"Jim Ley" <
[email protected]> wrote in message
news:
[email protected]...
> On Thu, 29 Dec 2005 23:09:18 +0000 (UTC), "wafflycat"
> <w*a*ff£y£cat*@£btco*nn£ect.com> wrote:
>
>>"Jim Ley" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>>> No, everyone should take sufficient care, no-one need take more care
>>> than sufficient. This is your problem you hold other groups to a
>>> higher standard than you hold the one your a member of...
>>>
>>Guy is also a motorist as well as a cyclist & a pedestrian... as are many
>>who post here.
>
> Yes, he can be a member of multiple groups, they are obviously not
> disjoint.
>
>>From a personal point of view, when I'm in motorist mode, I feel I have to
>>take a *particular* care, more so than when in cyclist or pedestrian mode,
>>as when I'm motoring, I'm more likely to kill or injure other people than
>>when cycling or walking...
>
> To me that just says you're not taking sufficient care when cycling or
> walking, or perhaps more likely are not as confident driving so _feel_
> you have to take more care, but that is just because that's how you
> have to behave to take sufficient care when driving.
>
Tell you what, come for a cycle ride with me and you can see whether or not
I take sufficient care. I cycle safely and assertively (not aggressively). I
wear bright/fluorescent/refective clothing, use many lights when cycling in
poor light, I signal, I stop at red lights, I don't cycle on the footpath,
etc., etc..I cycle a lot on those 'dangerous roads' the timid shy away from.
I take my responsibilities to self and others *seriously* whatever mode of
transport I happen to be using, be it walking, cycling or driving, but what
I think you fail to realise that driving a motorvehicle causes particular
risk to others that walking and cycling simply does not. Driving a tonne or
more of metal around at speed can and does impact far more on others than
cycling or walking. It's not the cyclists or the pedestrians that are
killing about 3500 and injuring tens of thousands more year in, year out,
it's we *motorists*. That's why it is right and proper that motoring be
subject to particular scrutiny and why emphasis is given on stopping
motorists breaking the law and driving in an unsafe manner. As for driving,
I drive thousands of miles a year, rural, urban, motorway, abroad... hardly
lacking in confidence. But I do try to be careful and take my
responibilities as a motorist seriously.
> cyclists do kill people, pedestrians do kill people (mostly themselves
> of course, but they can cause other people to be killed if other
> roadusers have to take avoiding action) they have to take care not to
> do that... Just like every group.
Have I said that cyclists don't kill? Have I said that pedestrians don't?
Have I defended cyclists breaking the law? No to all of that. I set my
example to others by how I drive and how I cycle. What you fail to realise
is that it is absolutely right and proper that the vast majority of law
enforcement and scrutiny *should* be placed on the group that causes the
most damage - and that's us when we are in motorist mode. For example, as a
motorist I have absolutely no problem with speed cameras - the more the
better - and with the other raft of legislation used to control motorists.
It is *necessary* as it helps stop we motorists from killing and injuring
even more people.
Here in the UK, if you want to killl someone and effectively get away with
it, use a motor vehicle as your weapon of choice. The newspapers regularly
report on how some person was killed on our roads through no fault of their
own, but the driver who killed them gets nothing more than a fine of a few
hundred pounds and a few points on the licence. It isn't always the fault of
the driver, but when it is, sanctions seem to be pitifully poor, thus
encouraging the view that when a driver drives badly and kills or injures
someone it was 'only an accident' or 'could have happened to anyone' The
situation where it is currently put about in the media that somehow the
motorists of the UK are a particularly 'put upon' group being bled dry by
the stealth tax of the speed camera is a farce - and a lie. Just the same as
the rantings of the media about killer cyclists and the millions of poor
pedestrians being maimed by 'Lycra Louts' - the entire thing is a huge
overstatement and embellishment mixed with untruth. Yes, there are cyclists
who break the law - and they shouldn't. But when you put the actual risk
posed by such cyclists next to the actual risk and danger we pose when we
are motoring, it is right and proper that the emphasis of law enforcement
and sanction *should* be against those posing the greatest danger.
Cheers, helen s
>
> Jim.
(at least you used to - you are actually in my kf on