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National Hate Crime Week. Should Shouting At Or Close Passing Cyclists Be A Hate

National Hate Crime Week. Should shouting at or close passing cyclists be a hate crime?  

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  1. 1. National Hate Crime Week. Should shouting at or close passing cyclists be a hate crime?

    • Yes
      10
    • No
      26
    • What does close pass mean?
      1

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  • Poll closed on 31/10/21 at 23:59

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1 hour ago, Jim117 said:

I can remember going on holiday to Gt Yarmouth as a kid. The landscape was as flat as Holland and single gear push bikes probably dating from WW2 were ten a penny. Made perfect sense. We live in Sheffield and no matter how much our council wants to promote cycling it’s not a viable option unless you happen to live in a valley bottom. I am 56 so probably at the lower end of the age spectrum on here and there is no way I will be jumping on a push bike anytime soon. Aside from the fact that I have to cart a ton of tools around. Please don’t tell me about gearing, cycling might be great for some cities but Sheffield is not one of them unless you are an endorphin junkie.

I lived near Doncaster up to being 13 - cycling was a doddle without gears. A hill was from the road onto the pavement.

 

We moved to Stocksbridge - a few kids had bikes with derailleur gears, although never saw one of them attempting going up the steep hills of  1 in 7 plus.

 

Where we live in France now, from the village up to where we live is similar in distance and gradient to Sheffield centre to Crosspool. There is a regular group of half a dozen Tour de France wannabees that meet in the village once a week that go up hill and down dale.

 

There are no end of bikes on a week end using the two long fairly flat roads along the ridges near our house - and they're all e-bikes which you can usually pick up for 600 euro out here.

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20 hours ago, Resident said:

My experiences count towards eyewitness testimony, I am giving an account based on my observations and perfectly valid as evidence

Here's a quote from a legal website - "It is a fundamental part of the criminal process. Properly obtained, preserved and presented, eyewitness testimony directly linking the accused to the commission of the offence, is likely the most significant evidence of the prosecution."


As you say, your linked study is a few years old now and there are far more cyclists on the roads now & wasn't even conducted in the UK, It was conducted in the Netherlands, where cycling is hugely popular.

 

Oh the "iT's LeGaL" screeching arguement. Skydiving naked without a parachute is legal.  Just because something is legal doesn't make it safe and my point related to putting themselves in harm's way not law breaking.  Squeezing yourself down inbetween two large 50ft long, weighing upto 44ton  vehicles that are less than the now legal minimum spacing apart is massively unsafe. Try harder. 

 

Annnnd here comes the whataboutery, right on schedule.  Typically, can't attack what was stated so trying to deflect it elsewhere. 

My bold.  You offer anectdotal eyewitness accounts as evidence, and are affronted when that is challenged?

 

So.  The majority of drivers I come across when driving (or cycling) around Sheffield fail:

 

1. To use their indicators

2. To stop at a red light (oooh, I can get through that, why should I have to stop).

3. To adhere to the speed limit

 

Now tell me, is that really the majority, or is it just a sample of what I see?  Do I just notice them because it's stupid, or dangerous?

 

I'm not denying there are cyclists who are stupid and ignorant.  I'm saying it's not exclusive to cyclists.  We are all people.  That is the common factor, and the problem...

 

Look at post #73.  Very well put!

Edited by Becky B

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10 hours ago, Jim117 said:

I can remember going on holiday to Gt Yarmouth as a kid. The landscape was as flat as Holland and single gear push bikes probably dating from WW2 were ten a penny. Made perfect sense. We live in Sheffield and no matter how much our council wants to promote cycling it’s not a viable option unless you happen to live in a valley bottom. I am 56 so probably at the lower end of the age spectrum on here and there is no way I will be jumping on a push bike anytime soon. Aside from the fact that I have to cart a ton of tools around. Please don’t tell me about gearing, cycling might be great for some cities but Sheffield is not one of them unless you are an endorphin junkie.

We went to Yarmouth as 15 year olds , on our bikes . 160 miles and not flat all the way .

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I came on Effingham Road on Saturday on my bike , I passed all the piles of scrap that litter the road and came to the first Island , looked left and right , now't coming so plowed onto Island to go straight ahead , then car came from entrance below mine and side shunted me into side of road , now't serious just shuck up . 

