Cyclist pushed into canal by gang on bikes

[jgurney]

According to the BBC, two women, at least one a cyclist, have been pushed into a canal by members of a group of boys also on bikes in Birmingham.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-b ... m-53035084

[mercalia]

According to the BBC, two women, at least one a cyclist, have been pushed into a canal by members of a group of boys also on bikes in Birmingham.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-b ... m-53035084

that sort of thing has always worried me. How deep are they? it seems in this case not very?
I always try to stay in the non canal side should there be other riders

[99.9%certain]

There's an idiot posting videos on Facebook of him pushing cyclists into canals.He too is on a bike and attacks from behind Someone else films him but you don't really see his face so there's at least two of them.The idiot filming then catches the reaction of the victim as he rides/walks/runs past.
Hopefully someone will see them in action and be close enough to do something about it.

[pete75]

FTFU.

[mjr]

that sort of thing has always worried me. How deep are they? it seems in this case not very?
I always try to stay in the non canal side should there be other riders

British canals are generally shallow. We have very few as deep as the Netherlands. Maybe the Manchester ship canal? Most are less than 1.5m deep and you're at most risk of standing on something uneven on the bottom, or straining something climbing out!

[Cyril Haearn]

This is a serious matter
Even in a shallow canal one could drown

[jgurney]

that sort of thing has always worried me. How deep are they? it seems in this case not very?

Pretty shallow. Owners of traditional narrow boats (which have deeper keels than modern ones designed as
leisure cruisers) often complain about there being barely enough depth for their craft in many canals
The main hazards of falling in a canal are being injured by scrap metal, broken glass, etc, on the bottom and being poisoned by ingesting polluted water, rather than drowning.

[Jdsk]

The main hazards of falling in a canal are being injured by scrap metal, broken glass, etc, on the bottom and being poisoned by ingesting polluted water, rather than drowning.

And many, but not in this case, involve intoxication.

Jonathan

[Manc33]

Targeting females = cowards.

This guy isn't hiding his face but it might be a prank where the guy pushed in is in on it.

(contains swearing)

Code: Select all

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pG6hLs_3vVQ

[Richard Fairhurst]

that sort of thing has always worried me. How deep are they? it seems in this case not very?

3ft to 4ft, generally; deeper in the centre of the channel, shallower at the edges. The Manchester Ship Canal is obviously deeper, while the Bumblehole Branch in Netherton (Birmingham) is so shallow that even our boat grounded there at about 18in draught...

[Cyril Haearn]

Locks can be much deeper and hard to exit
Falling into a shallow canal one might hit ones head, pass out and easily expire

[rmurphy195]

What's important isn't the depth of the canal so much as whats in it, locks apart which can be very deep and turbulent, but with cills, sluices, water channels etc.

You wouldn't want to swallow canal water, or injure yourself on some of the dbris that finds itself in there (broken glass, bits of metal etc.) or get tangled up in rope, plastic, old bikes/motor bikes, supermarket trolleys etc. all of which ar hidden hazads. And fishing line of course.

[jimlews]

When I fell in the local canal, the water came to just above my knees, when I surfaced.

Fortunately, the bike didn't follow me in, so all was well.

On a 'philosophical' note, there is a seemingly interminable moment when one is suspended mid flight 'twixt sky and water AND STILL DRY; sky receding, water fast approaching, with just time to realise that y'r going to get very wet.

[thirdcrank]

It's intolerable whichever way you look at it.

Memory lane time.

About forty years ago there was a series of attacks on women in Leeds where the assailant loitered in dark car parks in commercial areas and attacked women when they returned to their cars after work. He made them kneel in the passenger footwell threatening them with violence while he drove them somewhere secluded to assault them, before driving back into a rundown industrial area of Leeds where he dumped them and their cars. One victim was tied up and thrown into the Leeds and Liverpool Canal and was fortunate to land on some sort of large stone which enabled her to keep her head above water. My only involvement was that my boss had the job of doing an independent review of the investigation to ensure minds were being kept open and he got me to review his review. The offences were not immediately detected.

Just before I retired in 1997 new DNA evidence was found on preserved exhibits, even though the importance of DNA in forensic science had been unknown at the time of the offences. The assailant was then soon identified and convicted.

Also in the late 1990s when I became involved in campaigning there was a proposal to make part of the canal towing path into a cycle route. By that time I was working in West Leeds and I knew that the towpath was often the scene of skulduggery. Amongst many examples, an anger was attacked, stripped of his clothing which was thrown into the canal and he was tied by his neck using his own laces to the fence. His valuable angling gear was stolen.

Towpaths are ideal for the baddies because potential victims can be seen from a distance and have few escape routes, while there's often no nearby help. I organised some patrols by the mounted branch but that was only an occasional thing.

On the subject of foul water, in the mid 1970's a colleague pulled a child out from a muddy pond and developed a form of meningitis which ended his career.

[lbomaak2]

As someone with a phobia of deep water, I think this thread should be merged with the "Do you ever consider the worse that can happen?" thread. Even if canals aren't particularly deep, I would probably panic if pushed into one; the person pushing me might be facing manslaughter charges if caught.