Cyclist stopped 3 times by police

Fasgadh
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Joined: 20 Aug 2010, 8:13pm

Re: Cyclist stopped 3 times by police

Post by Fasgadh »

Cowsham wrote: 23 Mar 2023, 11:06pm
If the cyclist was cycling to Ramsey via the A18 he could encounter other dangers. A tractor on a bend or leave the road altogether on that drop down to Ramsey, partly because of his speed or water on the rims from the thick fog, so there's more than just dangers from vehicles, the road itself is a challenge.
This is very worrying - the Isle of Man is not the only place with a 450m road descent. Thanks to the TT if appears to have road surfaces beyond our dreams on this island. Effectively this is saying don't ride hills.

One thing to come out of this story for me is that I have finally noticed that hilly island you sometimes see from Galloway, and will be visiting ASAP. If the tar looks as good as it does on Streetview!
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Cowsham
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Re: Cyclist stopped 3 times by police

Post by Cowsham »

Fasgadh wrote: 25 Mar 2023, 9:13am
Cowsham wrote: 23 Mar 2023, 11:06pm
If the cyclist was cycling to Ramsey via the A18 he could encounter other dangers. A tractor on a bend or leave the road altogether on that drop down to Ramsey, partly because of his speed or water on the rims from the thick fog, so there's more than just dangers from vehicles, the road itself is a challenge.
This is very worrying - the Isle of Man is not the only place with a 450m road descent. Thanks to the TT if appears to have road surfaces beyond our dreams on this island. Effectively this is saying don't ride hills.

One thing to come out of this story for me is that I have finally noticed that hilly island you sometimes see from Galloway, and will be visiting ASAP. If the tar looks as good as it does on Streetview!
It is a very beautiful place -- all the other roads are very smooth and generally well maintained and much more enjoyable to cycle than the TT course. The race course is much to busy as it forms the main route for buses and cars to get around the island.

The real joy is the coast road ( about 80 to 100 miles depending how close to the sea you stay ) if your taking a road bike but now I take my mountain bike cos it's much better on the bridal paths converted from the old narrow gauge railway network. A gravel or hybrid bike will cope well too. The paths are well maintained and picture box perfect. There are some other roads that take you up over the mountain like the A14 and the Ballaugh glen rd which are a much better choice than the A18 -- more scenic and quiet.

There are a couple of sportive cycle events that use the A18 but these may be on closed roads or well marshalled roads. Visitors go across for that and there are travel packages you can get.

Litter is nearly non existent because people respect the place they live unlike NI. This is why I respect the island, it's a little slice of heaven but also have to remember it's a different country so if I want to return I try to stay out of trouble.
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Zulu Eleven
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Joined: 26 Oct 2018, 9:25pm

Re: Cyclist stopped 3 times by police

Post by Zulu Eleven »

You can imagine the epitaph now - “the cyclist was, both legally and morally, entirely in the right… but he’s still dead”

Sometimes being a police office must be like trying to apply the judgement of Solomon - they have to either do something that might be wrong, or sit back and no nothing with potentially disastrous results. In this case (as so often) it seems that they were trying to do the right thing, perhaps we should get off our high horses and praise them for that, because I’m sure that no one of us would prefer the alternative outcome.
NickWi
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Joined: 28 Apr 2011, 8:14pm

Re: Cyclist stopped 3 times by police

Post by NickWi »

Got to agree with Zulu on this one. In a perfect world we'd all expect everyone to stick to the laws of the road, be an IAM Advanced driver, the young petrol heads suddenly realise that that boring old fart is actually right, that all drivers have perfect eyesight and the incompetent doddery old buggers give up driving before they're forced to because of an accident. We'd also love to see the Police standing at every junction, pulling up drivers for using phones, motorcycles with noisy exhausts and the DM favourite, cyclists not stopping for red lights. That ain't going to happen in this world or the next.

As a driver, motorcyclist and cyclist I take the attitude they're all out to get you. Yes, I can wear hi-viz and my motorbike's got more lights on it than a fairground Waltzer, but I ride defensively, think about my visibility, my position in the road and many other factors, i.e. to look after No.1, nobody else is going to do for it me.

So where does this leave us. My attitude, sometimes you've got to swallow your pride, accept that even though you might be in the right, today's the day to park it at the door. Ride safely, get home and live to fight another day.
Pete Owens
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Re: Cyclist stopped 3 times by police

Post by Pete Owens »

Zulu Eleven wrote: 29 Apr 2023, 6:29pm
Sometimes being a police office must be like trying to apply the judgement of Solomon - they have to either do something that might be wrong, or sit back and no nothing with potentially disastrous results. In this case (as so often) it seems that they were trying to do the right thing, perhaps we should get off our high horses and praise them for that, because I’m sure that no one of us would prefer the alternative outcome.
You forgot the 3rd option - which would be to do their job properly and direct their efforts towards the perpetrators rather than their victims.
Zulu Eleven
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Joined: 26 Oct 2018, 9:25pm

Re: Cyclist stopped 3 times by police

Post by Zulu Eleven »

Pete Owens wrote: 30 Apr 2023, 9:07pm You forgot the 3rd option - which would be to do their job properly and direct their efforts towards the perpetrators rather than their victims.
Can you honestly, hand on your heart, say that you’ve always driven flawlessly, never made a mistake, never broken a speed limit, never driven when you were a bit tired, upset of distracted, or had something momentarily distract you?

I know I can’t.

You don’t have to be breaking any laws for collisions to happen, people are human - it really shouldn’t be that way, but it is. That doesn’t make it OK, but it certainly creates a context where riding on certain roads, in certain weather conditions - while you may still have every legal right to do it - is at best, inadvisable, often risky, and at worst fatal.
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Cowsham
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Re: Cyclist stopped 3 times by police

Post by Cowsham »

Just last week I got one of those dreaded phone calls -- a young fella hit the back of our car spinning it 3 times -- wife who was driving said it was like being inside a washing machine. The young chaps car flew off the road and into a field. Both cars completely wrote aff.

He said the sun blinded him and had a moments lapse of concentration. The sun was in the horizon and we do all make mistakes. My wife was OK apart from some whiplash injuries but it could have been much worse had he not swerved at the last moment and glanced off the corner of our car. She felt sorry for him as he was young and just starting out in life. He seemed not badly hurt considering the state of his car.

Accidents do happen. Our car had it's indicators flashing and he didn't see them. I shudder to think what would have happened if he hit me on the bike as I odd times use that road coming home from work. It's a straight two way B road so there were no excuses really but it just shows how easy things can happen. Of course it's left to muggins to sort out all the insurance details but thankful that's all.

For me there's simply no point in putting myself in unnecessary risk because the stress of that sucks the enjoyment out of cycling.
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