Hit and Run!

Claes said:

I agree with all of you, mostly anyway. I commute to work,a loooong 13 minute ride along mount alexander road to Melbourne Central.
I have "events" every day, nothing real bad yet.
One thing bothers me though, cyclists here are quite bad at traffic lights. I can assure you that a car driver, stuck at the lights, and sees a cyclist ignore the red light, will have a slightly worse attitude towards cyclists, and when it happens time after time after time. Well, you get the picture.

What I mean is, the car drivers behave bad towards us, maybe it would improve if we were more "lawabiding" What do you think?
I stop at traffic lights unless at a really small street and no cars around, I know, double standards and all that, 🙂

totally agree claes. make your bed, 'n'all that

kev was abiding by the law but its a perception thing, usually made by people who are out of touch with reasoned thought and will lean on stereotype everytime, sigh!

DJ said:

"Kev" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Tonight on Heidelberg Rd near Merri Ck bridge I was struck by a car
travelling at speed the driver then accelerated away knowing he had struck
a cyclist.

I was struck in the hand as I was giving a hand signal, the worst thing
was I had barely even extended my friggin arm. Luckily I was struck by
his mirror which was sprung. It made a [censored] load of noise as the mirror
was driven into his side window and I was forced sideways into the L/H
gutter. Amazingly I avoided the gutter edge, with my leg pressed up
against his car as he went by at ~ 70kmph. I was doing ~45kmph.

Well all that balance work standing on Swiss ball sure have paid off! I
was still upright.... and I caught the C**T 200m down the road. So guess
what he had in his hand, no it was not his [censored]......he was happily
texting away! Fantastic!!!

After I introduced myself (politely of course) he says "I didn't see you
mate" I roll eyes and wonder why! I ask the jerk to pull over and
exchange names given that he hit with his car. Bas**rd drove off!!!!

Well I report it to the Police...... What a waste of time!!! I can't
believe the response "Mate we have had 4 hit and runs this arvo, don't
think there is much we can do for you" I have a witness on a bike who saw
it all and stopped for me. Thanks Stewart !

So Guys/Gals what experience have you had with this sort of thing? My
intention is to call Bike Vic tomorrow to discuss my options.

However, I have to say little wonder there are so many hit and runs when
the tolerance level by the Force is high!!!

Kev the Survivor (only just)

You can bet your life that if you retaliated, and pulled the [censored] out of
his car and belted the [censored] out of him (road rage) then the cops would be
interested and guess who would be charged!! Although on saying that, I
guess too if you had done that, you'd have no rego plates on your
bike........can you see where this is leading?

One good thing about mountain bikes, if you put a massive dent in the car
roof etc., or something like that, you can make a quick cross country
getaway.........just make sure to look for escape paths first, especially if
the driver is built like a footy player.

DJ

LotteBum's sawn-off is sounding like a better idea each time...

Wondering if there's any film/tv students out there interested in a doco
on cycling in traffic, wanna attach a small camera on my bike?

Tam

([censored] again)

LotteBum said:

Peter McCallum said:

<SNIP>

Quoted message said:

If you can get a photo of Ken riding towards the camera looking
concerned/serious then that should be sent with the release to AAP,

ABC,

Quoted message said:

all the major outlets, and to any local papers, especially in Ken's

area

Quoted message said:

and the one where the police station is.

Peter McCallum, you are THE MAN.

Your letter inspired me to write to my local member, Bernie Ripoll
(Oxley).

Go you good thing!

Lotte

--
LotteBum

Peter needs a blog for examples of all the brilliant letters etc that he
sends out... PLEASE?

Tam

Claes said:

What I mean is, the car drivers behave bad towards us, maybe it would
improve if we were more "lawabiding" What do you think?

Do you think the KKK stopped lynching black people because they suddenly
started behaving compliantly or because they became enraged at the
treatment they were being dished out.

When victims blame themselves and each other there isn't much chance of
progress.

