Car damaged by cyclist - Garthorne Road
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Joffe
Posts: 72
Joined: Oct 2011
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19-01-2012 11:25 AM
If you parked your BMW at the Grierson Road end of Garthorne Road this morning (by the fire gate thing) then you've had your window wipers bent and wing mirrors thumped by a cyclist who thought you parked a bit too close to the gap he needed to get through on his bike and trailer.
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Londondrz
Posts: 1,538
Joined: Apr 2006
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19-01-2012 11:33 AM
Did you report the criminal damage to the police?
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Joffe
Posts: 72
Joined: Oct 2011
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Perryman
Posts: 823
Joined: Dec 2006
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19-01-2012 02:42 PM
I've often found this route blocked by inconsiderate parking, so whilst there is no excuse for his/her action, I can understand the frustration when drivers repeatedly block the cycle route at this point.
There should at least be some hatching to make it clear to the less aware drivers, that this is a cycle route and they have to keep it clear.
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Cellar Door
Posts: 356
Joined: Oct 2007
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19-01-2012 04:42 PM
Excellent spot, Joffe. This is the old Neighbourhood Watch in action. Now called Our Watch, I believe.
The BMW owner could well know this cyclist from an earlier entanglement. A bike and a trailer should be easy to spot as I don’t think that they are all that common. And they could well be a regular commuter along that cycle route. Watch out anyone going past on a bike with a trailer. You may well have a BMW owner chasing after you!
Joffe, I hope that, by not just reporting this to police, but also posting on this forum that we can locate this person to answer for what you have written.
This could be one of those “split second of misjudgement” moments. Like that woman that stuffed the cat into a wheelie bin. Or maybe it is a little more systemic.
Either way I hope this person on the bike will be mildly disturbed by the collateral damage of a criminal conviction, as I was, when I found this out.
Did you know that even for the most minor criminal convictions that there are huge knock-on effects?
I sort of knew about employment. Annually, at work I have to acknowledge, with barely contained alarm, that I have an obligation to tell my work about any criminal convictions. This happens around my appraisal. My eyes flicker for a moment while I think of all the times I somehow managed to contain myself from a split second of misjudgement and then breathe a sigh of relief that I get to keep my job for another year.
And education. I didn’t know that many courses, not just here in the UK, are closed to anyone with a criminal record.
I certainly didn’t know that they affect mortgages. Not that I care but many people do.
I certainly knew about travel. Particularly with the USA being quite the prickly ones.
And the truly surprising one is that a person with a conviction will find it rather difficult to get any type of insurance. Does it cancel their current insurances when a conviction handed out?
I am still rather staggered at the very high collateral damages coming from the simplest and sometimes most minor transgressions. The fine, and/or a short custodial sentence, can be the least of your worries.
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Fish Face
Posts: 135
Joined: Nov 2007
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19-01-2012 06:25 PM
I think Perryman has a point though.
If the BMW was arrogantly parked with no consideration for others, and possibly on multiple occasions before, then perhaps it's 6 of 1 - half-dozen of the other etc.
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rshdunlop
Posts: 1,111
Joined: Jun 2008
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19-01-2012 06:47 PM
As a previous owner of a BMW, I wonder why the make of the car has featured so prominently here. We don't all behave like we own the road, you know (even though we do).
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Tinkerbell
Posts: 361
Joined: Dec 2007
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19-01-2012 08:12 PM
I believe the gentleman who owns the car has just discovered the damage. And no, it didn't seem to be parked inconsiderately.
...SE23.com's roving reporters bring you all the exclusives, right here, right now. .
This post was last modified: 19-01-2012 08:15 PM by Tinkerbell.
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borderpaul
Posts: 95
Joined: Oct 2007
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20-01-2012 12:32 AM
Could it be that a cyclist who does something wrong is actually in the wrong?
I don't believe it!
Probably due to the constant strain of having to stop at red traffic lights, respecting pedestrians right to cross at zebra crossing and cars to park on our roads.
PS. I have a 2 bikes and a car which I share with 4 other people so I feel this is a balanced comment.
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sydenhamcentral
Posts: 269
Joined: Mar 2008
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20-01-2012 01:03 AM
I was pulling out of a junction the other day when a crazy roller blader zoomed up the pavement, didn't stop thinking that he had the right to pass straight in front of my car across the road and that I should stop for him. I almost didn't see him as he came up over my left shoulder on a pavement at great speed!. He started beating on my rear window and shouting obsenities as he just managed to avoid ploughing right into the side of me.
I've seen this a couple of times with roller bladers who seem to forget that they are still a pedestrian and don't own both pavement and road and that every one has to get out of their way irrespective of whether on foot or in a vehicle. Very dangerous.
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wayfarer
Posts: 119
Joined: Nov 2006
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20-01-2012 09:45 AM
A few points here.
For confirmation, I am a cyclist.
Yes, the cyclist was in the wrong. No argument.
No, the make of the car is not important.
Yes, the barriers are obviously an entrance point to Grierson Road as well as clearly marked (on the other side of the barrier) as being a cycle path.
Yes, it is very frustrating that people parking their cars do so blocking these entrances. This situation is made worse with the "moo" bin having been moved to beside the barrier, and the constant dumping of rubbish bags on the other side.
