and the former Attorney General of Ontario, Bryant, seemed to deliberately drive off with a cyclist clinging to the side of his car and killed him.