Is it time to start calling out bad cyclists?

so so good! I wish .. someone is mugging me right off.

They randomly followed me 6 months ago. We had a brief but lively discussion culminating in me inviting them to follow Bill Hicks' advice to people who work in marketing.

.

I've just spent the best part of half an hour tracking down who's responsible for that shite. Google tells you everything about everyone these days. I've even got his fiancée's name.

That sound's incredibly sinister when I read it back. Hi if the police are reading this I'm not going to do anything.

Half an hour? 1 minute on a WHOIS is all you need...

It's a start...

wow

Indeed, the trick with whois info is to never update it (not so easy for some domains). The whois for my domain was correct in 1998. Or hide it behind a web-design/IT company.

My up to date info is relatively easy to find though.

So I'm proceeding straight over a junction from a side street to another side street across a main road. There's generally a lot of traffic on the main road, so I slow to make sure the way is clear, I note a guy on a brompton (in full flouro avenger mode) pull up on my right hand side (I'm not hugging the gutter, but taking the lane) as I've slowed. I proceed to cross the junction and the flipping idiot tries to left-hook me, bringing us both to a stop on a busy road. He then has the audacity to say to me, "you weren't indicating, I didn't know which way you were going"... FFS.

Edit: This was after a gang of teens/young adults tried to chase me down in hyde park because I had the audacity to shout out to stop one of them plowing right into my side as they were weaving all over the path.

This was after a gang of teens/young adults tried to chase me down in hyde park because I had the audacity to shout out to stop one of them plowing right into my side as they were weaving all over the path.

Yikes, what a precious bunch.

;)

Me - so busy trying to communicate with average sized guy on tiny mtb, who was wearing headphones and weaving all over the Cycle lane this morning that I nearly went headlong into someone coming the other way. My last words would have been "on your right... Mate... Excuse me... On your right".

2wrongs don't make a right.

So the thread is locked on this, for obvious reasons.

http://road.cc/content/news/204680-cyclist-charged-following-death-london-pedestrian

I believe the thread on here escalated quickly too, with the party involved showing little regard for how voicing opinion online could be a terrible idea.

Yeah, sorry, I was referring to the thread on here.

Ah yup thought you meant comments on the news story being locked. I believe the thread on here could have only been bad for the outcome in court, if I remember many posts were deleted.

All that comes to mind is "why aren't drivers charged for that same thing?".

That's the 'wanton or furious driving' section of the offences against the person act. I remember reading about it before. The maximum sentence is 2 years in prison. A horrible thing to be facing as a 19 year old rider, but clearly not as horrible as what happened to the pedestrian.

Because there's a specific offence for the motor vehicle equivalent that has different sanctions (specifically relating to points on the license and bans).

If they charged drivers with the same offences they wouldn't be able to give them points or take away their license.

What they are being charged from/with.

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Vict/24-25/100/contents

What death by other roadusers is charged from/with.

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/52/contents

Just take a look at the other charges in that list, a driver is grouped with those who have a brake light out or other small motoring offences while the cyclist is being grouped with "murder" "child stealing" "shooting" "threats to kill" the list goes on and on.

Because in 1861 there wasn't much call for motoring laws. Thankfully cycling related offences are so few they don't warrant their own act of Parliament so prosecutors have to fit the offence in with this one.

Both charges are "driving" but the one he is charged with is very loaded that his method was out and out wrong, the driving specific ones are "accidents" and so more lenient.

If you read the wording it's just as true for any death casused by a driver.

Drivers of carriages injuring persons by furious driving.
Whosoever, having the charge of any carriage or vehicle, shall by wanton or furious driving or racing, or other wilful misconduct, or by wilful neglect, do or cause to be done any bodily harm to any person whatsoever, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and being convicted thereof shall be liable, at the discretion of the court, to be imprisoned for any term not exceeding two years

You mean the harsh wording might influence the outcome?

Maybe. But any 'wanton' act in a car that causes death ought to be dangerous driving rather than careless driving, since if it's wanton by definition it can't be careless, and that can mean 14 years in clink, not 2.