--
Peter McCallum
Mackay Qld AUSTRALIA

Peter Signorini said:

"Terry Collins" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Just remember, it is your word against theirs, on both occassions {:-).
That was the excuse I kept hearing.

Your [censored] neighbour goes down to the local police and claims his car
window has been smashed, and accuses your son of having thrown a rock at his
car. Your young boy says he was just riding by. My guess is that faced with
this you too would expect that the police had some witnesses and/or direct
physical evidence before they laid charges, or even came around making
accusations.

Our legal system is built on the principal if innocence until _proven_
guilty - proven by actual evidence. And I go along with this entirely. If a
motorist hits you, get details of the car and a witness to the incident if
you expect any action.

And that is still your word against theirs. That is the problem, police
will not even take the details irrespective that your life was at risk,
compared to the example of small damage to a car.

Yes, I would expect the police to come around and ask questions in both
cases. It really is part of the "deterrent" value of police.

The problem is that police only want to hear about high dollars cases
and no longer consider human life as worth anything.

Try to keep a focus at the matter under discussion; the continual lack
of action of police that encourages motorists to believe they can murder
bicyclists and get away with it.

Otherwise we bicyclists are going to become the gypsies to community rights.

DJ said:

One good thing about mountain bikes, if you put a massive dent in the car
roof etc., or something like that, you can make a quick cross country
getaway.........just make sure to look for escape paths first, especially if
the driver is built like a footy player.

In that case, all you need to be able to do is sprint the length of a
footy pitch and you've left them for dead.

flyingdutch said:

totally agree claes. make your bed, 'n'all that

kev was abiding by the law but its a perception thing, usually made by people who are out of touch with reasoned thought and will lean on stereotype everytime, sigh!

I had this the other day. Was heading home with the missus driving and the in-laws in the back seat telling them about WoJ and what it was all about.

"Well I don't know a single cyclist who doesn't go through red lights."

Pregnant pause. "Well you know me."

The pregnant pause was due to finding something other to say than what first popped in to my head; motorists drink drive, drive on drugs, kill hundreds, mame thousands and injure tens of thousands. Your point?

Hey it was mother's day. I had to be nice.
--
Cheers
Euan

Terry Collins said:

That is the problem, police
will not even take the details irrespective that your life was at risk

That's not my experience. Many police ride bikes themselves, or have
colleagues who do, so they understand the rubbish we have to put up
with. Those who don't can often be convinced that the issue is important
if you use some well reasoned arguments. Police have acted on complaints
I've made even when no collision occured.

You just have to be reasonable, but firm.

Peter

--
Peter McCallum
Mackay Qld AUSTRALIA

"Peter Signorini" <[email hidden]> wrote in
news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

Your [censored] neighbour goes down to the local police and claims his
car window has been smashed, and accuses your son of having thrown a
rock at his car. Your young boy says he was just riding by. My guess
is that faced with this you too would expect that the police had some
witnesses and/or direct physical evidence before they laid charges, or
even came around making accusations.

But in this case the motorist *knows* they're guilty. In such cases they
will often put their hands up to some form of offense rather than go to
court. You need to remember that they don't know what evidence you have at
first, just the fact that Mr Policeman has knocked on their door saying
that someone is willing to take them to court for something they know
they've done. Only in a few cases would they be brazen enough to take it
further.

In the example you give above, if my son said he hadn't done it (barring
the fact that he is only 18 months old) then I'd happily go to court to see
what evidence, if any, the accuser had.

Graeme

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

"Terry Collins" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Just remember, it is your word against theirs, on both occassions {:-).
That was the excuse I kept hearing.

"Your word against theirs" works both ways. There's no reason why you
couldn't stretch your story too. It leaves the car driver in a position
where he has to "prove" he was doing the right thing. This only works if
you're generally known as an honest person and you don't do it too often.

Examples:

He swerved at me.
He stopped and tried to reverse into me.
He threw something at me.
He said he'd run over me if he saw me on the road again.

