Biker down on High Road Leyton

Cycling along the High Road at lunchtime I came across the aftermath of a crash, close to Leyton Tesco. A helmeted powered-two-wheeler was on the ground by a red motorbike, receiving assistance from two paramedics. The rider seemed to be conscious.





























Update 5.15 pm

According to the local paper the rider was hit by a car but not seriously injured. Police attended the scene but a spokeswoman said no offence had been committed.

Front wheel bike thieves

On 9 July I blogged about a wrecked bike which had been abandoned for weeks in the cycle stands by the Arcade site. Someone had evidently nicked the front wheel, at which point the bike’s owner lost interest in her machine.

Bless my soul if the Council wasn’t down there the very next day with a notice requiring the removal of said bicycle within seven days, or else. So somebody out there IS reading my blog!











































I don’t expect the luckless owner of the bike ever went back to look at it. Maybe she packed in cycling altogether. UK research shows that, 17% of cyclists experience bicycle theft. Of these, 24% stop cycling and 66% cycle less often (DTR/TRL 1996)

As you might expect from Waltham Forest Council, since then nothing at all has happened. Nothing at all. Nuffink. Zilch. Rien.

But is it really the case that a council has to apply to a magistrate’s court to remove an obviously abandoned bike from a stand? I would have thought it possessed the powers to remove unauthorised and obstructive street materiel without going through such a cumbersome procedure.

Cycling campaigners are always fretting about the image of cycling. Me, I think prolonged scenes like this send out a very clear message that cycling today is a neglected wreck.

Incidentally the motorbike which is shown locked to the bike stand in my original blog post continues to be parked here (it was there yesterday, for example) even though the parking attendants should be giving it a ticket for footway parking.

Death of a biker

This is a troubling case involving the killing of a motorcyclist. The biker was overtaking in a perfectly lawful manner when a van driver pulled out without warning, evidently not having considered the possibility that there might be a motorcyclist or a cyclist overtaking him. It’s a situation I recognise as a cyclist: drivers in heavy traffic often never consider the possibility that there might be a cyclist either undertaking them in the cycle lane or overtaking them in the middle of the carriageway. Without bothering to ‘think bike’ drivers lurch left or right without looking in their mirrors and without indicating. This, it seems to me, is grossly negligent.

In this case the motorcyclist collided with the van and was knocked into the path of an oncoming car, and died from his injuries. I would have thought on the facts as they are reported there was a case to charge the van driver with causing death by careless driving. The Crown Prosecution Service evidently didn’t think so, but then the CPS has a very questionable record when it comes to the killing of cyclists by van drivers.

The van driver was evidently disturbed by the fact that

There was a car in front that was leaving a large gap in front. I don't know what he was doing.

Perhaps this driver was simply a careful driver who saw no need to accelerate and catch up with the motor vehicles in front. The van driver presumably was thinking about filling that gap when he pulled out in front of the overtaking motorcyclist.

Orazio D'Agostino was driving the silver van which hit Mr Gotting. He was interviewed by Essex Police but no criminal charges have been brought against him.

He told the court: “There was a car in front that was leaving a large gap in front. I don't know what he was doing.

“I moved slightly out. It was just a slight manoeuvre. I was just seeing what was happening. It happened so fast, I didn't expect him to hit me. It was in a flash literally.”

A bit like these crazy cyclists, I suppose. As we know, cyclists just appear out of nowhere, quite often as they morph from their normal condition of total invisibility into that brief moment when they collide with a car.

Bikers beaten

Westminster council today won a landmark legal battle over charging motorcyclists to park in the street. The High Court dismissed a parking campaigner's attempt to prevent officials levying a £1-a-day fee. A judge rejected claims by Warren Djanogly, of No To Motorbike Parking Fees, that the authority introduced it simply to raise revenue.

Over the past year the campaign group has held weekly demonstrations in Westminster, with "go-slow" rides in and around Trafalgar Square in the morning and evening rush hours to "paralyse" central London and turn the spotlight on their campaign.

Motorcyclists are charged to use any dedicated on-street bay. The council says it will hold the charge at £1 a day for three years. Riders can park free in its car parks.

