Journalism and cycling

Moflojo · 22-08-2017 12:28PM

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/news/im-lucky-to-be-alive-today-irish-solicitor-calls-for-law-change-after-cycling-smash-36057524.html

A Dublin-based solicitor is lucky to be alive after he was knocked off his bike by a speeding driver and left with concussion while training in Greece.
Cahir O'Higgins (42) has shared a photo of his injuries and called for a law change to protect vulnerable cyclists on Irish and European roads.

Chuchote · 22-08-2017 12:33PM

Pegas bikes make a return

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/bike-blog/2017/jul/26/pegas-reborn-romania-communist-bicycle-returns-with-oomph-and-style

Chuchote · 22-08-2017 12:38PM

Pigeon Reaper wrote: »

I noticed the reporting on the bus/cycle lanes on the quays reported commuters being delayed in most publications. They didn't point out that only private car drivers where delayed and the vast majority of commuters had journey times improved. Seemingly bus users and cyclists aren't commuters.

Similarly, today's tragic Irish Times article about a woman knocked off her bike and permanently disabled with brain injuries refers to "road users" taking care of cyclists (followed by the usual "but cyclists too…" stuff, which I would guess were a response to the reporter's immediate yabbut).

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/health/life-after-a-cycling-accident-i-am-now-a-permanent-carer-1.3193428

buffalo · 22-08-2017 01:58PM

Jawgap wrote: »

Maybe I'm paranoid, but I'm really starting to believe that the IT has an editorial line that is becoming increasingly anti-cycling and anti-cyclist....either that, or they are mindlessly processing the vomitus that passes for cyclist safety from the RSA.....

Insights from the people who treat the most extreme cycling injuries

.....zero context and no attempt to analyse the raw data.....it's not quite propaganda, but its not far off it.

buffalo wrote: »

It was accompanied by an account of a husband who is now a full time carer for his wife: https://www.irishtimes.com/news/health/life-after-a-cycling-accident-i-am-now-a-permanent-carer-1.3193428

Chuchote wrote: »

Similarly, today's tragic Irish Times article about a woman knocked off her bike and permanently disabled with brain injuries refers to "road users" taking care of cyclists (followed by the usual "but cyclists too…" stuff, which I would guess were a response to the reporter's immediate yabbut).

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/health/life-after-a-cycling-accident-i-am-now-a-permanent-carer-1.3193428

The Times is doing a 'Road to Recovery' series this week, featuring accounts of people who have had accidents on the bike it seems.

Tomorrow: Eamonn McSweeney on recovering from a life-changing cycling accident

buffalo · 22-08-2017 01:58PM

Also: https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/travel/which-are-the-20-best-cities-to-cycle-in-hint-dublin-is-no-longer-one-of-them-1.3194435

Which are the 20 best cities to cycle in? Hint: Dublin is no longer one of them

Copenhagen most bicycle-friendly city for second time as the Irish capital is pushed off the list

07Lapierre · 22-08-2017 02:09PM

buffalo wrote: »

The Times is doing a 'Road to Recovery' series this week, featuring accounts of people who have had accidents on the bike it seems.

heres another one:

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/news/im-lucky-to-be-alive-today-irish-solicitor-calls-for-law-change-after-cycling-smash-36057524.html

Jawgap · 22-08-2017 02:34PM

buffalo wrote: »

Also: https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/travel/which-are-the-20-best-cities-to-cycle-in-hint-dublin-is-no-longer-one-of-them-1.3194435

Which are the 20 best cities to cycle in? Hint: Dublin is no longer one of them

Copenhagen most bicycle-friendly city for second time as the Irish capital is pushed off the list

Was dropped early on or elbowed out of it in the sprint

:D:D

Chips Lovell · 22-08-2017 02:36PM

Alternative headline:

Copenhagen-based company picks Copenhagen as best cycling city

Duckjob · 22-08-2017 03:42PM

mr spuckler wrote: »

the first paragraph states that the majority of these trips are less than 1 mile yet
you've to wait until number 7 to finally see a potential alternative to driving such a short distance, which then doesn't even suggest cycling or mention the environmental benefits of not driving!

well up the list is taking your car out on the motorway to empty the diesel particulate filter so that you can continue driving to school without damaging your car

Technically inaccurate too. More than one mechanic has said to me that the gentlest way to warm up your engine in the morning is to just start up, and drive it away very gently immediately. This warms it up far faster than leaving it to tick over (causing more wear)

magicbastarder · 22-08-2017 04:01PM

that's a separate issue to the DPF clogging up though; you need to do more than just warm your engine up to cater for that. it's more like a gentle italian tuneup.

