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Stevenage van stickers (copyright Trevor Coultard).jpgDo these 'baseball bat' van stickers incite violence against cyclists?
Just a mediocre joke or something more serious? BikeBiz reports on a Stevenage business that has been reported to the police for the stickers adorning one of its vans.
The STS2000 van, spotted in Letchworth by freelance photographer Trevor Coultart, has a trio of stickers directed towards cyclists on its rear.
One, spoofing southern hemisphere ‘stay wider of the rider’ campaigns reads: “Cyclists – stay wider of the driver.”
Another reads: “Avoid serious injury, stay away from my van!” – accompanied by a picture of a stick man clobbering a cyclist with a baseball bat.
Video: Driver cuts up cyclist - then threatens him with baseball bat
The third says simply: “My attitude when driving is based upon YOU not hogging the road!”
Speaking to BikeBiz, Coultart said: "I drove past it parked and did two U-turns to get the photo. Is it incitement to violence? Threatening behaviour?"
The ‘avoid serious injury…’ sign appears to be one of many along similar lines. ‘Avoid serious injury, don’t tell me how to do my job!’ seems to be the most common, but an almost identical sticker is also available ending ‘… stay away from my bike!’ There’s even one in the same style that reads: “Tampering with my cello may result in an ass whoopin’ you’ll never forget!”
If that puts the tone of the sticker in perspective, the question is perhaps whether that comes across rather differently when directed towards those who could quite genuinely come to harm.
Yellow "cyclists stay back" stickers have become infamous in recent years with many cyclists of the opinion that the wording implies it is only the person on the bike and not the driver who is responsible for the former’s safety.
They have also proliferated. Originally introduced by Transport for London for buses, they are now seen on all manner of vehicles – even cars. Here at road.cc we responded by producing our ‘Cyclists stay awesome’ stickers so that you can let people know that you care – even when you're driving.
Alex has written for more cricket publications than the rest of the road.cc team combined. Despite the apparent evidence of this picture, he doesn't especially like cake.
Latest Comments
- chrisonabike 11 min 22 sec ago
So... before it kicks off - I guess it could be in the best place, and the rack could be OK *. But ... that's a question (for locals)....
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Definitely agree with that, I don't follow it closely but I have met a couple of friends of friends who work as conditioning coaches at Challenger...
- Geoff H 34 min 43 sec ago
I've tried building wheels and I could do it adequately, but to really do it well, is an art I leave to others, but I will re-true when needed. My...
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The problem with these systems, assisted breaking, traction control, etc) is they allow the incompetent ("too confident") driver to carry on...
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As someone who deals with property developers on a regular basis, them complaining about the unfairness and unreasonableness of anything that might...
- AidanR 1 hour 47 min ago
I'm not doubting that the bike is aero overall, but an entire article on a computer mount seems a bit over the top!
- BPhillips 1 hour 47 min ago
Thank you very much to everyone who took the time to comment on my question. ...
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This Actve travel improvement has huge benefits for everyone. Pedestrians will no longer have to cope with the hazard of cyclists using pavements....
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Sturmer potholes causing chaos https://www.eadt.co.uk/news/24940891.sturmer-a1017-potholes-near-haverhi......
- qwerty360 3 hours 41 min ago
**intentional misunderstanding**...
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120 comments
So if it is a choice between damaging my paintwork and damaging a human, I should choose damaging my paintwork ... I do not have a problem with that ... except ...
How exactly should I execute this manoeuvre to damage my paintwork without damaging a human? Can you not understand that I cannot damage one without damaging the other?
So whether my concern is the paintwork, and yours is the human, or vice versa, the end result is the same?
and
I appreciate that part of this is just you being bloody-minded for the sake of argument, but you are a very scary person and I hope to god that you don't live anywhere near me.
My last word
So, to summarise, we are all in agreement that we expect road users to use the roads responsibly and try to avoid accidents.
We differ because I don't give a fuck whether or not you are operating your vehicle responsibly and cautiously because you are desperate not to hurt me, desperate not to hurt yourself and your passengers or both.
Whereas your feelings are hurt and your nose is all out of joint unless you feel that a complete stranger's primary consideration is YOU. I call that a level of self-entitlement that is baffling. You disagree.
Stalemate.
I have quite literally wasted minutes of my life that I will never get back on a total non-issue so this is the end.
My last word!
ALMOST .....
It just occurs to me that we are on the verge of entering a world where cars will be driven by unemotional machines that don't give a toss whether you live, die or ever existed. In fact, they will be programmed to think and drive like me, prioritising the safety of the passengers above everything else.
Out of interest, does that prospect make you feel safer or more at risk as a cyclist .....
That was rhetorical.
Now I am done.
So that is your Last Word 2?
You never did answer me about your diving proficiency, which does seem susoect.
Also am fascinated to see that you are so angry about stuff
Certainly is since you showed up.
Jesus H.
It's not too difficult to conjure up a scenario where favouring the metal object over the fleshy human causes dismal consequences...
