Cycling in Melbourne Australia
Victoria Police now handing out No-bell Awards
3AW talkback - rider gets pinged in the Melb CBD for having no bell. (27 May, 2009)
- Listen to mp3 - about 6 minutes
Several interesting subtexts here, and then Feral Cheryl calls to share in the mirth.
Although you'd think spending $5 to be street legal would be the obvious thing to do to avoid getting a $57 fine. Ditto knowing some basic rights & responsibilities about riding a bike. Sigh.
Comment
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Comment by Cory on June 13, 2009 at 10:13am -
Trying to protect the morons from other morons running into them :S
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Comment by AlexZ on June 12, 2009 at 1:35pm -
Not sure what the relevance of the trials rider picture is?
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Comment by RobE on June 12, 2009 at 1:18pm
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it's not that weriders as a road user group need any special attention. If all road users just keep a look out, however we( riders) are no different to other road users in that we have responsibilities to them as well.
Selfishness and ignorance of the rights of others and responsibility towards our fellows isnt just lost on drivers or pedestrians, it is across society and pervades riders as well ( as we all know too well) sadly the reaction from the likes of 3AyaWn and the Hun and others of similar tabloid ilk is to tar all riders with the same muck and to ignore the failings of those drivers who are aggressive and careless( and selfish) and those pedestrians who have a similar outlook.
I wouldnt hold back on telling a red light runner about their infraction and so what if they want to send us abuse, its not just their life they are threatening, it could be yours or anyone elses who is put in danger, and pity anyone who has had to live with a death as a result of their involvement in an incident in which they were not at fault but became entwined due to the idiocy and stupidity of someone who was hell bent on improving the gene pool .
The Darwin Awards are well and truly active every day and becoming more so across all road users.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cveWjA3TJxI
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Comment by Dave Cole on June 12, 2009 at 1:06pm
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I am scrupulous about obeying the road rules on my bike and nothing makes my blood boil more than seeing idiot bike riders thinking the rules do not apply to them. So far as other road users are concerned all bike riders are tarred with the same brush as a result of the selfish arseholes.
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Comment by trundlebug on June 12, 2009 at 11:18am -
Yep. Last week riding down Gertrude Street in Fitzroy, I was coming down the hill, approaching the Smith Street intersection. Light good and green (check), no tram (check), no pedestrians (check), no cars failing to give way when turning (check and disbelief), cyclist coming down Smith St approaching red light (hmmm). Sure enough, straight into the intersection. Combination of loud yelling (pro-bell though I am, I don't think it would have done any good and I had my hands full anyway), brakes, and skidding off to the side saved the day. The other guy knew he was in the wrong at least but road rules, when adhered to, are good for cyclists too. Just because we're subject to a disproportionate amount of lethal unpleasantness on the road doesn't give us a license to make matters worse.
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Comment by Simon sausage on June 11, 2009 at 10:28am -
Bit off topic, but relevant:I spent half an hour at a Sydney rd cafe the other day watching a constant stream of cyclists flying through red lights at a ped crossing/tram stop. Reckon about 90% of riders ran the reds and flew past stopped trams with passengers getting on and off. Too many times passengers and peds were narrowly missed being run over by these idiots. It was really disgraceful, and obviously not a warning bell or honk to be heard. It was really disgraceful and I began to understand why us cyclists are so hated by motorists and others. I was even tempted to go encourage the local constabulary to set them selves up a 'sting' there and fine every one of these twits. Fine some sense into 'em I say!
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Comment by Realmaf on June 2, 2009 at 3:11am -
Uni-cycle = one
Bi-cycle = two
Tri-cycle = three
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Comment by Realmaf on June 2, 2009 at 3:07am
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This makes me laugh. I figure when riding on the road on a pushie you're almost at bottom of the pecking order. Say big trucks, trams and brick walls are at the top of this order than peds. must come in just below cyclists.
There is no law suggesting pedestrians should keep to a speed limit, wear flashing "I'm over here" beckons, reflective clothing or carry a bell when moving through a crowd. They do however seem to dress in dark colored clothing, listen to loud music in their ears, J walk and open car doors with out looking.
I'd like to know how fit these police on bikes are and exactly how well they know our streets? If for example I was in an old fashioned "high speed chase", then the cop on a bike would get KOed by either the ignorant J walking Pedestrian or flattened by a car while ringing his bell through a red light.
I've learnt to ride aggressively in and around the city. Cars are like dogs, they can smell fear. If you give them an inch, they'll take the lube off ya chain.
They number of bikes in the city is awesome! The number of un road worthy cars on our roads is scary. The state of our road is pathetic.
Where does all this start and stop?
Not with a push bike bell thats for sure...
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if its direct drive (no gears)... you might get away with it even though the reg claims to include unicycles( assuming a drive train via a belt,gear and/or chain, no gears would be an exception IMHO
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hehh... the plod sure as hell won't be able to work it out... you'll just have to talk sense to the magistrate and hope he will invite you in for a cuppa at morning tea to " discuss"
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