Warning to cyclists - idiots on the road 12 June 2021

Forums › Transport (cars, bikes and boats) › Warning to cyclists - idiots on the road 12 June 2021

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#2723707 10-Jun-2021 13:26

Handsomedan:

I think this was just a poor attempt at kneejerk humour from someone upset by the actions of the idiots on the harbour bridge.

He's just the wrong person to be throwing stones from his glasshouse, based on the guy's background.

There's a lot of these stupid pages/events that go up all the time on FB - most often they are set up by some student or other in an attempt to get 1/2 a minute of internet fame and to be funny.

I can think immediately of a couple of examples - like the Naruto Run at Area 51 (They can't shoot us all, right?) and some low-effort one my teenage sons thought was funny about naked bungy jumps from the harbour bridge during lockdown or some such.

Nah. It's kneejerk, but not humour. All too often, when a bit of redneckery is challenged, it is deprecated as "misunderstood" "humour". The reader is cast as humourless and naive. Despite his claim that he meant "walk on" when he said "use", the following is quite clear to me. I don't see walking on a surface being any way to "show what a great surface it is to use". I do see that as being a euphemism for doing wheelspins and burnouts. And that totally fits as an expression of rage at cycllists.

We will use the cycle lane from the corner of Ngapipi Rd & Tamaki Drive, to the start of Quay St, and show what a great surface it is to use.”

Batman

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#2723718 10-Jun-2021 14:09

there's no need to warn cyclists. i get nearly run over all the time, and i am pretty sure some of them are intentional going by the facebook comments i've been reading for the last 10 years or so

also how i know some of them are intentional - the road is wide enough for 6 trucks with nobody on any other lanes and they drive and pass me centimeters from my bike. that's pretty intentional.

antonknee

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#2723743 10-Jun-2021 14:40

Handsomedan:

I think this was just a poor attempt at kneejerk humour from someone upset by the actions of the idiots on the harbour bridge.

He's just the wrong person to be throwing stones from his glasshouse, based on the guy's background.

There's a lot of these stupid pages/events that go up all the time on FB - most often they are set up by some student or other in an attempt to get 1/2 a minute of internet fame and to be funny.

I can think immediately of a couple of examples - like the Naruto Run at Area 51 (They can't shoot us all, right?) and some low-effort one my teenage sons thought was funny about naked bungy jumps from the harbour bridge during lockdown or some such.

I think that's far too charitable (and I also disagree about the idiots on the harbour bridge but that's not this thread).

The difference is that Naruto running at Area 51 and bungy jumping off the harbour bridge don't make an express or an implied threat to another human's safety. Inviting people to break the law, with an image of an injured cyclist, combined with some of the comments on the event, and also the organiser's YouTube videos absolutely escalates it beyond a couple of kids setting up a joke event.

Edited to add that "it's just a prank bro" and "I was only joking" are often used to excuse or absolve someone of doing or saying something they shouldn't have, and accepting that 'excuse' minimises any harm done or consequences that might have been. It's not really a prank or a joke if no one's laughing.

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#2723761 10-Jun-2021 15:35

antonknee:

I think that's far too charitable (and I also disagree about the idiots on the harbour bridge but that's not this thread).

The difference is that Naruto running at Area 51 and bungy jumping off the harbour bridge don't make an express or an implied threat to another human's safety. Inviting people to break the law, with an image of an injured cyclist, combined with some of the comments on the event, and also the organiser's YouTube videos absolutely escalates it beyond a couple of kids setting up a joke event.

Edited to add that "it's just a prank bro" and "I was only joking" are often used to excuse or absolve someone of doing or saying something they shouldn't have, and accepting that 'excuse' minimises any harm done or consequences that might have been. It's not really a prank or a joke if no one's laughing.

To be fair, I haven't visited the page to see what has been proposed or what is being said, but I agree that the post-invite "It's just a prank" really does scream that this was aimed at making a fairly dangerous point.

Frankly I'd rather call talkback and give the poor host a darn good talking to, but maybe that's a sign of my advancing years...

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Handsome Dan needs to stop adding three dots to every sentence...

Handsome Dan does not currently have a side hustle as the mascot for Yale

*Gladly accepting donations...

1101

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#2723781 10-Jun-2021 16:26

Kettle, black ?
didnt cyclists recently cause chaos with their excursion onto the Ak Harbour Bridge ?

Cyclists whinge and moan about how car drivers make things unsafe for them (not saying that isnt true)
but somehow ignore that so many cyclists treat pedestrians the same way .

And what happened to mitigating your own risk. Taking personal responsibility for your own decisions (ie cycling on dangerous roads, roads where cyclists have been killed) .

I do have a bike btw :-)

elpenguino

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#2723795 10-Jun-2021 16:52

1101:

Kettle, black ?
didnt cyclists recently cause chaos with their excursion onto the Ak Harbour Bridge ?

Cyclists whinge and moan about how car drivers make things unsafe for them (not saying that isnt true)
but somehow ignore that so many cyclists treat pedestrians the same way .

And what happened to mitigating your own risk. Taking personal responsibility for your own decisions (ie cycling on dangerous roads, roads where cyclists have been killed) .

I do have a bike btw :-)

Nice, we should form a GZ bike pack. Assuming you actually ride your bike as well as having it ! 😀

The situations are not quite the same tho are they?

