Journalism and cycling

amcalester

AndrewJRenko wrote: »

Indeed. The real issue isn't the rights and wrongs of the case. The real issue is the degree of coverage given to the case. It is on the front page of the Irish Times breaking news site as we speak. Did any of the cases of the drivers who killed cyclists and got piddly sentences make the home page of the Irish Times?

Or no sentence

I love Sean nos

Or Shane O'Farrell. The chap who killed him was told by the court to go away.

hollypink

amcalester wrote: »

Or no sentence

That is bizarre - no mitigating circumstances - she just 'didn't see him' http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-39481659

He said evidence would show Mr Mason's bike was illuminated at the front and back and the road was well lit and not overly busy.
The court was told Ms Purcell had informed police she hadn't seen "anybody from my left", adding: "It's like they came from the sky."

I love Sean nos

hollypink wrote: »

That is bizarre - no mitigating circumstances - she just 'didn't see him' http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-39481659

The case I linked to in post #3007, the chap in question drove a van over a 4-year-old on the footpath. Nothing wrong with that according to the court.

Chips Lovell

This chap features on the front page of the Guardian this afternoon.

Didn't kill anyone and pleaded guilty. Should he feel aggrieved that he got a custodial sentence? Was he railroaded because of people general dislike of motorcyclists? Is the degree of coverage down to motorcyclist hate or it being an unusual case?

Bit of perspective needed methinks.

I love Sean nos

Baron de Charlus wrote: »

Was he railroaded because of people general dislike of motorcyclists? Is the degree of coverage down to motorcyclist hate or it being an unusual case?

There will be an element of that from the judge and jury as not everyone rides a motorcycle. Judges and juries identify with drivers.

monkeybutter

I love Sean nos wrote: »

There will be an element of that from the judge and jury as not everyone rides a motorcycle. Judges and juries identify with drivers.

Please never get called for jury duty

I love Sean nos

monkeybutter wrote: »

Please never get called for jury duty

Why?

I have no control over that process anyway.

hollypink

I love Sean nos wrote: »

The case I linked to in post #3007, the chap in question drove a van over a 4-year-old on the footpath. Nothing wrong with that according to the court.

I am lost for words

ED E

At the sentencing hearing a prison term of 18 months was handed down for the cyclist with no brakes who collided with a pedestrian. The case has provoked a huge amount of public debate. And now that Charlie Alliston has been jailed, the verdict and custodial sentence may have long-lasting implications.

http://www.stickybottle.com/latest-news/cyclist-charlie-alliston-jailed/


For those fixed gear fascists cyclists out there.

Weepsie

ED E wrote: »

http://www.stickybottle.com/latest-news/cyclist-charlie-alliston-jailed/


For those fixed gear fascists cyclists out there.

<Mod>Discussed at length here, doesn't need a separate thread I'd feel, less so one that will attract the worst type of trolling.<Mod>

MediaMan

Build it and they will come - well maybe not...

https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2017/sep/19/britains-1960s-cycling-revolution-flopped-stevenage

Eric Claxton, the lead designer of post-war Stevenage, had believed that use of cycleways would be high if they were well built – originally thinking that Britain’s hostile road environment discouraged people from cycling.

Construction of the cycleway network was given the go-ahead in 1950, built at the same time as the primary road network.

Stevenage was compact, and Claxton assumed the provision of 12 ft-wide cycleways and 7 ft-wide pavements would encourage residents to walk and cycle. He had witnessed the high usage of Dutch cycleways, and he believed the same could be achieved in the UK.

But to Claxton’s puzzlement and eventual horror, residents of Stevenage chose to drive – even for journeys of two miles or less. Stevenage’s 1949 masterplan projected that 40% of the town’s residents would cycle each day, and just 16% would drive. The opposite happened. By 1964, cycle use was down to 13%; by 1972, it had dropped to 7%. (Today it has less than half that, and yet some neighbouring towns with few cycleways have cycling modal shares of 4-5%.)

