Dangerous car door opening

[corshamjim]

From personal experience I'd recommend steering clear of engaging with local people on t'internet about contentious local issues (yes I know this one shouldn't be contentious but...).

I fully sympathise with you having 'been there'. If it's any consolation, I feel a lot happier now that I keep myself out of local politics.

Spring is on the way - that always lifts my mood too!

[BSRU]

No point getting upset about anonymous comments on a website, the people behind negative comments generally have serious issues which they feel they need to take out on someone else. If it wasn't negative comments it would probably wife beating or kicking the dog, just treat them with the disdain and contempt they deserve.

[AlanD]

Dear Jim (I trust that's your name) and BSRU,

Thanks for your support. You're both right of course. I had a terrible restless night over this.
We all seem to learn from a very early age that the person who's in the right, is the one that can get in the last word that their opponent cannot reply to, "Is. Is'nt. Is. Is'nt....." Of course we all know that's not the case, but it did not stop my ex from subjecting me to years of torment through always having to have the last word. So as you can imagine, it really riles me up when some mouthy know-nothing comes in with his complete rot, something that makes me look a fool and completely devalues the strength of my message. Grrr Gnash

I had prepared a response, not yet posted:


Because of the way this thread has unfolded, I felt it appropriate to put in a word of explanation. On other forums, I have seen numerous instances where threads have quickly disintegrated into hostility, or'flaming' as it is usually called. No one comes out well from flaming,so I want to avoid it.

What concerns me is safety. We all want to get through the day safely so that we can enjoy doing the things we want with those we love. Don't we? Yet it does not always go that way, a moments inattention and the consequences can last a lifetime.

I saw someone on this estate do something that they should not have done. A lapse of concentration? Never been a problem before? Yet it was a near miss that might not have been and it could have had tragic consequences. If anyone thinks that I am overplaying this, then perhaps they would like to run as fast as they can into the edge of an open car door and then report back on how it felt. I wanted to point out this hazard in the hope of preventing a repetition. I'm sure most of you take care, but still anyone can do it. In the responses, one person made a false accusation, one applied an unfair generalisation, a third mocked me. I feel that my message has been lost.

I put that video on Youtube so that you could all see what happened and understand the issues. But posting on Youtube is not in itself the objective. Perhaps someone reading this has had the experience of being the innocent victim of someone else's behaviour on the road, a hit-and-run for example? You are left with the financial loss of something that was not your fault because they drove off before you could get details, or they denied everything, you can't prove a thing and there's never a witness.

When the collision is between a cyclist and a motorist, the outcome is somewhat one-sided and the consequences are often very severe for the cyclist, even at relatively low speeds. It can then easily be dismissed as an "accident" and downplayed. Accident is the wrong word here; an accident is an unforeseen event, a freak happening, pure chance, it could not have been avoided, nobody's to blame so nobody is under pressure to change the way they do things. I think a road crash is usually down to human failure.

A colleague recently told me of when a motorist knocked him over and drove away, leaving him with broken bones and a damaged spine. His small son was upset because 'Daddy' would not play with him any more. The Police found the driver, who denied everything. Without proof, this man cannot get the compensation that he needs. A year later his mobility is still reduced, although he has recently been able to get on a bike again..... and he is buying a camera! But he wishes that he had one then. Cameras have become a necessity and more cyclists are using them, not only for capturing evidence, but also to act as a deterrent and we want everyone to know that we have them. No doubt you are all careful drivers, but there are a small minority out there that are dangerous and will not hesitate to take risks with other peoples lives. When they realise that cameras are everywhere and they cannot get away with such behaviour, perhaps then they will change their habits.

In case anyone is thinking of mentioning red light jumping, riding in the dark without lights and riding on the pavement, let me pre-empt this one. Yes it does happen, but by a small minority, usually kids, not serious cyclists (who are generally motorists also). I don't do it and I would resent the suggestion, probably as much as you would resent the suggestion that you break the speed limit, tailgate, fail to use indicators, use the mobile phone while driving, illegally park and jump traffic lights. All of which I see frequently.

I trust that this explains things clearly and that we can now let this thread rest without any further pokes.