Pinch Flat · 22-08-2017 04:20PM

Moflojo wrote: »

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/news/im-lucky-to-be-alive-today-irish-solicitor-calls-for-law-change-after-cycling-smash-36057524.html

A Dublin-based solicitor is lucky to be alive after he was knocked off his bike by a speeding driver and left with concussion while training in Greece.
Cahir O'Higgins (42) has shared a photo of his injuries and called for a law change to protect vulnerable cyclists on Irish and European roads.

Some of the comments on the Indo are unreal. Be curious to see if it was pedestrian mowed down at a crossing or a car accident in Greece what the reception would be?

The anti-cycling hysteria whipped up by the media here really has a lot to answer for.

Pinch Flat · 22-08-2017 04:36PM

http://www.independent.ie/videos/irish-news/video-citycycling-near-misses-the-reality-of-cycling-along-dublins-streets-31396435.html#play

The Indo is really intent on whipping up the anti-cycling frenzy. I wonder how these guys will feel when we have a deliberate crash into a cyclist or group of cyclists by some deranged motorist?

magicbastarder · 22-08-2017 04:50PM

that's an old one, btw. two years old.

rodneyTrotter. · 22-08-2017 05:03PM

Pinch Flat wrote: »

http://www.independent.ie/videos/irish-news/video-citycycling-near-misses-the-reality-of-cycling-along-dublins-streets-31396435.html#play

The Indo is really intent on whipping up the anti-cycling frenzy. I wonder how these guys will feel when we have a deliberate crash into a cyclist or group of cyclists by some deranged motorist?

I had nearly that experience last weekend when a taximan swerved at me to give me a 'fright' not far from Malahide . He had shouted abuse first so I knew it was no accident . Needless to say I was doing nothing wrong bar cycle my bike in Lycra gear training . The road from the malahide road to Swords . The hate and the abuse on our roads towards cyclists is at an all time high . It's really sad to see so much venom
Unfortunately I didn't have a camera to record it but I will soon

Rokta · 22-08-2017 05:43PM

rodneyTrotter. wrote: »

It's really sad to see so much venom
Unfortunately I didn't have a camera to record it but I will soon

Seems to go with the standard kit now, lights, helmet, bike computer and yeah of course a camera... sad but true.

buffalo · 23-08-2017 07:18AM

buffalo wrote: »

The Times is doing a 'Road to Recovery' series this week, featuring accounts of people who have had accidents on the bike it seems.

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/health/my-arm-got-caught-and-torn-off-cyclist-coping-after-accident-1.3194652

‘My arm got caught and torn off’ – cyclist coping after accident

‘I still have my helmet at home from the day of my accident. It’s split right down the middle’

Chuchote · 23-08-2017 09:04AM

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/health/insights-from-the-people-who-treat-the-most-extreme-cycling-injuries-1.3193630

A specialist at the National Rehabilitation Hospital (NRH) has warned cyclists: “This is not cowboy territory, red light means red light.”
Dr Mark Delargy is medical director of the brain injuries programme at the hospital in Dún Laoghaire, Dublin, where about 10-15 patients end up each year following serious cycling incidents.
More than 100 cyclists are injured in crashes each year, according to the Road Safety Authority, some of them so seriously they end up in the NRH.
“Certainly within the cyclist accidents that we see, the majority of the cyclists end up with brain injury. A smaller number end up with spinal injury and even in some cases, tragically, amputation,” says Dr Delargy.

https://twitter.com/OisinOhAlmhain/status/900229757975056385

Worth a letter to the Times asking what his knowledge was of the cause of the crashes that had injured his patients…

tomasrojo · 23-08-2017 09:27AM

I really don't see the point of this series, except to say cycling is really dangerous. Which it isn't. Why don't they run a series about people who've been injured walking to work? In relative terms, it's a very low injury rate, like cycling, but there are dozens of people who acquire horrific injuries walking around.

RayCun · 23-08-2017 09:48AM

It's impossible to please some people.

Cyclist gets injured or killed? It should be big news, so the councils and the gardai and everyone else takes cyclists' safety seriously!

Cyclist gets injured or killed? Yeah, but put it in perspective, cycling is a healthy activity, how many people die from not cycling - let's not talk about it so we don't scare people away!

