I would have thought that metal railings would have been a good idea Annie. Some roads were planned a long time before traffic was a problem Annie and it’s just a pity that it takes a death to highlight a problem area. If anything good has come about by the death of Celia Ward it should be improved safety features on such a narrow stretch of road. Even a one way system for traffic, which would mean that there would be enough room to provide a safe cycle lane. Councils have to try and keep everyone happy, but I believe they waste lots of money on projects to make them look good regardless of whether we need them or not.
So who decides when you are too frail to ride a bike Anise? Who decides when a disabled bad tempered woman should be allowed to mix with the public? Who decides when a disabled person is too frail to operate a buggy? There was nothing wrong with Celia Ward’s cycling ability other than some wild woman swearing and waving her arms about in a threatening manner and deliberately blocking her path. Isn’t the reason why Celia was cycling was to improve her mobility and fitness. Are you saying that all 70 year old people should stay at home and not cycle, run, walk, or exercise for fear of upsetting the disabled?
One last quickie from me Fox.
As i said in my post (which you haven’t quoted) as a cyclist myself i would make that decision not to cycle if unwell, frail, or not able to control my bike for any reason.
I think that’s an example of having common sense, which clearly the cyclist here did not have.
Well exactly, seeing a big bully woman like that charging towards you would be enough to make anyone wobble
And I certainly wouldn’t have got off my bike and made myself more vulnerable
Her death wan’t her own fault, nor was it down to the council
The only person responsible for this woman’s death is Auriol Grey and she should be punished appropriately for her behaviour
We all have to deal with less than ideal situations and have a responsibility to do so in a civilised way with due respect for others safety, not go off on a violent temper tantrum to make things worse, then try to wriggle out of responsibility
Judging by the speed the cyclist who brushed past the news reporter and cameraman in post 612 there could be a problem with cyclists on that stretch of pavement. Maybe this pedestrian had previously been harassed by a cyclist? We do not know. No excuse for her behaviour but I do not know why the cyclist did not dismount when she saw her path was obstructed.
There are some angry cyclist haters out there, this guy in the car pulled in front of the cyclist then proceeded to go on a rant, what’s the world coming to?
He shouldn’t have pulled out like that, but why the heck is the cyclist trying to overtake him on the inside all the way down the road? He is so out of breath, totally unnecessarily. Half of one and six dozen of another. There are hundreds of videos out there and Jeremy Kyle is very vocal about it. But many cyclists are also drivers and exhibit the same road rage towards motorists as they would when driving a car. The same point scoring up yours mentality.
This is a video from the National Federation of the Blind, a different perspective by some of the most vulnerable road users in our society :
Because if Auriol Grey only violently confronts people who are frailer than her and who she thinks won’t fight back, she’s just the nasty, entitled bully I believe her to be
And I don’t think he was referring to a sixteen year old as a yob, he was describing as a sixteen year old
Would Auriol Grey have sworn and charged at a yob who might have given her back as good as she got and more? I doubt it
As a cyclist myself, and blessed with both common sense and respect for pedestrians, motorists and other cyclists as well, i have on several occasions dismounted from my bike, on a dual purpose pavement to allow pedestrians to move past me, but especially the elderly, disabled, prams and wheelchair users.
Our dual purpose pavements have no markings at all, so cyclists and pedestrians can walk or cycle on any part of that pavement.
It really is about respect, and for me the cyclist on that day, showed no respect for a disabled person, and particularly on a footpath where it was illegal for her to cycle on in the first place.
It’s not a shared pathway on that side of the road, possibly that’s why they have the old cycle markings on the road. There are however clearly marked shared pathways on the other side of the same road. That must create much confusion.
Spitfire there is so much to address in the video you provided,
There is no way i would be cycling at that speed on a busy road like this one - if anything happened for instance a child may run out between parked cars, a dog perhaps, then the cyclist wouldn’t have time to react.
The motorist was not blameless either, and i lost count how many times he used the F word, but by and large they both needed lessons on how to use a road safely.