Example, you momentarily lose control or take evasive action. You end up facing a row of parked cars with a family waiting to cross the road (in a gap between the cars).
Do you steer towards a) the parked cars or
b) towards the spongy things between the parked cars.
If you answered a): well done, you are a normal human being.
If you answered b): well done, you are L.Willo and have just mown down a family for the sake of your metal box. Still, your paintwork could have been much worse, and it probably served the stupid twats right for crossing the road. And they probably had bikes at home. Zero fucks given, and all that.
This is something I feel very passionately about.
First and foremost, I believe everyone is responsible for their own safety. To assume others are looking out for you, is at best wildly optimistic.
However... I also believe that I have a responsibility to look out for other people's safety. Maybe the motivation for that is to avoid the stress, bother, bullshit of having an incident, maybe it's because I'd like to think other road users feel the same way should I ever make a mistake. I don't know.
What I hate, and I mean hate, is when people evaluate their driving, cycling, walking based on their legal obligations.
An example, if driving down a 20mph road at day 19mph, and I see a child running about on the pavement who's clearly not paying attention... I slow down... just in case.
What I see out there is many feel that driving at 19mph is all they have to do... should the child run out into them, it is the child's fault... and they, the driver are happy with that.
I'm not, I can see the potential risk, and I have the means to mitigate against it... so I do.
I remember once getting 'buzzed' by a woman passing me super close when I was on my bike.
At the time, I was riding no handed, taking a phone call on my mobile. Now I'm not going to say I was cycling safely or condoning my actions... I am perfectly aware that I was riding like a tit.
However... when I caught up with her and asked her why she'd passed me so close, she said it was because I was riding like a dick.
No arguments there, but for me, when I'm driving, if someone's riding like a dick I give them loads of room, tut, call them a name it two in my head and move on. What horrified me in this case was the way this woman had acted deliberately, having righted with herself that if anything happened, it would be my fault so OK with her. No matter what the circumstance, if I was involved in an accident where someone got hurt, I'd beat the he'll out of myself thinking what I could do to have avoided it... I find it alarming that others don't share that sentiment.
You sound like you'd be prepared to be involved in an accident so long as it wasn't your fault and you didn't come to harm. Why? An accident is a huge hassle for all manner of reasons.
Besides, no man is an island, and all that. If we all look out for each other then everything will go a lot more smoothly.
Heehee, couldn't resist coming back, like a dog to his vomit.
I was wrong welcome back L.Willo! Thought you'd left?
No more comments on this issue but Jaarn's post about the nature of this space below the line deserved a response.
So an article that started about stickers moves to deliberations on the definition of misanthropy. Jaarn, you're doing a great job keeping me entertained now L.Willo has gone. This isn't sarcasm as I genuinely am entertained.
Given the behaviour of many drivers of vehicles around Birmingham with the yellow stickers, I'd say it was a bit of arrogance on the part of a driver whose attitude should mean he's not allowed on the road.
davel
I'm not ashamed to admit I'm a misanthropist. Human beings are disgusting creatures who wreck everything they see and touch and some things they can't. Our planet is pretty much wrecked, the atmosphere is toxic, there is war and greed everywhere, and now we're starting outside the atmosphere and turning space into a scrap yard. The reason nobody has seen an alien is because they know better than to come here.
What has humanity done for me and you?
Jaarn - the focus probably won't turn to you, people will be nodding off in front of their TVs soon. Best to get over yourself already.
Willo - good winding up work. I'm sure it's great that you barely give a fig about cyclists. Older cyclists can remember when most drivers were careful and considerate. The consternation of modern-day 'serious' cyclists' is a result of the sorry state of most drivers' attitudes and abilities.
Arrh a van driver that doesn't care about anybody else's safety, that's original.
I've only been a member of this forum for a couple of weeks but I've learned fast to ignore Willo. Please don't engage with him - you won't change his mind and he gets a kick out of the attention.
By stating you are trying to change his mind you are confirming that you think your opinion is right and his is wrong. Neither is right or wrong, it's an opinion. To think otherwise is pure arrogance.
Whatever the opinions, hijacking every article that even has a hint of controversial interactions between different road users with illogical pontificating for his own entertainment is dull and shit.
That's postmodern to the point that all discussion could essentially become meaningless. There are still such things as facts and truths.
I have nothing against discussions but I despise rudeness and sarcasm and it would appear that once one person had posted something vile all their cronies come out of the woodwork to join in. It's the mob mentality. There was no attempt to engage in a discussion with Willo, instead he was taunted and disparaged. Has anybody taken the time to ask why he feels the way he does? He may have a very valid reason. It's easier and more fun to belittle somebody though isn't it. Some people have said he likes to be the centre of attention while in the same post doing their absolute best to make him look small and hopefully getting a laugh and a few likes in the meantime.