Marty

"DJ" <[email hidden]> wrote in
news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

One good thing about mountain bikes, if you put a massive dent in the
car roof etc., or something like that, you can make a quick cross
country getaway.........just make sure to look for escape paths first,
especially if the driver is built like a footy player.

And don't ride down that same road at roughly the same time ever again as
you might be recognised so he can finish the job off :-\

Marty said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

"Terry Collins" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

Quoted message said:

> Just remember, it is your word against theirs, on both occassions {:-).
> That was the excuse I kept hearing.

"Your word against theirs" works both ways. There's no reason why you
couldn't stretch your story too. It leaves the car driver in a position
where he has to "prove" he was doing the right thing. This only works if
you're generally known as an honest person and you don't do it too often.

Examples:

He swerved at me.
He stopped and tried to reverse into me.
He threw something at me.
He said he'd run over me if he saw me on the road again.

Marty

yeah but you are leaving yourself open to being found out either by the
police or by some equally reputable witness who didn't see any of that.
best just to stick to the truth as you know it. write it down preferably
so that you can be sure of your facts when someone starts questioning
them.

p
--
Peter McCallum
Mackay Qld AUSTRALIA

Peter McCallum said:

Terry Collins said:

That is the problem, police
will not even take the details irrespective that your life was at risk

That's not my experience. Many police ride bikes themselves, or have
colleagues who do, so they understand the rubbish we have to put up
with. Those who don't can often be convinced that the issue is important
if you use some well reasoned arguments. Police have acted on complaints
I've made even when no collision occured.

You just have to be reasonable, but firm.

Peter

I usually say "I'd like to register a complaint". That way you're not
making the police feel that they actually have to do something. Police
being police will note it down and more often then not they WILL (in my
experience)go and have a chat to the driver. It makes the police feel
good because they've done something and there's no paperwork involved.

Marty

Peter McCallum said:

yeah but you are leaving yourself open to being found out either by the
police or by some equally reputable witness who didn't see any of that.
best just to stick to the truth as you know it. write it down preferably
so that you can be sure of your facts when someone starts questioning
them.

p
--
Peter McCallum
Mackay Qld AUSTRALIA

AND the next time this monkey sees a cylcist how do you reckon he/she how much respect do you reckon they are gonna dole out?
One's personal minute's steam-venting (and dont get me wrong im guilt off it too) just dont achieve much than the exact thing you are [censored] about.
It just wont be 'In-Your-Back_yard'
🙄

On Wed, 11 May 2005 at 02:05 GMT, flyingdutch (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:

Quoted message said:

Claes said:

What I mean is, the car drivers behave bad towards us, maybe it would
improve if we were more "lawabiding" What do you think?
I stop at traffic lights unless at a really small street and no cars
around, I know, double standards and all that, 🙂

totally agree claes. make your bed, 'n'all that

kev was abiding by the law but its a perception thing, usually made by
people who are out of touch with reasoned thought and will lean on
stereotype everytime, sigh!

Bloody 4WDers 🙂

--
TimC -- http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/staff/tconnors/
"The thing I love most about deadlines is the wonderful WHOOSHing sound
they make as they go past" - DNA

On Wed, 11 May 2005 at 02:48 GMT, EuanB (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:

Quoted message said:

flyingdutch said:

totally agree claes. make your bed, 'n'all that

kev was abiding by the law but its a perception thing, usually made by
people who are out of touch with reasoned thought and will lean on
stereotype everytime, sigh!

I had this the other day. Was heading home with the missus driving and
the in-laws in the back seat telling them about WoJ and what it was all
about.

"Well I don't know a single cyclist who doesn't go through red lights."

Hmmm. They're worse at logic than astrophysicists.

--
TimC -- http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/staff/tconnors/
SIGTHTBABW: a signal sent from Unix to its programmers at random
intervals to make them remember that There Has To Be A Better Way.

On Wed, 11 May 2005 12:17:02 +1000, Tamyka Bell <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Wondering if there's any film/tv students out there interested in a doco
on cycling in traffic, wanna attach a small camera on my bike?

