I reported speculation that the crash may have been caused by the combination of a speeding motorcyclist and a dopey bus driver pulling out without looking. Neither event is a rarity in this part of London - I cycle across London Bridge twice daily and no-where is the threat from motor-bikes and buses greater.
Now the thread I had contributed to descended into threats of violence between cyclists and motorcyclists and has been deleted. I dread to think what it would have been like if bus drivers had managed to get involved too. The expletives I wrote at having my own blog material used against me completely OUT of CONTEXT were quite strong - however I still received an apology from the person involved - now deleted with the rest of the thread.
The strongest 'finger pointing' from me on that thread was that whoever was responsible for the accident - it defintely wasn't the cyclist. This seems to have upset at least one motorcyclist...who then went fishing for something to use against me - and found it on my own blog.
It seems that speculating is taboo - unless it is to speculate that the cyclist might be at fault. Motorcyclists always come across as intolerant zealots on intenret bulletin boards - refusing to accept any sort of criticism. On Urban75 my observations were merely thrown back at me - cyclists do all the things motorcyclists do apparently. But no-one seemed to realise that the speeds a motorbike can reach and their weight (therefore momentum) are so much higher - taking them closer to a car than a bike.
Motorcyclists now demand the right to use bus lanes, cycle lanes and ASLs. I have started challenging them on the roads, and get to hear a lot of bad language for my efforts.
I even challenged a police motorbike in an ASL which ended up becoming a pedantic lecture back at me...the officer claimed the police had an excemption by law - not true - and that he only entered ASLs to catch red light jumping cyclists - which I cannot believe is true.
However law abiding I am as a cyclist I still regularly get the RLJing thing thrown back at me. Imagine any other walk of life where that happened. All men rape suspects...all motorists speeding and without insurance, all doctors fake, all young people pissed on cider and carrying knives. It smacks of intolerence, and is probably why as a cyclist I am at the receiving end of random attacks on a pretty reguular basis, and maybe why motorcyclists whistle past me at high speed with millimetres to spare, and pull in front of me in ASLs, and swear at me in bus lanes and when I try to take a dominant position in the lane in the run up to a major junction.
Anway -enough of this childishness - I'm pleased to say that the cyclist suffered only minor injuries, and the motorcyclist looks like he's going to poll through too. Sometime soon I'm sure we'll find out what the cause was. Probably not from Bikeradar though as they seem to be closing down any threads that attempt to discuss this accident.
This accident seems to have brought all the bile and hatred to the surface for some reason and I'm staying of Bikeradar for a while, except for trivia and the silly commuting stats.
My comments posted yesterday have been put up on the this is london site:
"For God sake - has no one got any perspective any more. I'm a cyclist and perfectly happy to share the roads and accept the risk. This was a freak accident, and more are bound to occur..cycling is not dangerous, nor are we a danger to anyone.
Since Londoners all seem to hate each other why don;t we get together in Trafalgar Square after work on Friday and have a great big fight."
- Porgy the Cat, London, England
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