Kent Live reports on a cyclist whose bike was hit by an Olleco lorry while it was locked to a fence.
Stephen Taylor had left his bike outside Suzanne’s gift shop in Broadstairs while he went to get his hair cut. He came to a bent frame and a knackered wheel.
“When I got back, the lorry was still there,” said Taylor. “So I spoke to the driver and he said to speak to the company. They were very nice and helpful, they told me to send all the details and photos which I did.
“I took it to the bike shop in St Peter’s and they said it was a write-off, then they did a report and sent it off to Olleco.
“I’ve not heard a thing from them – they promised they’d get back to me and didn’t bother.”
The loss of the bike means that Taylor’s commute has increased by 40 minutes.
He says he’s attempted to contact Olleco every week since the incident happened on July 10, but he’s had not response.
“It’s not the money – it’s just really irritated me,” he said.
“I work at A&E and get the train from Ramsgate to Medway and cycle the rest of the way. After a 12-hour night shift I’ll have an extra 40-minute walk.
“Why should I pay £500 of my money on a new bike when this lorry reversed over it?
“If it was a car I could claim on my insurance. It’s not my fault. The lorry driver was very nice and he admitted liability.
“If I damaged one of their vehicles they would be on me like a ton of bricks. Even if they just give me £50 I will be happy because at least they have done something.”
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"Audrey Godin-Champagne, a spokesperson for Parks Canada, said the federal body wanted to suggest protected bike path alternatives similar to the route under construction, separated from car traffic, to ensure a similar level of security.
Putting a temporary bike path on St-Patrick St. that runs alongside the south edge of the canal was not feasible, she said, because the road is too narrow and sees considerable traffic."
Because obviously a fully protected temporary bike path is the only option...
How about spending a few minutes thinking about some alternative approaches for accommodating cyclists on the route, like, say, putting up some "cyclists ride central / do not overtake cyclists" signs for example?
"We posted a meme that
has offended and upset some members of our audiencewas an utterly irresponsible normalisation of dangerous and/or violent behaviour" a statement [should have] said.Driver calls other driver a c*** for driving in cycle lane, while apparently filming incident from behind the wheel. Despair.
Danny MacAsKill's Drop and Roll show featured on BBC2 fringe coverage, with Duncan Shaw, and Nish Kumar riding badly on a trials bike.
BBC anti bicycle bias?
It's good that Doncaster have made a cycle track at Donny Dome.
On the other hand, I looked at the cycle infra around the Dome when researching the U23 men & junior women's World Champs race routes https://speedyhedgehog.com/uci-world-champs-2019-U23-mens-road-race.html
The bike lanes are absolute rubbish. As well as riding on the track, people should be able to get to the track safely on a bike - and at the moment, I suggest they can't.
To be fair, that's the driving standard I've come to expect from taxi drivers
On the BrewDog story on eBikeTips, they do seem to be losing some of their probicycle Chain Gang image.
Charging points with secure bike parking might draw them in some cyclist customers.
I went for a job in Dundee, the interviewer could not believe that I would continue to cycle around the city as a form of transport and I would have to start driving. Little could he possibly know. And I hadn't even discovered winter and spiked tyres and really effective winter wear. Stunning surrounding countryside.
My daughter claimed through Cycling UK's scheme when she got hit. It took well over a year even with lawyers involved, probably partly due to the Bulgarian driver's insurance company being based in Bulgaria. They finally paid up after court procedings started. Patience and persistence paid off in the end. Frustrating, though.
I really feel for the bloke trying to deal with the lorry company regarding his smashed bike.
I was knocked off my bike over a year ago by someone who turned into me and then admitted straight up to me and the police that it was her fault and that she hadn't seen me (despite lights etc.).
Initially I would have settled for repayment of my material losses despite the not insignificant injury I received. The drivers insurance company totally refused to deal with me and then tried to claim it was my fault. I'm now chasing them with a no win no fee lawyer. 15 months in and there's still no sign of progress. Anyone know how long these things take to sort out normally?
Surely the crushed bike is just a straight forward insurance claim against the vehicle that caused the damage? You don't have to hit only another car to get claimed against.
Small claim court for crushed bike?
This is also another good advert for membership of an organisation like British Cycling or Cycling UK - I bet Olleco would take more notice of a letter from a lawyer.
Hi - I'm the guy in the filtering video. Honestly, getting on Road CC made my day.
The accident was thankfully something benign - a 5 car crash with no serious injuries or worse. According to Traffic Scotland it completely shut off all southbound lanes on the M80 for about half an hour and according to the Evening times it reduced the northbound lanes for a while. This happened near Cumbernauld, which is about 20 miles away from where the video ends. I filtered past two miles of almost stationary traffic.
From what I can gather the 2-hour tailback the other redditor mentioned wasn't the same one.
On another note, there is no reason why there shouldn't be cycling infrastructure on that road. It is plenty wide to fit a segregated path without reducing motor traffic capacity at all.
I work in north Kent and commute on the A2/M2 daily. It's a very busy road and when there's a crash, the tailbacks can go back for miles. I filter through similarly long, long lines of stationary cars on my motorbike pretty regularly, maybe once/month.
Only in winter do I switch to travel option no 2, cycling to the railway station and letting the train take the strain.
I cannot for the life of me imagine why so many of those people I overtake as I filter, the vast majority of whom are sitting in their car by themselves, choose to travel in such a way.
I've driven my car to my office just twice in the time I've worked for this firm, once to pick up a printer and another to deliver a large box. Neither of these could be strapped to the motorbike.
The motorbike trip takes 45 minutes, bicycle and train takes 1 hour and the car (on a good day) takes 1 hour 15 minutes.
At my previous firm in central London I cycled 4 miles to the office and then back again every day. There was a car park and it astounded me that several colleagues would choose to drive there.
Me and the better half were catching up with "Beneath the Surface II" the other night. We do like BBC4s Saturday night shows, often subtitled, though foolishly watched Marky Mark's first Transformer movie, that's three hours of our lives we shall never get back. I had forgotten that we did very much enjoy the first series, but we had previously liked the Transformer movies, especially the first two. Beneath the Surface is a Danish drama, and the first action scene after the titles featured our hero, Phillip, chasing down some kidnappers, who were in a car, whilst riding a Bakfiets. The stereotypical Danish Bakfiets mother had previously been shown in a plot development with her child in the box. Being Denmark our hero on said Bakfiets, Phillip, managed to catch up the evil motorist kidnappers on several occasions. Him being able to take shorter more direct routes whearas the car had to take the longer more circuitous route.
Good luck with the move Legs..
I think Magnatom has many videos of his seemingly daily commute through huge tailbacks in Glasgow.
"Bet they wish they'd have cycled instead..." I'll take you up on that bet Jack. They won't wish anything of the kind. They'll simply think "Bloody traffic, why doesn't the council / government do something" and "Bloody cyclist, what's he doing here, doesn't even pay road tax . . ." Putting 2 and 2 together is beyond them.