rob_wales wrote:AMMoffat wrote:I might play devil's advocate and suggest that, since the OP has admitted to seeing the 4 dogs offlead and knowing that dogs can be unpredictable, he should not have been in the least bit surprised when one ran across his path and should have anticipated it.
The above in no way condones the stupidity of the owner for putting her dogs in that situation but we have to deal with the world as we find it, not as we wish it to be.
Nice try, but I'm afraid you are wrong. I am, as I pointed out a very cautious person, in fact I'm quite obsessive about it. This was the first time in 53 years of cycling that I have ever run into anything living. In 50 years car driving I have had one accident, a serious one, which was caused by, guess what? A dog ran out off-lead from a car at the side of the road. Nearly killed me. Which brings in your second point about dealing with the world as I find it. Had that car crash killed me (which it very nearly did) I wouldn't be able to deal with anything as I wouldn't be here now!
In the incident yesterday I could possibly have braked harder a bit sooner, but there were two problems with that
1. My wife was directly behind me and she has a steel pin in her arm and has to be very careful not to come off her bike.
2. The surface was ribbed concrete with some loose sand (next to beach) and grit. I had started to turn. Had I come off I could have had a nasty injury.
I do feel very sorry for the dog. In much the same way that I feel very sorry for the obese kids I see having junk food shoved into their mouths by irresponsible parents. Still, I suppose those parents are 'dealing with the world as they find it' as well.
So, in 50 years two incidents. which may or may not have been due to the dog or to your inattention. (There are two sides to every story, see)? Must all dogs be banned, curbed, restrained, restricted, locked up or even done away with because of this? One feels there is an over-reaction on your part, to a minor matter.
But I suppose you feel that your safety should be guaranteed even in the 50 year gap. What other behaviours of other creatures, including the various humans, should be curbed in pursuit of this objective of ultimate safety? Personally I would curb the car ... but that kills and maims millions every year, world wide; and pollutes in a whole range of ways. One feels the dogs are not that bad, although we could certainly do with far, far less of the dangerous and polluting humans.
Cugel