Blood on the streets

Sorry but you don't collide with a driver, you collide with the vehicle they are driving. It's isn't the driver that breaks your bones and spills your blood, it's the vehicle that inflicts the actualy injury, not the pilot. When I get hit by a van I tell people I was hit by a van, not by a human driving a van.

If I said 'a driver hit me today' people would assume a driver punched me, not that he drove into me. Silly stuff.

Oh and I'm not a journalist. Tell it to them, not me.

not on BBC london they don't. and that fat cunt paul 'fat cunt' ross was banging on about 'road tax' this morning.

Sorry but you don't collide with a driver, you collide with the vehicle they are driving. It's isn't the driver that breaks your bones and spills your blood, it's the vehicle that inflicts the actualy injury, not the pilot. When I get hit by a van I tell people I was hit by a van, not by a human driving a van.

If I said 'a driver hit me today' people would assume a driver punched me, not that he drive into me. Silly stuff.

the point is, it's not cyclists colliding with cars, it's drivers colliding with cyclists. in order for a cyclist to collide with a car, the car would have to be all but stationary.

this is an important distinction

less collision terminology pedantry more boris killing

less collision terminology pedantry more boris killing

Thank fuck for someone sensible. Have some rep

Maybe if boris was knocked off something would be done?

Not that i'm recommending someone do that. of course

the same can be said for the pernicious word 'accident', which presumes there is no blame to be apportioned, when there quite obviously .

No it doesn't. 'Accident' distinguishes between something deliberate and something that wasn't.

A car (sorry, a driver) pulling out of a junction is a deliberate action, but if there happens to be a cyclist coming that the driver hasn't seen then the outcome is accidental. Also, just because something is described as an accident doesn't mean blame can't be apportioned.

it's important because as i said previously, the language used in the media goes a long way to informing the opinions and in extreme cases, confirming the prejudices of people who believe cyclists have no place on the roads.

although johnson appears to have done a bang up job of that today all on his very own.

No it doesn't. 'Accident' distinguishes between something deliberate and something that wasn't.

A car (sorry, a driver) pulling out of a junction is a deliberate action, but if there happens to be a cyclist coming that the driver hasn't seen then the outcome is accidental. Also, just because something is described as an accident doesn't mean blame can't be apportioned.

it's a mealy-mouthed, milquetoast of a word to describe what is potentially a life altering event in one or more individuals lives. two solid objects have collided. it's a collision.

The victims of drink drivers are furious when they see the death described as an "accident". An accident is something that can't be prevented.

Hate the way every media story of a cyclist death mentions they they were or weren't wearing a helmet. It's not a legal requirement, you may as well say they were wearing red pants, or a toad pinned to their lapel.

The victims of drink drivers are furious when they see the death described as an "accident". An accident is something that can't be prevented.

the judge presiding over my bro's case made this point repeatedly to the defense. they lost.

i'm not entirely sure what the point of this article is:

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/nov/14/london-cycling-deaths-cycle-superhighways-infrastructure?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

https://twitter.com/hannahmearns/status/401008789073059840

Needs to be re-tweeted.

Never ceases to amaze me what a clueless cunt he is.

it's a diversionary tactic, and it appears to have worked. twitter and comments sections are awash with thick skulled knuckle draggers who are nodding in agreement and pointing along with the cunt, whilst the issue of his inability to provide usable infrastructure or even to address recurring issues like bow roundabout go largely unremarked upon.

all in all, a smart move on his behalf.

Why does Boris say this stuff? Is he trying to protect the CSHs? Deflect blame? He must have advisers, was he coached to take this approach? It's strange, it's such a silly thing to say.

https://twitter.com/hannahmearns/status/401008789073059840

Needs to be re-tweeted.

Can you paste the tweet - it's blocked here.

^ ditto

Here:

Given that my friend Chiara was one of the 13 this year, hearing @MayorofLondon say this is pretty hard to swallow http://gu.com/p/3kcgp/tw

So once cyclists obey all laws, have insurance, wear helmets and hi-viz, pay road tax, hug the kerb, and keep on being killed by inattentive drivers, then what?

Now, if 5 people were killed in a week due to something else (guns, bombs, whatever) that dickhead Boris and his mates would be all over this.

Probably due to the cycle training I had when I was growing up I tend to keep left. Didn't do me too badly when I used to cycle in London 10-12 years ago, but after a long break I'm trying to give myself more room as the roads are atrocious now. This can't help.

The blue lanes are also a complete joke - I walk from Bow Church to Bow Road Stations fairly regularly, and cars/vans regularly encroach, but worse is that the road narrows and pushed the blue line feet into the carriageway. Mental.

Secondly cars and trucks, and buses don't look very human to a cyclists, just large machines that whizz past and intimidate.
..

Apologies for defeflecting from your rant before. Oliver explained the importance of our use of language when discussing this stuff. Its exactly your point 2. above that makes it so important to refer to people.

On the point of saying "I was hit by a van (not by a van driver) " what about a gun? Would you say "a gun shot me?" . Its people that cause harm not inanimate objects.

Again if I say 'I was hit by a van driver' people will think a van driver punched me, not collided with me in his van.

When you collide with a vehicle, it is the vehicle that you physically hit, not the driver. The driver may be responsible, not the vehicle, but he's inside his little bubble of steel and glass. Until he gets out and you slap him upside the head there is no collision between you and the driver.

And Boris, you are a massive, irredeemable cunt