The driver carried on towards Hyde Park waving . The twaaaate

Edited by cuttsie

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1 hour ago, cuttsie said:

I came on Effingham Road on Saturday on my bike , I passed all the piles of scrap that litter the road and came to the first Island , looked left and right , now't coming so plowed onto Island to go straight ahead , then car came from entrance below mine and side shunted me into side of road , now't serious just shuck up . 

The driver carried on towards Hyde Park waving . The twaaaate

Not unusual on that roundabout, had a few close shaves myself there riding to and from work. Drivers approach pretty quickly from Bernard Road or Foley Street, a quick glance and they're on the roundabout. As you say, twaaaats.

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Yes and plenty of room for every one so no excuse just get out of my way I am bigger than you /

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8 minutes ago, cuttsie said:

Yes and plenty of room for every one so no excuse just get out of my way I am bigger than you /

Chuck one of them Hassle bricks through their windscreens Cuttsie.

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14 minutes ago, Padders said:

Chuck one of them Hassle bricks through their windscreens Cuttsie.

Cheapest bricks money could buy at time , what will do trick is a good old Sheffield well baked crossle from Rutland rooooooad brick yard .

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16 hours ago, altus said:

Do you think that picture shows enough room to safely overtake the cyclist without moving into the next lane across?

Why are you deliberately avoiding my point?

 

Until the HC is updated with the guidance from Bikeaware etc, the car driver will feel they have every right to express their annoyance at the cyclist for impeding their progress, in the same way they would following a tractor.

 

Regarding the picture giving enough room, the motorist needs to give the cyclist the same amount of room as they would a car. You could argue in the picture that the motorist is actually giving the cyclist more room than they would a car; if you would give a car the same distance, then the overtaking car in the picture would have it's right wheels against the kerb or actually be off the road entirely.

Edited by the_bloke

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The "war" between "drivers and cyclists" is just another manifestation of human behaviour.

 

The human condition. No amount of nanny state legislation can solve it.

 

Just like a sidewalk where yobbos (or in my case worse, high school students) walk 3 abreast, and will not step aside for a pensioner carrying her groceries, either thoughtlessly, or intentionally.

 

Truth is that more often drivers are cyclists too, and cyclists are drivers, so the real "war" that exists is actually just another manifestation of the Green war on fossil fuels, with advocates on each side sharply delineated by conservative or socialist views.

 

In my old neighborhood in mid town there's a a lot of traffic, and it's common to see families with tots in tow out for a weekend bicycle ride.

 

Those tots are riding on the streets without a licence, out of physical control of their parents,  and often on the sidewalks, so we give them a very wide berth. At that moment they own the streets. We drivers do not hurl abuse at them we just smile and wave them on.

 

Cyclists often  ignore traffic regulations and ride on sidewalks (I was hit hard on the elbow from a cyclist who came up fast behind me and just pedaled on, and yes, I did hurl abuse, lol)

 

Don't see too many cars driving on sidewalks, Lol


Folks who cycle to work, openly admit thay can "beat the traffic jams" by various means, including coming up very close alongside cars and cutting in. That behavior by car drivers on a highway results in "agressive driving" charges that bring ever higher fines, and, if repeated, loss of license. 

 

It's not a sin to be annoyed at unthinking or boorish people, whatever their preferred mode of transportation,  skin color, gender, or sexual preference.  It's just life.

 

National Hate Crime Week?

 

Get a life!

Edited by trastrick

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6 hours ago, the_bloke said:

Why are you deliberately avoiding my point?

 

Until the HC is updated with the guidance from Bikeaware etc, the car driver will feel they have every right to express their annoyance at the cyclist for impeding their progress, in the same way they would following a tractor.

 

Regarding the picture giving enough room, the motorist needs to give the cyclist the same amount of room as they would a car. You could argue in the picture that the motorist is actually giving the cyclist more room than they would a car; if you would give a car the same distance, then the overtaking car in the picture would have it's right wheels against the kerb or actually be off the road entirely.

It would be useful for the HC to be updated to include the advice given on the Bikeability course to reinforce warnings about driving around cyclists currently in the HC. Personally, I'd like completing the Bikeability course to be a prerequisite to getting a driving licence. The point I was making was that the Bikeability course doesn't contradict the HC, which may be why it hasn't been updated yet.

 

I don't think updating the HC, whilst useful, would produce much of a difference, at least for a very long time. How many drivers never look at the highway code again after they've passed their test? I suspect those that do look at again it are the sort of people who'd try and give vulnerable road users plenty of room anyway.

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