Ride Melbourne's CityLink Tunnel with Critical Mass!

[Pc]

On Thu, 3 Jul 2003 12:07:50 +1000, "Peter Signorini" <[email protected]> wrote:

>> Yeah, so did I originally.. I'm still not quite ready to rely on it for 100% of my transportation
>> requirements long term, though I did actually do it for a few months last year.. It is however
>> much less irritating when the bike is set up properly..
>>
>> A 12 inch wide touring saddle (far more comfy than most saddles),
>
>Yikes!!!! Yes, it sure would be. My standard touring saddle is 6" wide, an 8" wide saddle is *very*
>wide. A 12" saddle is a lounge chair, commonly found on Harleys.

Harley saddles tend not to curve into a 1.5" ball knocker at the front though..

>Agree fully with all your other advice on setting up a bike for comfortable transport. Add good
>lights( I prefer dynamo as they're always there, no flat batteries) and for Melbourne winters,
>lightweight plastic mudguads to keep you dry.

My night vision is fine, so I have little need for lights.. The latteries on my LED flashers last
for over six months anyway..

PC

 

[Jeremy Lunn]

In article <[email protected]>, PC wrote:
> My night vision is fine, so I have little need for lights.. The latteries on my LED flashers last
> for over six months anyway..

It depends where you are, but I have sometimes felt that lights reduce my field of vision (e.g. out
on a bike path in the open with enough moonlight to see without lights). In that case with the
lights my eyes have to adjust to that level of light and then I can't see anything beyond them.

--
Jeremy Lunn Melbourne, Australia Homepage: http://www.austux.net/ http://www.jabber.org.au/ - the
next generation of Instant Messaging.

 

[Neil Fisher]

On Tue, 1 Jul 2003 18:36:09 +1000, "Peter Signorini" <[email protected]> wrote:

>
>"Luke Webber" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>news:[email protected]...
>> "Deep Floyd Mars" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>> news:%[email protected]...
>> > Neil Fisher <[email protected]> wrote in message
>> > news:[email protected]...
>> > > And what percentage were the fault of the pedestrian and/or involved an intoxicated
>> > > pedestrian?
>> >
>> > I'd be interested to know more about those 3 cases. The number is so
>low,
>> > that they could be considered 'freak' accidents. I wonder how many
>people
>> > die from tripping over walking in the street?
>>
>> I think it'd be fair to call them freak accidents, but I don't know why
>Neil
>> seems to feel a need to ascribe them to the pedestrians. There *are* cyclists out there who do
>> the wrong thing, after all. Take city bicycle couriers for example.
>
>You seem to have misread Mr Fisher's post.

I would say so, yes - perhaps I should have snipped a little more?

>He was trying to make excuses for the car drivers who killed 887 pedestrians. That's OK isn't it?

Not at all. I was pointing out that a significant number of pedestrian fatalities are the fault of
the pedestrian. I'm quite sure there are pedestrian deaths where a vehicle driver is at fault, and
I'm just as sure there are pedestrian deaths where the pedestrian is at fault. If you think that
it's fair to *always* blame the driver for a pedestrian death - and you seem to be saying that -
then I would suggest that turn about is fair play, and I can blame the cyclist for all pedestrian
fatals. OK with you? I'd prefer to see each individual case sorted out on it's own merits - YMMV.

>
>Standard cop out: -car hits ped/cyclist, "they were drunk/erratic/couldn't see 'em" -cyclist hits
>pedestrain, "speeding renegade bike riders"

That's *your* take on it, not mine. Any and all road users, be they pedestrians, riders, or drivers,
must accept some responsability for their own actions. Both of the above scenarios which you posted
are obviously *not* applicable for each and every situation. And just to be clear, I wouldn't
*expect* them to even be the majority case.

>
>Leave decisions on causes of accidents to the cops and coroner. You will rarely hear the full story
>in the news.

Indeed.

Neil
---
Neil Fisher / Bob Young Thundercords personal opinion unless otherwise noted. Looking for spark plug
leads? Check out http://www.magnecor.com.au

 

[cfsmtb]

[QUOTE>>
>Standard cop out: -car hits ped/cyclist, "they were drunk/erratic/couldn't see 'em" -cyclist hits
>pedestrain, "speeding renegade bike riders"

Maybe they _were tipsy, after all, Da Bomb makes a frame with a gusset that doubles as a bottle opener.

I'm attempting to make sense of the tangle of threads on this topic. Fellow cyclists wishing death & injury upon amongst other things, other cyclists. I just lurvve inhabiting in a "civil society" where extreme violence is still seen as a viable recourse to differing opinions. Or maybe they were just trolls from aus.car afterall. For appraisal of CM thread, see url below.
http://eleaston.com/chicken.html