Doctor says

However frustrated motorists may feel about cyclists, the bottom line is that there is no comparison in terms of the protection that the car user has. The cyclists are hands-down more vulnerable in terms of the injuries which they can sustain.

other doctor says

Cyclists are victims of other road users’ negligence oftentimes

other doctor says

primarily I would like motorists to think that the cyclist is a person who is giving me as a motorist more time on the road because I have parked my car at home and I am now taking up less space on the road by cycling

I would also like to speak to the county councils and say, for my part, I’ve changed from a racing bike to a cyclo-cross bike. I have changed to this bike because the roads are so bad.

I would also like the cyclist to think: this is not cowboy territory, red light means red light. Cycling on pavements is wrong.

OMG, what is with the victim-blaming!?!?!?

tomasrojo · 23-08-2017 10:30AM

RayCun wrote: »

It's impossible to please some people.

Cyclist gets injured or killed? It should be big news, so the councils and the gardai and everyone else takes cyclists' safety seriously!

Cyclist gets injured or killed? Yeah, but put it in perspective, cycling is a healthy activity, how many people die from not cycling - let's not talk about it so we don't scare people away!

Let's see whether you can find one post where I ever lamented the media not making a big enough deal out of cyclist injuries.

Idleater · 23-08-2017 10:43AM

tomasrojo wrote: »

Why don't they run a series about people who've been injured walking to work?.

There's only ever been one - the man slipping on ice behind the RTE camera in "the year of the snow".

tomasrojo · 23-08-2017 10:44AM

When the red, swollen sun swallows the withered Earth, people will still be watching that poor man fall on his arse.

Jawgap · 23-08-2017 10:51AM

RayCun wrote: »

It's impossible to please some people.

Cyclist gets injured or killed? It should be big news, so the councils and the gardai and everyone else takes cyclists' safety seriously!

Cyclist gets injured or killed? Yeah, but put it in perspective, cycling is a healthy activity, how many people die from not cycling - let's not talk about it so we don't scare people away!

Doctor says

other doctor says

other doctor says

OMG, what is with the victim-blaming!?!?!?

Reportage on road users injured or killed should be high profile news, but this series isn't about an incident - it's about the aftermath of incidents, and if its not a factual account of events then the reporter should be honest enough to either offer some analysis or, preferably, gather commentary from people qualified to offer such analysis.

....and one point that is being completely missed is the question of reciprocity - one of themes in prevailing journalistic narrative, presumably condoned or encouraged by editors, is that cyclists (and other road users) must give respect to get respect - that's an utterly false and dangerous premise because a cyclist being a tw@t is likely only going to hurt themselves, a driver being a tw@t is likely not going to hurt themselves, but is likely to hurt others, therefore the onus is on drivers and the authorities who police them to moderate their behaviour independent of however cyclists or other road users behave.

The fact we've yet to grasp this shows how immature our driving culture is and how focused it is on the convenience of the motorist rather than the safety of the roads.

CramCycle · 23-08-2017 11:23AM

Pinch Flat wrote: »

OMG, what is with the victim-blaming!?!?!?

Its not victim blaming, it is dangerisation (in regards the NRH, who have form for this). The victim blaming is in relation to comments remarking on how motorist/cyclist collision are often reported inappropriately.

Chuchote · 23-08-2017 11:31AM

Odd thing about that Irish Times interview with the man whose arm was torn off - there's not a word about the badly-gravelled roads that endanger people.

magicbastarder · 23-08-2017 11:46AM

one question i'd ask would be - have they done the same sort of series of articles about the aftermath of car crashes?

Chips Lovell · 23-08-2017 11:47AM

magicbastarder wrote: »

one question i'd ask would be - have they done the same sort of series of articles about the aftermath of car crashes?

Or gardening

Pinch Flat · 23-08-2017 12:19PM

I always make sure I wear a hi-vis, helmet, am taxed and insured and carry a number plate when tending to my sweet peas. Worked for me so far anyway.

Jawgap · 23-08-2017 12:20PM

magicbastarder wrote: »

one question i'd ask would be - have they done the same sort of series of articles about the aftermath of car crashes?

....bet they don't do one on schools rugby

DeepBlue · 23-08-2017 01:05PM

magicbastarder wrote: »

one question i'd ask would be - have they done the same sort of series of articles about the aftermath of car crashes?

Yes.
http://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/anatomy-of-a-car-crash-part-1-1.2025739

Journalism and cycling

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