Moderators (requests and notices)

Some genius whispered in his ear

Object is now moderator of the Rider Down forum.

good idea

Thanks Velocio.
And Laner for suggesting it.

Sound like a fantastic idea.

Sound like a fantastic idea.

Fabulous, you mean? In the original sense, of course.

Good work, Object. Just remember, with great power comes great responsibility.

That's a great idea - it is him who always wants the titles changed after all.

Dammit, done.

Many thanks, he responded to me this morning.

http://www.lfgss.com/thread86548.html

pls ban or close this thread. he doesn't get it.

Velocio,

This week there have been three cyclist fatalities in Britain.
I've started a thread for the one that I have firm details of and am chasing up information on the other two before starting threads for those.

Some time back you mentioned switching to a black logo in the event of a cyclist fatality. Could we discuss that further at some point?

^ Would be a nice touch and a harsh reminder, I vote for.

There are over 100 deaths per annum in the UK.

I'm happy to change the header logo to black, but if I did it for every cycling fatality in the UK then it would always be black. This would obviously lessen the impact of it significantly.

In London the figure varies but around 15 per annum is the approximate average.

I'm happy to turn the logo black for any cycling fatality in London, for 2 or 3 days after the incident.

This would make the "bat signal" valuable in that it isn't black too often, but often enough that it alerts people that a fatality has occurred.

The bat signal gets fired by someone (anyone) emailing me and letting me know that a London cycling fatality has just occurred.

This is a London based forum so the above sounds very reasonable
Thank you.

Long may the header remain blue.

can it also turn pink when someone flounces?

brevity aside i think the black logo idea is a good one...

I think having an automatic response like that for every cyclist death might not be the best idea. I don't know, maybe I'm being too cynical, but putting the forum in mourning colours is a move more toward promoting collective greif as opposed to a simple recognition of tragic events.

Also, sometimes these events are just tragic accidents and are independent of cycling issues.

I have a problem with the word accident, it's as if we're saying "Oops!". Are accidents avoidable? Are we OK about tolerating accidents that end in fatality? I'd rather call them incidents, and figure that something should be addressed. This something doesn't necessarily put blame on anyone involved, it might be that town planning led to the creation of a dangerous junction, that there was oil on the road, or that fog descended. Not all incidents need have solutions, but certainly the cause behind them should be examined and there should be less of an "Oops!" about it.

I think it was Professor Thrun (not a rapper), who basically wondered aloud about why we (mankind) permit one of the largest cause of deaths in youth (road traffic incidents) to occur. I largely agree with him... if we (all road users) collectively wanted it to end, we have it within our means to do so. The very first part of that is to stop calling them accidents, stop thinking that they are things that just happened, and instead call them incidents, and ask the question "What can be done to avoid this in future?".

That does make us lobbyists to some extent. And the point of the black header was to recognise that a death has occurred that may have been avoidable, and to help trigger collective action. It's done with sympathy to the thought, "It could have been me.". Not to say that collective grief is the desire... that would be gruesome. But that appreciating life and recognising loss should be a cause for great anger about why we let this happen.

I think I rambled and talked myself in knots. I don't think it's promoting collective grief though.

I see it as a mark of respect. Nothing more.

There but for the grace of God, go I

The above stands true whether you believe in a supreme being, some form of fate, or just being in the wrong place and the wrong time.

Sometimes your skill on a bike and adherence to (or abuse of) road traffic laws may not be at fault. Many incidents are out of control of at least one of the parties involved.

merge?

www.lfgss.com/thread156.html

www.lfgss.com/thread86824.html

Smerged

Completely agree regarding the word accidents which is all part of the tolerance we have for people who harm people using cars. Another element of this is referring to people as 'cars' and saying absurd things like 'the car didn't see him'. When we personalise our interactions on roads and make people who use them responsible for their actions the better for all. However I am not sure I agree with marking every fatality with a logo colour change which like ghost bikes focuses on and exaggerates the dangers of cycling and which is almost anti cycling-promotion.

Around 3000 people die on the roads annually in the UK, people using all modes and each death is terrible. The fact the we bike riders are better at forming groups and campaigning and flagging up incidents that happen to fellow riders better than, say people who walk (Yes we all walk) makes it seem to people who don't ride that we are doing something very risky which we are not. (Since per mile travelled you are more likely to come to harm as a pedestrian than as a bike rider)

evader?

http://www.lfgss.com/member33255.html

Sorry - typo in title
http://www.lfgss.com/thread86848.html

^You mean the use of an apostrophe to make a plural?

*tDo* gooder's required - N16 Communiy Olympic Day Event