A woman who hit a cyclist while driving along a road in Norwich failed to stop at the scene of the incident, but instead sent the following tweet afterwards:
Naturally her tweet went viral, and horrified people up and down the country. The local police sent the following Twitter response to her:
Norwich Police@NorwichPoliceUK
@emmaway20 we have had tweets ref an RTC with a bike. We suggest you report it at a police station ASAP if not done already & then dm us
The woman was questioned by the police and has been suspended from her job.
The cyclist, who was on his way to a cycle race, was thankfully, not badly hurt. He sustained a few scrapes and bruises when he was knocked into a bush, and was naturally badly shaken.
The motorist eventually apologised for hitting the cyclist, claiming she "only thought he had clipped her wing mirror," and is "sorry if he was injured."
So this woman somehow thinks it's ok to knock cyclists out of the way with her car because they don't pay road tax, and she does! Outrageous!!
The sad thing is that many people share this view.
Who knows whether cyclists should pay road tax or not? That's a discussion for another day.
Who knows whether cyclists should pay road tax or not? That's a discussion for another day.
This woman's behaviour gives no excuse to knock down a cyclist without stopping and then boast about it. The sad thing is there are people out there who subscribe to this abhorrent behaviour, and this is no way helped by high profile personalities who promote these attitudes.
What do Matthew Parris, James Martin and Jeremy Clarkson have in common?
Apart from the fact that they regularly appear on TV, they have all written newspaper columns boasting about driving cyclists off the road, and their articles have incited others to harm cyclists. One talked about how piano wire could be strung across country lanes in order to decapitate cyclists. One took great pleasure describing how, when test-driving a sports car he drove dangerously close to a group of cyclists to frighten them and push them off the road. The other one encouraged motorists to run cyclists down, claiming that they deserve whatever they get since they don't pay road tax.
These types of open proclamations in newspaper columns completely undo the work of cycle safety campaigners, and those who work tirelessly to improve the way cyclists are treated by other road users. The attitudes expressed in the newspaper articles are just wicked and go beyond any debate on taxes. I hope that newspaper editors will think twice before deciding to publish these views in their publications. They might also want to stop and think about the types of people Messrs Parris, Martin, Clarkson along with Ms Way would like to harm.
3 comments:
The vast majority of cyclists also own vehicles and do pay road tax. It's a specious argument and is certainly no excuse to harm someone else.
+1
She was eventually found guilty and fined, as well as getting 7 points on her driving licence and losing her job.
Really? That's excellent news. Maybe she'll engage her tiny brain before driving in future.
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