Which way is the camera facing?

Tamyka Bell said:

LotteBum said:

Peter McCallum said:

<SNIP>

Quoted message said:

If you can get a photo of Ken riding towards the camera looking
concerned/serious then that should be sent with the release to AAP,

ABC,

Quoted message said:

all the major outlets, and to any local papers, especially in Ken's

area

Quoted message said:

and the one where the police station is.

Peter McCallum, you are THE MAN.

Your letter inspired me to write to my local member, Bernie Ripoll
(Oxley).

Go you good thing!

Lotte

--
LotteBum

Peter needs a blog for examples of all the brilliant letters etc that he
sends out... PLEASE?

Tam

Hey, thanks for the encouragement but that sounds like work to me. I've
been thinking about getting a Bicycle Mackay website up and running for
about two years and still nothing, so can't see anything else happening
in the near future.

But while I'm on the topic, is there anyone out there with some html
skills that can create a website for us? We have a domain name
registered and the cash to pay for a site. The main thing we want to do
is set it up so people can send in reports regarding poor road/bikeway
conditions so that we can pass these on to the council/main roads. Other
than that we'd just add pages with contact details and publicity for
events like Bike Week. It needs to be simple enought so that anyone at
this end can maintain it.

I have my own copy of Dreamweaver here, but every time I start reading
the manual I drift off to sleep.

P
--
Peter McCallum
Mackay Qld AUSTRALIA

quote='Peter McCallum'Claes said:

What I mean is, the car drivers behave bad towards us, maybe it would
improve if we were more "lawabiding" What do you think?

Do you think the KKK stopped lynching black people because they suddenly
started behaving compliantly or because they became enraged at the
treatment they were being dished out.

When victims blame themselves and each other there isn't much chance of
progress.

--
Peter McCallum
Mackay Qld AUSTRALIA[/QUOTE]
Eh, that comparison works in your head only mate.
I am just saying, that if you as a car driver, do not look at me I do not even have a license for a car, see cyclists not stop for a red light all the time, is it not a slight risk of them developing a slight bias against anyone on a cycle? I am not referring to the actual incident here, just in general? Maybe that bias means they do not give you as much space when the pass you on the road, that increases the risk of accidents. No? It is just a question again, I am not australian, I do not completle know what is going on. It is a question, nothing else.

Peter McCallum said:

Tamyka Bell said:

LotteBum said:

Peter McCallum said:

<SNIP>

>If you can get a photo of Ken riding towards the camera looking
>concerned/serious then that should be sent with the release to AAP,

ABC,

>all the major outlets, and to any local papers, especially in Ken's

area

>and the one where the police station is.

Peter McCallum, you are THE MAN.

Your letter inspired me to write to my local member, Bernie Ripoll
(Oxley).

Go you good thing!

Lotte

--
LotteBum

Peter needs a blog for examples of all the brilliant letters etc that he
sends out... PLEASE?

Tam

Hey, thanks for the encouragement but that sounds like work to me. I've
been thinking about getting a Bicycle Mackay website up and running for
about two years and still nothing, so can't see anything else happening
in the near future.

But while I'm on the topic, is there anyone out there with some html
skills that can create a website for us? We have a domain name
registered and the cash to pay for a site. The main thing we want to do
is set it up so people can send in reports regarding poor road/bikeway
conditions so that we can pass these on to the council/main roads. Other
than that we'd just add pages with contact details and publicity for
events like Bike Week. It needs to be simple enought so that anyone at
this end can maintain it.

I have my own copy of Dreamweaver here, but every time I start reading
the manual I drift off to sleep.

P

Pete the way to go is one step at a time.
Learn how to upload to your site (Passwords and user name stuff.)

Next you simply copy someone elses web page and stick your name on it.

Then you add or take away stuff until you get what you want.

Before you know it you've got a complete web page.

You can add fancy graphics and stuff later.

Marty