If he really is the troll that some have suggested then engaging with him is the exact opposite to what is well known to be the way to get rid of him. By engaging with him he has an audience and will never go. Having said that it's all too easy to say somebody is a troll when the accuser has no other way to win their point. It's a well known ploy of people with a low IQ. So is picking up on grammatical and spelling errors and saying somebody's post is enough to send them to sleep. It's very weak.
Obviously there is the possibility he is a troll which comes full circle to ignoring him.
If you're interested, trawl through some older threads - quite a few ended up as the willo show, with varying attempts at arguing, reasoning, disagreeing made by other posters.
There are loads of disagreements on here - some quite bitchy. What marks willo out is the bad impression of the Harry Enfield 'you don't wanna do that' character he does about pretty much every aspect of cycling. That and his propensity to lecture in black and white terms that make me question whether he's ever ridden a bike outside his own bedroom.
L. Willo
I fully understand what you are trying to say and I agree with you up to a point. If I'm totally honest I don't care what happens to anybody on the planet outside of my immediate family and a deliberate very small group of friends. If everybody else wants to go and kill themselves then there's next to nothing I can do about it and that suits me fine. However I don't want to be the one that causes that death or injury so I take responsibility for myself and those in my vehicle and I watch every other numpty around me to make sure they're not going to do something stupid while I'm there which would cause me through no fault of my own to drive over their head. As soon as they're out of my danger area then I lose any interest I had. I can say that if I killed or injured somebody it almost certainly wouldn't be fault. I say almost because I'd be arrogant to assume or state I never make mistakes.
I also agree with what you said about CC being a very weird place below the line and for that reason I rarely venture down here. It's often appeared to be frequented by a lot of rather angry individuals who aren't able or maybe aren't willing to accept that somebody else's opinion might just be totally or partially correct. What I find ironic is how these people feel it is acceptable to berate, vilify, belittle and purposely humiliate another human being while lecturing them about morality.
Being a van driver and a cyclist I can see both sides of these ongoing spats and if I'm perfectly honest I find it rather boring. There is plenty of room on most of our roads for everyone but it's become almost en vogue to find fault with the "other side", video it and publish it to YouTube. Many of the incidents I think are blown totally out of proportion and could be resolved by the simple act of raising your hand to say sorry. Sadly that skill seems to be going extinct.
I dare say the focus will turn to me now and to be brutally honest I don't care. Like I stated in my post in not so many words I don't care for people so don't take anything to heart. Now if you were some kind of wonderful animal it would be a different matter. I do respect animals and wildlife.
Totally agree. By way of some sort of explanation/excuse, I'm fine with the YouTube campaigns and hysteria generated on the cycling side, even if I find it arse-witted at times. In a nutshell, that's because when drivers drive into cyclists, the cyclists get hurt. When cyclists ride into vans and other vehicles, the cyclists get hurt. I have no problem with cyclists making a song and dance about the frequency of the former.
...and then you undermine pretty much every point you made by admitting your misanthropy. Not even Willo hates everyone - just other cyclists.
Welcome to the board.
Despite the weirdness of this space I like it. One of the few upsides of social media is it allows you to interract with the type of people that you never come across in the real world. This space below the line is a very sheep-like, closed-minded community where any opinion that goes against the received wisdom around cycling tends to be knee-jerk attacked like ants attacking an intruder to the nest. Especially when it concerns taking personal responsibility for your own actions ... below the line that is called victim blaming.
I had the misfortune to see an article in the Daily Mail last week where an opinion poll gave the Vote Remain campaign an 18 point lead. The most voted for comments were hysterical: "This is a fix!!! I don't know a single person who doesn't want to leave!!! ..." etc. Of course they don't. They only ever talk to people exactly like themselves. This place is exactly like that.
So I find it educational to learn that so many people in this community regard their safety to be the responsibility of other road users. This explains a lot of the numbtiness I see on the roads and leaves me better equipped to anticipate the behaviour of the kamikaze on my daily commute. Like the number of idiots I saw riding in the torrential rain this morning with no lights on, no hi-viz, wobbling around flooded pot-holes without a single shouldercheck never mind a hand signal ... but I guess in their heads, it is the responsibility of motorists to take care of their safety so they needn't bother. Twats. Coming to a morgue any time soon.
The downside of social media is this narcissistic obsession with popularity. How many retweets can I get? How many likes on Facebook? How many ticks from fellow posters. I personally don't get it. I don't even understand how it is possible to be humiliated, vilified or belittled by complete strangers whose opinions are worth no more and no less than my own. There are plenty of decent posters who will disagree with you while keeping it civil. The rest ... water off a duck's back, I couldn't care less.
Anyway. Don't be put off, there is a lot to learn below the line. Even if it is just how skewed and dysfunctional some people's world views are about their hobby when self-entitlement takes control. And there is an awful lot of that around here.
Cheers.
Any chance you could deport yourself back there? It's much more your cup of tea.
TL;DR
Cycling website mostly read by cyclists.
TL;DR
Willo misunderstood and learned nothing.
The verb you are looking for is mock.
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