I was planning to post this tomorrow evening, but I suspect that the advise from you all would be not to?
I am thinking of that person who came onto the forum a few months ago with somewhat extreme pro-car views. He got well jumped upon and soon disappeared. No doubt from his perspective, what he had to say seemed quite reasonable and possibly anyone chatting with him face-to-face may see it from his side. However, he was isolated and had lost before he began. It's a pity that there are not more cyclists on the estate who could speak up with me, I have seen one lady on a bike but I think I am the only serious rider in a car-rich environment and I don't want to get the same sort of hearing that our motorist friend got.

It's a pity, this is probably the best arguement that I have ever written.

All the best, Alan

[corshamjim]

My message here would be ..

"Don't feed the trolls!"



It can take some effort of will to walk away sometimes though. btdtgtts.

(Yes of course my name is Jim).

[BSRU]

From experience trolls/flamers are not open to reasoned argument, they're just looking to wind someone up for fun.

One thing I will say, is that it is not just cyclists resorting to cameras because of bad driving, lots of companies now have camera's in their vehicles in order to lower insurance premiums because of the "crash for cash" insurance scam spreading around the country. Also lots of private motorists are also installing camera's because of the poor driving abilities of some and the general lack of any traffic Police on our roads. Only this morning I had a message from a guy living in the same town, who has the same make of camera as I have, installed in his car because he became fed up of bad drivers.

[meic]

"It's a pity, this is probably the best argument that I have ever written."

Do you think that they will be able to read and understand it?
It is probably wasted on them.

As you can see I am not very Christian.

[[XAP]Bob]

I'd post it if you still feel it's right.

If something passes the 24 hour test it's probably worth posting.

Caveat: http://xkcd.com/386/ (don't forget to hover over the image)

[downfader]

I'd post it if you still feel it's right.

If something passes the 24 hour test it's probably worth posting.

Caveat: http://xkcd.com/386/ (don't forget to hover over the image)

That cartoon sums me up to a tee.

[gaz545]

I get regular comments on my videos about how sad i am with a camera and that i should get a life. The only way to deal with them is to delete and ignore. A response will not get you far.

[AlanD]

This brings to mind what a tutor once said to me, that the best way of dealing with someone is to state the facts in an intelligent arguement.
Yes I can see that approach would work in an intelligent reasoned debate with ones peers. However, I don't think it would work where one is dealing with prejudice, ignorance and bigoted mob rule. So what I plan to do is to leave it for a few days before checking, and if there are no further comments then I'll let it rest. Of course, if there are any further unhelpful comments, then I may have to respond.

Hello Gaz, yes I do understand what you mean and I have sometimes wondered about this cutting comment. It's meant as a dismissal, but there must be a suitable response? So I thought up this:

I have a life thank you, it fulfills my needs and enriches me.
I recognise that what you have made is a meaningless throw-away comment, made in an attempt to belittle me because I am not like you; also because you have nothing of any value or intelligence to add.
Your attempt to undermine me/force me to behave as you, has failed.

Next time someone uses "get a life" at you, please feel free to try my response, or change the wording as you see fit. It would be interesting to see what sort of reaction it gets.

Have a good weekend all. I am with my model railway club tomorrow, exhibiting one of our layouts at an exhibition in Calne.

Alan

[snibgo]

In my on-line life, which is now 25 years long, I've developed certain rules for myself:

1. Attack the argument, never the person.
1a. Be very wary saying anything that a person might take personal offence at.
2. Don't feed trolls.
2a. If I really really must reply, I rarely respond to their points because they rarely make any valid points.
2b. I frequently write replies that I don't send. This satisfies my urge to fight back, without actually fighting.
2c. Sometimes (very rarely), a troll says something I agree with. When I say so, it knocks the wind from their sails.
3. Don't say anything I wouldn't say face-to-face.
4. Don't lose sleep over anything in forums (or YouTube, Facebook etc), especially when the poster doen't follow the same rules that I do.

[rower40]

Don't argue with idiots. They bring you down to their level, then win by the experience of having been at that level for WAY longer.
Stay safe out on the roads - heavily-armoured nutters are out there.

[downfader]

I had someone sending me stupid rubbish on my toucan crossing vid. I dont think they were all there. In the end I got a bit fed up with them, posted something along the lines of "stop sending me abuse, welcome to blocksville, population - you!" Full block on youtube and I think they got the message.

People like that dont care for facts. They just want to run someone down (figure of speech).