Quoted message said:A bit melodramatic?
I really cannot believe the stupid irresponsible attitude of either the
idiot who posted this in the first place or the prize imbiciles who would
seek to defend such an action....... It's a stupid as Michael Jackson
dangling that child over a balcony or that half-wit who toy with his child
near an alligator.... And I make NO apology for that or what I'm about to
write...
To take the lives of two young children into your hands like that is
.....Well the English language is simply too limited to express what that
is.... Reckless is no where near the mark... I am angry and disgusted;
utterly disgusted.
As cyclist we are constantly exposed to danger and constantly take our lives
into our own hands. Both our machines and bodies are fragile. I've had to
attend at several RTA's involving motorcycles. At relatively low speeds
(30-50MPH) well padded and well protected adults can sustain horrific
injuries. I've seen many broken bones and one or two guys left with
life-changing injuries... But they're adults and that's the risk they take
with their own bodies....
Children thrown onto the roads at such speeds become mere rag-dolls. I've
personally seen a three year old with half it's skull missing. Stone-dead of
course. It was sitting unbelted in the back of an open top car when the
vehicle ran into the side of another car that had pulled out in front of it.
October 1986. Junction of Cardowan Road and Cumbernauld Road in Glasgow.....
Point of impact speed was calculated at around 20MPH. The child had been
thrown out the car and smashed it's head against the kerb at the side of the
road. It hadn't come into contact with any vehicle....
18 years on I still have occasional nightmares. Two cold blue dead eyes
staring up at me from the road, The child's brain, or what was left of it
exposed within the skull, other 'bits' lying around the road. Looked a lot
like a smashed up bloodied doll. To you [censored] who think that this sort of
thing isn't 'serious' or a problem or something that is likely to happen....
You need a serious shake up...... No actually you need taken outside and
given a good [censored]' kicking.... You absolute scum of the earth you!
In conversation with more experienced traffic officers I've heard many tales
of children crippled or terribly injured as a result of being strapped into
a bicycle seat where the machine has been involved in an accident... Often a
minor one. I have a close friend who is now a GP but spent some time working
in casualty... And again she can recount many tales of what happens when
tarmac impacts on a childs body.... Kids and bikes I'm all for. But under
close supervision and careful consideration....
But Arthur doesn't see the problem..... What if he'd hit something in the
road? Wouldn't have to have been anything big...... A branch a rock or even
a tin can can easily deflect a bik (tandem or otherwise) with the load of
two children on board at that speed.....
Peter doubts whether they'd come to grief... Well people come to grief
frequently; usually when it's least expected. The driver of that convertible
wasn't expecting to hit anything.... That's why she didn't strap the kid
in! It was three months before the Psych people cleared her for Police
interview; and I dare say that what would have been her child's 21st
birthday this year was not a day that wnet by cheerfully.....
And John doesn't take it seriously.... Perhaps if you people had really
SEEN the results of a serious accident, and at 44MPH a bicycle accident is
likely to be VERY serious....
I am sickend by your attitudes to the point where I am wretching as I
write....
I'm perfectly well aware of both the capabilities of tandems and the nature
of their design. That is utterly beside the point. As adults we have and
should have the freedom to take such risks with our lives as we personally
calculate reasonable. But as adults we have both a moral and legal duty of
care over our children. Personally I would question the wisdom of using a
baby seat on a bicycle or having such a young child as stoker on a
tandem.... But that in itself is a matter for the individual.
But to then take the machine to a point where it was approaching anything
LIKE the limits of it's performance is utterly stupid, irresponsible and
immoral...... You have a kid on the back you should bloody well be riding
responsibly... And that ain't.....