Bike stands: the ‘shared use’ principle

Bicycle stands are perfect for motorbikes and wrecked, vandalised bikes. The bike on the right has been there for weeks. It’s an ‘Edinburgh’, which seems strangely apt. (Walthamstow High Street, the Arcade site.)




































And for those who fret about the image of cycling, this vandalised Dutch bike on Coppermill Lane is still there and has been sending out a signal for months.

Lawless motorcyclists

The 'No motorcyclists/cars' signs have been systematically painted out on both sides of the road closure on the cycle route on Essex Road E17. Bollards prevent access by cars so the only road users who benefit from this vandalism are motorcyclists. This ties in with this story:

A war between motorcyclists and council parking managers escalated today amid “spying” claims and thousands of pounds of criminal damage caused to road signs.

Police have assigned a detective to use Westminster City Council's vast network of CCTV cameras to track down the bikers spray-painting parking signs to avoid paying a £1-a-day charge.

A disgruntled biker writes about speeding bikers:

I was spitting feathers and was all but decided to phone the police in the hopes they could do something to save the life of the innocent pedestrian or cyclist about to be killed (I have to admit I had lost any interest in the lives of these reckless bikers). But then joy of joys, I turned the corner and there was a police van with speed camera pointed at the road.

Cyclist/biker collision

A CYCLIST is today fighting for her life following a serious collision with a motorcyclist on a Hampshire road.

Police have closed the Ringwood to Christchurch B3347 road after the incident just before 3pm yesterday.

Biker vandalism?

My photograph shows the cyclists-and-pedestrians-only route which runs from Morland Road E17 to Essex Road, under the railway bridge. Someone has methodically used white paint to blot out all the signs on both sides of the bridge forbidding use of this route by cars and motorcyclists. Cars are physically prevented by bollards but motorcyclists can get through without any problems.

Whoever would want to do such a thing? Who could possibly benefit? Only a motorcyclist. Because a biker caught using this route could now claim that there was no valid signing, and on this basis any prosecution would fail. This is certainly not casual vandalism but a deliberate and comprehensive erasure of road signing.

The motorbike lobby

I was intrigued to see on yesterday’s morning travel news:

Trafalgar Square Westminster » Severe delays due to earlier motorbike demonstration

I’ve no idea what it was about but what a difference to the feebleness of the cycling community, such as it is, which almost never protests about anything. Indeed, it’s obvious from Comments boxes that a lot of cyclists are terrified of holding up traffic. There’s a certain sort of cycling commentator whose obsession is complaining about the behaviour of fellow cyclists and sobbing about the need to win “respect” from drivers. Crap like this, for example:

Until cyclists are seen to obey the rules of the roads, and are punished for failing to do so, you will not gain support from motorists.

As far as I’m aware there has never been a single cycling protest about the massive daily abuse of Advanced Stop Lines by drivers, or the absolute refusal of the Metropolitan Police to enforce the law. Contrast that supine inertia with the motorcycle lobby, who even feel enough sense of solidarity to stage protests like this:

Motorcyclists are planning a protest ride through Hull in opposition to an undercover police operation against speeding bikers. It comes as traffic officers unveiled their latest weapon in the battle to cut motorcyclist deaths – a 186mph superbike.

The Suzuki GSX 1300R Hayabusa is fitted with a video camera and speed detection equipment.

However, members of a motorbike group have said they plan to stage a protest ride through Hull on May 1 to oppose what they believe are unnecessary undercover tactics.

And you can understand why bikers might be upset at undercover enforcement.

In his running commentary, the police biker describes seeing him flip up his number plate as he passes a speed camera to avoid identification.

After a backup officer on a marked police bike pulls over a group of the riders, the unmarked vehicle pursues the last two at speeds of up to 104mph before they pull over.

Three other bikers from the group were convicted at Crawley Magistrates Court of careless driving, dangerous driving and threatening behaviour.

And if you're a fact person, here's a fact about bikers:

Motorcycles (53 per cent), light vans (52 per cent) and four-axle rigid HGVs (52 per cent) were the vehicle types that most frequently exceeded the speed limit on 30 mph roads.