According to the article, despite top-class cycling facilities, usage never took off because the road design was also top-class and too convenient to resist. Of course in our own cities the traffic is a major incentive to cycle - at least during busy times!

I love Sean nos

Disappointing reading.

40 cyclists killed, 4 drivers jailed: exclusive investigation reveals only one in 10 drivers are jailed after being involved in cyclist death

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/40-cyclists-killed-4-drivers-jailed-exclusive-investigation-reveals-only-one-in-10-drivers-are-9034187.html?amp

monument

MediaMan wrote: »

Build it and they will come - well maybe not...

https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2017/sep/19/britains-1960s-cycling-revolution-flopped-stevenage



According to the article, despite top-class cycling facilities, usage never took off because the road design was also top-class and too convenient to resist. Of course in our own cities the traffic is a major incentive to cycle - at least during busy times!

Here's an interesting reply to that: https://waronthemotorist.wordpress.com/2013/07/08/stevenage-is-not-britain/

"Others have already pointed out that the Stevenage cycle path network is ossified in its 1960s state, detached from the parts of the town that have grown since then. And others have already pointed out that the quality of the infrastructure is frequently far below modern Dutch standards, and doesn’t come close to the density of modern Dutch networks — accompanying only the biggest dual carriageway roads, with cycle users still expected to mix on through distributor roads that are much busier and faster than they would be expected to use in the Netherlands. And others have pointed out that the 14% mode share for cycling that Stevenage achieved in the 1970s — before the infrastructure had fallen so far behind the town’s expansion — is actually quite impressive for a town built for driving at a time when cycling in Britain was hitting rock bottom."

It goes on to argue that: "The problem with obsessing over the Stevenage story, then, is not that Stevenage is not the Netherlands. It’s that Stevenage is not Britain."

Chuchote

In this major piece on infrastructure, spot the missing word:

https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/lessons-from-down-under-for-irish-infrastructure-1.3226580

Lessons from down under for Irish infrastructure
Infrastructure Australia plays a key role in prioritising and progressing infrastructure projects with a 15 year rolling Infrastructure Plan, including a ‘High Priority List’ of infrastructure projects

tomasrojo

Honestly, who cares what Australia is doing? They're a laughable mess when it comes to everyday cycling.

tomasrojo

monument wrote: »

And others have pointed out that the 14% mode share for cycling that Stevenage achieved in the 1970s — before the infrastructure had fallen so far behind the town’s expansion — is actually quite impressive for a town built for driving at a time when cycling in Britain was hitting rock bottom."

Well, there was a sharp rise in people cycling in the 70s at the time of the oil crisis, but yeah I would have thought 14% was pretty good for the UK outside a major city at that time.

Chuchote

tomasrojo wrote: »

Honestly, who cares what Australia is doing? They're a laughable mess when it comes to everyday cycling.

But The Irish Times is holding them up as an example to us! #Fluffy

Meanwhile:

http://www.herald.ie/news/courts/hitandrun-taxi-driver-spared-driving-ban-after-injuring-cyclist-36148221.html

Hit-and-run taxi driver spared driving ban after injuring cyclist
Andrew Phelan – 20 September 2017 02:30 AM

A taxi driver who knocked a cyclist off her bike, injuring her, made an "incredibly stupid" decision when he left the scene, a court heard.

Patrick McGovern (53) clipped the cyclist's handlebars then drove off less than half-a-minute after she fell to the ground.

Judge Bryan Smyth spared him a driving ban after hearing the victim injured her arm but had since recovered and was willing to accept €500 in compensation.

The judge fined the accused €400.

McGovern, a father-of-three from Park View Avenue, Harold's Cross, pleaded guilty to careless driving and hit-and-run by leaving the scene of an accident without giving appropriate information.

Dublin District Court heard the incident happened at Lincoln Place, Dublin 2, on April 12 last year.

Gda Shane Hickey told the court the accused was driving his Skoda taxi at 10.30am in a bus lane.

