Associate
- Joined
- 13 Apr 2019
- Posts
- 134
- Location
- The cold wet North East of England
I don't approve of them partly because (in my opinion, not on the basis of empirical evidence) there is a small chance that they could cause an accident involving other people if one of them came off the cyclist's feet and got caught up in the chain/spokes or is run over by another cyclist who then lost their balance. (Although, it's much more likely the cyclist would just hurt their feet and no one else would be involved.) But I don't approve of them mostly because they provide virtually no protection to the cyclist's feet and in an accident their use could result in a serious foot injury.
For example, last year while I was cycling along as normal my chain came off the rear gear wheel cassette. I was lucky not to fall off, but my left foot came off the pedal and the toe of my shoe hit the road tarmac and was dragged under the pedal for a short distance. My left big toe was injured and the toenail became ingrown but later fell off on its own without any treatment. However, if I had been wearing flip-flops that would have been like kicking the road barefoot and then sandpapering my toes! I would probably have broken toes and would have taken off a lot of skin. After that I started wearing steel-toe capped safety shoes instead.
No, I don't own a pair actually. But I see that you cycle in them. Do they feel like they might come off at any second like @Rroff fears?
if he did he wouldnt carry a knife with him and be labelled the most hated man
He doesn't carry a knife! If there was any reasonable suspicion that he did (not internet rumours from Mikey-haters) then the Police would stop him and search him. The penalties for carrying a knife are very serious. I expect those smartphone thieves on the Sur-Rons he was accosted by carry knives though.
He was not trying to ram his bike in to the car. What would be the point of destroying a £4,000 EAPC and scattering all his possessions in it all over the road in order to mark the bumper or scratch the paintwork of a car?
He usually does just stand in front of them. But on a previous attempt he was deliberately bumped several times by a big SUV and was at risk of being run over (high bonnet) so he grabbed on to the top of the bonnet and the driver continued driving and took a right turn. After that he stated that he would use his bike, rather than his body, to block cars in the future:
Gandalf Corner: I Get Hit by Paul Lyon-Maris
View of car bumping him from above
In that case the rich minor celebrity driver shouted: "I'VE GOT AN APPOINTMENT!" (he was just going to see a physio although his husband claimed it was a doctor's appointment) before repeatedly ramming Mikey with his car. He should have been convicted of common assault and dangerous driving, but was cleared by a jury and only fined for ignoring the "Keep Left" sign.
Are you two new to the thread, or what? This video and Mikey's (much longer) video of that incident have already been debated on here at length. That video is deliberately edited to remove context so anyone watching it would not know that Mikey was trying to block the car again (just like he did 90 seconds earlier).
It's not criminal damage. That would require intent to cause damage to the car by Mikey. If he wanted to inflict criminal damage on the car he could have just kicked it or struck it with something as it passed him. It was an accident in which Mikey was negligent because he miscalculated his blocking move (due to the driver accelerating hard) and the driver resorted to dangerous driving. Legally, the driver doesn't have "clean hands" because he CHOSE to engage in dangerous driving knowing full well what Mikey's intentions were (since Mikey did exactly the same thing 90 seconds earlier).
Yes, earlier this year I was cycling home at around 9.30 PM. I was riding my bike responsibly, keeping to the correct part of the road, with both front and rear lights on since it was dark. A car ahead of me indicated to turn right about ten metres in front, and as I started to move past it on the left, a hot hatchback came racing up behind us. The driver honked his horn repeatedly, clearly unwilling to wait a couple of seconds for the first car to complete its turn or for me to complete passing it. He then sped off aggressively, only to be stopped at the next red light about 100 metres up the road. I caught up and was just a few metres behind him when the light changed. At that point, he floored the accelerator, spinning his wheels as he tore away. I can only assume he was annoyed at the idea that a cyclist might get in front of him. I’ve witnessed plenty of reckless driving by motorists, yet the criticism seems to fall only on cyclists for things like running red lights.
Yes, and if your wear a cycle helmet it has been proven that the average motorist will pass you closer which increases your chance of being in an accident. As a cyclist, you’re always at a disadvantage. That’s why I ride with caution and always yield to aggressive drivers, even when I technically have the "right-of-way" so to speak. After all, being correct in law is of little comfort to you if the outcome is being seriously injured, permanently disabled, or killed.
In 2022, 22 people were killed and 652 people were injured in collisions on the road where use of a phone by a motorist was deemed a contributory factor. In 2023, there were 15,300 prosecutions for ‘using or causing others to use a handheld mobile phone whilst driving’. This number had fallen steadily for a decade, from 35,300 in 2010 to 4,900 in 2020, but since 2020 it has been increasing.
What have the actions of criminals riding street-illegal off-road ebikes on public roads got to do with cyclists?
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