Car vs Bike

Alot has happened on this scene over the last few weeks.

There is the infamous Magda incident, myself getting collected, Alberto having a real bad stack, stupid Council decisions, the list goes on.

I've always been in two minds over alot of this stuff. So far I've sidestepped getting involved in the militant car vs bike argument. Sure, there are stupid (and malevoelent) car drivers, but there are equally stupid and holier than thou cyclists. Like it or lump it, we do put ourselves in harms way, and as such should probably take all available steps to protect ourselves. If anyone has been watching 'Hungry Beast' on ABC1 - the 'Outrage Economy' sketch from last week I think shed alot of light on how media portrayal of an event, situation etc, will colour the publics response and to a certain extent the response of the target group.

But there is a court case unfolding in the good 'ol USA that I think we should all pay attention to. Firstly because it involves cyclists, and allegedy cyclists being wrongly, quite greviously. I am hoping that there will be quite a bit of media coverage of this case, as I think it should be an eye opener for all cyclists as to how we can be perceived by the public, and how we will be treated in court of law should an incident occur.

I have no doubt that the cyclists will be dragged over hot coals, backwards and repeatedly, and cross examined to within an inch of their lives. I am sure that every trick in the book will be thrown at them, and I fully expect that this would happen to any cyclist in the same situation.

I suppose the take home message from this is protect yourselves, don't put your self in harms way, it's not worth the argument, the fight and the consequences. We're on the back foot from the very moment we step out in the morning. I'd prefer to be on my back foot than on my back.

For those of you that read VeloNews, please pay attention to this case. For those that don't, I will endevour to post links to the days reporting here as it comes up in my RSS feeder.

My thoughts on this may become clearer as the case continues. For those hoping to get some sensible thoughts and commentary out of me, you may be disappointed.