Thursday, December 22, 2005
Aha, Now I Know; Tis The Season To Be Careful
My other plans for this evening have been slightly disrupted by getting hit by a car on the way home. I'm absolutely fine, and the bike's fine, but it means I'm less in the mood for investigating the joy of my newly arrived seasonal e-shopping, but that's ok, it'll wait.
Here's that picture of the back of my bike again. The lower pair of lights flash, and combined with those, three huge reflectors on my rucksack and the reflective strips on my ankles and shoes, I'm virtually unmissable. Or at least I should be. Certainly someone approaching me from the rear should be aware enough of my presence to not turn left straight across me, hitting my front wheel and bringing me to a juddering halt.
Which is why 'I didn't see you' was the final thing that means I'm sat here knowing I've done the right thing rather than wondering whether I should be talking to the police or not. After no dealings with the constabulary in years, two in a week leaves me wondering about the business of things coming in threes, and casting it out for damned nonsense!
In other news I appear to have gained my own anti-fan club of one out there in cyberspace, which makes me laugh a lot. I'm big enough to rise above whatever comes from someone that's found some sort of missionary zeal for criticising me in an abusive manner, and it'll be interesting to see how this develops. I have a pretty good idea where the problem comes from, and I know exactly who the problem is, but there are always sanctions that can be brought to bear and I fear nobody.
Have a good christmas period, and take it easy - it can be dangerous out there!
Here's that picture of the back of my bike again. The lower pair of lights flash, and combined with those, three huge reflectors on my rucksack and the reflective strips on my ankles and shoes, I'm virtually unmissable. Or at least I should be. Certainly someone approaching me from the rear should be aware enough of my presence to not turn left straight across me, hitting my front wheel and bringing me to a juddering halt.
Which is why 'I didn't see you' was the final thing that means I'm sat here knowing I've done the right thing rather than wondering whether I should be talking to the police or not. After no dealings with the constabulary in years, two in a week leaves me wondering about the business of things coming in threes, and casting it out for damned nonsense!
In other news I appear to have gained my own anti-fan club of one out there in cyberspace, which makes me laugh a lot. I'm big enough to rise above whatever comes from someone that's found some sort of missionary zeal for criticising me in an abusive manner, and it'll be interesting to see how this develops. I have a pretty good idea where the problem comes from, and I know exactly who the problem is, but there are always sanctions that can be brought to bear and I fear nobody.
Have a good christmas period, and take it easy - it can be dangerous out there!
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Uber, I really hope you are unharmed after your encounter with this car. I honestly don't believe the woman could not have seen you.She was probably practicing the willfull self delusion demonstrated by most motorists that a cycle could not be going that quickly, so she could turn left at any point without hitting you. The "couldn't see him" excuse is just to allow her to save face.
Thanks, I'm absolutely fine.
I put it down to the known phenomenon of people thinking they are only just around the corner from home and stopping concentrating as hard as they otherwise might.
Face saving or not, it was the clincher that made the difference between me not going to the police and going - sorry, I thought there was more room would probably have been enough to pacify me.
But the police response to a driver hitting someone and then keeping going is likely to make that driver a little more observant for a while, I hope.
I'll be even more vigilant anyway :-)
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I put it down to the known phenomenon of people thinking they are only just around the corner from home and stopping concentrating as hard as they otherwise might.
Face saving or not, it was the clincher that made the difference between me not going to the police and going - sorry, I thought there was more room would probably have been enough to pacify me.
But the police response to a driver hitting someone and then keeping going is likely to make that driver a little more observant for a while, I hope.
I'll be even more vigilant anyway :-)
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