For starters there is the retaliatory tone from the boy racer / car enthusiast. Mummy should have taught this baby that two wrongs doesn't make a right.

And the cycle protest on the bridge didn't have the aim of hurting pedestrians in any way, unlike the pic of the hurt cyclist as a Trumpian subtle message to followers without actually inciting vehicular manslaughter in words.

Most of the posters in this thread are just like chimpanzees on MDMA, full of feelings of bonhomie, joy, and optimism. Fred99 8/4/21

SheriffNZ

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#2723808 10-Jun-2021 17:21

1101:

And what happened to mitigating your own risk. Taking personal responsibility for your own decisions (ie cycling on dangerous roads, roads where cyclists have been killed) .

I do have a bike btw :-)

Why are there “dangerous roads”? Because drivers make them dangerous for cyclists.

Talk about victim blaming.

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gzt

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#2723881 10-Jun-2021 18:20

This bizarre idea that cyclists and car drivers are mutually exclusive and diametrically opposing groups is very silly.

The fact that some boy racer and friends want to inconvenience (and probably intended to threaten) random cyclists on Tamaki Drive is proof just how stupid this attitude can get.

alasta

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#2723888 10-Jun-2021 18:55

1101:

Kettle, black ?
didnt cyclists recently cause chaos with their excursion onto the Ak Harbour Bridge ?

Cyclists whinge and moan about how car drivers make things unsafe for them (not saying that isnt true)
but somehow ignore that so many cyclists treat pedestrians the same way .

As a pedestrian I am really concerned about what seems to be an escalating culture war between motorists and cyclists. This level of aggression poses a real risk to pedestrians, who must be beginning to feel like nothing more than collateral damage.

Frankly both sides need to calm down and grow up.

Ge0rge

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#2723889 10-Jun-2021 18:57

SheriffNZ:

1101:

And what happened to mitigating your own risk. Taking personal responsibility for your own decisions (ie cycling on dangerous roads, roads where cyclists have been killed) .

I do have a bike btw :-)

Why are there “dangerous roads”? Because drivers make them dangerous for cyclists.

Talk about victim blaming.

Ridden your treadley over the Rimutaka Hill Road lately?

Oblivian

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#2723938 10-Jun-2021 19:33

Heralds picked it up https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/cycling-counter-protest-opponents-vow-to-walk-cycle-lane/OFKRZNLUFSZSHLTHD4VOXPQRAA/

snnet

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#2723987 10-Jun-2021 19:49

I often wonder if people remember that bicycles on the road have a human being on them...I've only just recently started cycling again, I'm pretty much on the outskirts of auckland, but I won't go on the main roads during busy times because of what some drivers do. Not all drivers are bad, and I certainly don't try to get in their way, but there is the odd dickhead that tries to run you down...So I feel my only real choice to get any exercise on my bike is daylight but very early Sunday morning. Even then there are a few winners driving on the road. Some other cyclists are also w*#(&$s to people starting out again - I don't feel this is exclusively motor vehicle drivers that cause problems.

Rikkitic

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#2725075 10-Jun-2021 23:52

1101:

Kettle, black ?
didnt cyclists recently cause chaos with their excursion onto the Ak Harbour Bridge ?

Cyclists whinge and moan about how car drivers make things unsafe for them (not saying that isnt true)
but somehow ignore that so many cyclists treat pedestrians the same way .

And what happened to mitigating your own risk. Taking personal responsibility for your own decisions (ie cycling on dangerous roads, roads where cyclists have been killed) .

I do have a bike btw :-)

A car masses at 1-2 thousand kilos, an SUV rather more. A car that hits a cyclist almost always does a lot of damage. A cyclist that hits another cyclist, or a pedestrian, or even a car, does a lot less damage. In Europe the principle is that the bigger vehicle bears the bigger responsibility. It doesn't matter whose fault it is. What matters is who can cause the most hurt.

If you are in a car, you have an extra responsibility to make sure you don't endanger any other road users. It doesn't matter who is 'right'. It doesn't matter who is breaking laws. What matters is that you shouldn't want to be responsible for serious harm to another human being, whether they are being dicks or not. Grow up and get over it.

Plesse igmore amd axxept applogies in adbance fir anu typos

GV27

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#2725093 11-Jun-2021 06:45

Rikkitic:

A cyclist that hits another cyclist, or a pedestrian, or even a car, does a lot less damage.

Cyclist vs pedestrian is a lot worse than people realise. When a car hit sometimes, it's usually with a part that's been designed to a standard that ensures whatever it's hitting (i.e. pedestrians) end up with better outcomes.

There is literally no crash protection or impact safety standards for a bike.

I don't buy into the 'tax cyclists' but it's a point worth keeping in mind given we include an ACC levy based on a vehicle's safety rating in our registrations. It's also led to a lot of cars that are ugly as sin in the last couple of decades so I'm somewhat filthy about it. I've also had some close calls with cycle couriers in the CBD that would have likely been fatal for one or both of us, including one glancing blow when someone decided to just fly through a barnes dance.

sxz

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#2725106 11-Jun-2021 08:09

1101:

Kettle, black ?
didnt cyclists recently cause chaos with their excursion onto the Ak Harbour Bridge ?

Chaos?

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