Road Rage in Perth

This morning some dumb-@rsed motorist drove into a bunch...went a few metres up the road, then reversed back to the bikes...ran over two of the bikes. And one of the riders, a young boy. Broken finger. Could have been a hell of a lot worse !!!I don't expect the police to do much, or the judges. We'll see what happens but this stuff makes me mad. Logically, the turd should get charged with aggravated assault or something serious. A car weighing 1600 kgs vs a young boy is a bit of a mis-match. What a cowardly bully.

Oh, it happened on Marmion Ave, near Iluka apparently. Early morning.
Radio news said there was a witness who got the rego, then later on, the driver handed himself in to Mr Plod. He must have heard the news on the radio.

__________________
"...too old to be riding a bike..." my former workmates used to say. Screw them. I don't judge people for their lack of interest in exercise. So don't judge me.

Apparently they're charging him for an assault committed back in September of last year and are grabbingmore statements before charging him for this particularly piece of murderous asshattery.

Obviously it's an assault with a deadly weapon, surely the authorities should be
prosecuting as such.

The father was on the radio yesterday arvo...he & his two sons were in the small group of 4- and one of them had his ankle broken by the oxygen thief... I will be writing in to the West newspaper expressing my anger- but I will keep it brief and diplomatic.

__________________
"...too old to be riding a bike..." my former workmates used to say. Screw them. I don't judge people for their lack of interest in exercise. So don't judge me.

Umm I went to the on-line newspaper and they had a short piece on it... with an invite worded "are Perth cyclists safe on the roads? Have your say" well... the blogs extended to 7 pages- 165 replies. you can imagine some of them. I'd say about half were moronic drivers , with one calling cyclists in lycra "coloured condoms stuffed with turnips" and other choice comments. The other half were cyclists. I wont bother.... But I was surprised about some of the drivers' comments- ranging from plain ignorance thru to absolute anger and vitriol...

__________________
"...too old to be riding a bike..." my former workmates used to say. Screw them. I don't judge people for their lack of interest in exercise. So don't judge me.

I've been a cyclist for 35 years, and have ridden in many cities around the world, and have to say, there is a high level of arrogance.....period..... in Perth, amongst all, not just motorists and riders.

WTF were these 4 doing, at 7.30 on a major road, with a 70km/hr speed limit. Pick your battles, rush hour ain't one of them. They then ride 2 to each side, to have a word with the driver, in law, that's provocation and tantamount to road rage.

I ride often in groups, and am appalled at the lack of discipline and road craft. Only yesterday, I witnessed a mother in our group, riding with her son in the group, go thru a red light!! WTF!
This morning, at a triathlon event, stopped to watch some of the riding, on a side road, when 'Old Papa's' group ride, went around the barriers, onto the circuit, heading on the wrong side of the road, in the same direction riders were travelling on the bike leg. I shouted at them, amongst other expletives, 'you think you're above the law?', to get a resounding yes.

Hope this group enjoys their ride tomorrow, watch out for the fishing line, placed in strategic places on some of the downhills, Carbon smashes well.

Obey the law, and respect motorists. If you can't do that, accept that if we don't, motorists won't either.
Perth, the boom town, and cycling the new golf, full of wankers who couldn't play golf either.

__________________
What am I on? I'm on my bike, busting my ass!

Regardless - attempted murder isn't the way sane and civilised people deal with the rudeness of others. Don't lose sight of the fact that the guy who deliberately runs people over is way, way, way out of line here.

I agree, but the attitude amongst riders sucks. I'll hold up traffic, but how dare the toot me!!
I know one of the guys who was involved, and one of the riders own the flaming Bike Force chain, and the guy who got hurt, didn't have insurance, and all his mate is doing, is putting an ad in the shop asking for contributions to help replace it, tight b'stard.

__________________
What am I on? I'm on my bike, busting my ass!

OK Pukka- I have never ridden with Old Papas but have been told they're cowboys who treat training rides like a race... from a couple of people who allegedly rode with them a few time and gave up because they were "suicidal". I agree you ought to respect other road users but the 90% of bunch rides I've done, we respect motorists. If we get a bit aggro it's only in response to the constant abuse we get from tradesmen's utes and hoons in Mum's Commodore with wide wheels...

I used to live up that way- where this incident occurred, and can tell you that 4 riders at that time of morning presents no hazard or annoyance for a motorist unless they are a pimply 19 y-old without much life experience and even less common sense.
P.S. One of the riders owns the Bike Force Chain? I thought each shop was an individually owned franchise. Was it Wayne from BF Woodvale or Peter from BF Clarkson? Either way, I have ridden with those 2 several times in the past and they are both street smart so I doubt they would have been at fault...
My two cents worth

__________________
"...too old to be riding a bike..." my former workmates used to say. Screw them. I don't judge people for their lack of interest in exercise. So don't judge me.

IIRC, Marmion Ave has plenty of room for cyclists even if it is a 70 kmh area.