No, I have never hit a car parked there but I've been tempted.
With reagrds to the roller blader, there are a couple who "blade" down Brockley Rise, one doing so in the middle of the road whilst wearing headphones.
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ryananglem
Posts: 167
Joined: Apr 2009
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20-01-2012 10:28 AM
I agree with Wayfarer's post, though I've never seen a roller blader doing anything particularly abnormal on my travels around se23.
I do the odd cycle commute to work. On Monday in fact I was hit from behind by a car. The driver didn't even notice (he had hit my pannier bag so there was no loud noise) and when I shouted at him and reached out to clip his wing mirror as he drove past (yes, he was that close) the passenger in the car tried to open his door on me to knock me off. If I'd managed to get his reg number I certainly would have reported him to the police but I was a little shaken up and it didn't occur to me in the split second that I had.
I guess that all drivers are not like him though.
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Joffe
Posts: 72
Joined: Oct 2011
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20-01-2012 11:33 AM
rshdunlop - the make of the car is irrelevant - if ti had been a focus, i'd have said 'Focus'. If it were a mini, I'd have said 'mini'. I thought it might help to be specific so the owner (if reading this) might be more sure it was their vehicle.
For what it's worth, the car wasn't parked that badly - it was just that with the trailor on the back the cyclist couldn't quite get the angle. All he had to do was get off and lift it slightly over the curb. Annoying, I know, but I don't think it was arrogance on the driver's part - it's not that obvious you need to leave loads of room - people are more concerned they're not blocking the fire route.
To prove the point, there's a guy who drives a Golf from pretty much one end of Garthorne Road to the fire barrier end every morning to save himself a 5 minute walk. He was parked in that spot this morning about where the BMW was parked yesterday. He does it every day - and yet still made the same mistake.
The mistake of the cyclist (other than causing criminal damage) was to assume this was an arrogant motorist who couldn't care a less for cyclists. What if this was somebody who'd rushed round to see an ill relative? What if they needed their car for an emergency? What if the cyclist cost a life by his actions?
This post was last modified: 20-01-2012 11:34 AM by Joffe.
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wayfarer
Posts: 119
Joined: Nov 2006
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20-01-2012 11:43 AM
Joffe,
A little dramatic, don't you think? Cars are parked like this every day, I doubt very much that they are all doing so because a life is in danger. It is therefore pretty safe to say, that the driver was doing it for their own personal benefit, and no one else's.
As for the angle, why should all the cyclists (and there are quaite alot) have to get off and walk through the entrance, just because a driver (potentially the same one all day) decides to block the entrance.
As for the driver not wishing to block the barrier for the fire brigade. Park somewhere else, you wouldn't block someones drive so why is it okay to block a pedestrian/cyclist entrance?
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ryananglem
Posts: 167
Joined: Apr 2009
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20-01-2012 11:49 AM
@Joffe I know that Golf well, though there is also a mini who parks in the same spot. A handily placed bollard might perhaps remove all anguish from all concerned?
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Joffe
Posts: 72
Joined: Oct 2011
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20-01-2012 11:59 AM
Probably Ryan, yes!
As for the angle, why should all the cyclists (and there are quaite alot) have to get off and walk through the entrance, just because a driver (potentially the same one all day) decides to block the entrance.
Wayfarer, cyclists could get through easy enough - it was the guy towing his kids or something in a trailor who couldn't quite get the angle. How much space do you leave? Enough for a tandem with a trailor? All I'm saying is that the guy probably wasn't being inconsiderate - just didn't think about everything.
I doubt they're ALL doing so too. I doubt the BMW guy was. My point was that sometimes things aren't as they seem. The car could've been a commuter who knew he was blocking a cycle lane and was behaving arrogantly. But it could've been an entirely different situation. You say it yourself - 'doubt very much', 'pretty safe'.... we don't know for sure.
He could've been a visitor who didn't appreciate the magnitude of his crime. Then gets to his car to see criminal damage. Give HOP a bad reputation IMO.
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davidl
Posts: 180
Joined: Oct 2007
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20-01-2012 12:16 PM
Not that it matters all that much, but I saw the car which had been damaged and it was a Lexus. Not sure where we stand on them compared to BMW's. And as I say, it doesn't matter all that much.
I cycle along Garthorne sometimes and people do park very close to those fire gates - sometimes blocking them completely. For the driver who came back and found his car damaged, I do feel some sympathy - he's definitely not the least considerate parker I've seen there recently.
Worth noting that the yellow lines which are currently being planned will create a much larger car-free zone around the fire gates on Garthorne/Grierson and Bovill Roads - so the potential for repeat incidents should be reduced.
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wayfarer
Posts: 119
Joined: Nov 2006
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20-01-2012 12:31 PM
A Lexus!!!! No wonder he hit it
Great news that they're extending the car free zones.
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rshdunlop
Posts: 1,111
Joined: Jun 2008
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20-01-2012 01:28 PM
Joffe - I was making a little joke about the persecution of BMW drivers. Sorry if that didn't come across. I'll do a little drum roll next time (ba-da boom) to make it clear.
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wayfarer
Posts: 119
Joined: Nov 2006
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20-01-2012 01:38 PM
Nothing wrong with BMW owners, it's the people that own "Trek" bikes that I can't stand.
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