There was a truck on his right-hand side as he was overtaking the cyclist and he clipped the side of her handlebars.

This caused her to come off her bicycle and fall on to the pavement, where she sustained an injury to her arm and elbow.

She received physiotherapy for four months after the accident and made a full recovery.

McGovern remained at the scene for 15 to 20 seconds but then left and did not give appropriate information, the garda said.

He was tracked down by gardai in the subsequent investigation and co-operated with them.

The defendant had no previous convictions of any kind.

CCTV footage showed there was a slight movement to the right by the cyclist, but Mr McGovern accepted he was in the wrong, his solicitor Michael French said. The garda said there had been a pothole and the cyclist "did move out" to a small extent to go around it.

tomasrojo

If you see the word "clipped" in a news report about a cyclist, you know someone has got away with something.

CramCycle

monument wrote: »

It goes on to argue that: "The problem with obsessing over the Stevenage story, then, is not that Stevenage is not the Netherlands. It’s that Stevenage is not Britain."

The problem with Stevenage as the council hemselves has admitted is that driving a car seems to be a reasonable way to get around, from the descriptions there is little traffic and wide lanes. Cycling from a utility point of view is pointless unless you want to do it or it makes a huge financial difference.

I would cycle in Stevenage, but I get benefits from cycling that i would lose from driving, that are not in anyway related to finance or time.

As for the Hit and Run driver, FFS, 900euro for a hit and run, driving in a bus lane, wreckless driving. And the person got 500euro for 4 months of physiotherapy, I pity how little she values her time that presumably a minimum of 40 hours and more realistically (if following instructions) 60+hours is only worth 500euro and it was not something she choose to do.

I love Sean nos

tomasrojo wrote: »

If you see the word "clipped" in a news report about a cyclist, you know someone has got away with something.

I'm just surprised that she didn't collide with the taxi.

amcalester

I love Sean nos wrote: »

I'm just surprised that she didn't collide with the taxi.

I wonder if the taxi driver was injured in the collision.

I love Sean nos

amcalester wrote: »

I wonder if the taxi driver was injured in the collision.

Her elbow wasn't wearing high-vis or a helmet.

HivemindXX

I also like the fairly typical "cooperated with the guards"....after they had to track him down and had him on CCTV. What would a lack of cooperation look like in a situation like this?

She took €500 ? Surely 4 months of physio and what ever time off work to attend that would have cost her more than that. He got away easy and cheap when you factor leaving the scene.

Eamonnator

Deleted User wrote: »

She took €500 ? Surely 4 months of physio and what ever time off work to attend that would have cost her more than that. He got away easy and cheap when you factor leaving the scene.

It is possible that, separately, the cyclist has made a civil claim against the taxi driver.

Doc07

'The defendant had no previous convictions of any kind'

So fu€&King what! He 'clipped' a cyclist to the ground and left the scene and had to be tracked down by the Garda. Don't case if he was a heart surgeon or paedophile.

magicbastarder

i have no previous convictions and have never come to the attention of the gardai, except to give a statement on an accident i told them i didn't witness.

by the above logic, such a 'status' should not be wasted. i'd be much better off cashing it in on a major crime than a minor one.

AndrewJRenko

Doc07 wrote: »

'The defendant had no previous convictions of any kind'

So fu€&King what! He 'clipped' a cyclist to the ground and left the scene and had to be tracked down by the Garda. Don't case if he was a heart surgeon or paedophile.

It's the opposite of 'known to the Gardai' - which translates as 'scummer drug dealer that no-one needs to care about being shot', according to little Paul on RTE.

LollipopJimmy

[Deleted User] wrote: »

She took €500 ? Surely 4 months of physio and what ever time off work to attend that would have cost her more than that. He got away easy and cheap when you factor leaving the scene.

His insurance would have covered that separately. Fairly ****ty thing to do, nice to know he's allowed continue to drive a taxi