" I WAS FASTER THAN YOU !"

Within 1/2 km of the house i live , i pass through a roundabout whilst riding east , then pass a minor road on my left hand side that serves the Brandenbergtal . Today at about 1230 i see an Ambulance waiting for the traffic to pass before turning east behind me . Within less than 100M it has it's nose alongside me as it attempts to overtake on a right turning corner despite ONCOMING TRAFFIC . I am going at about 30+kph . so it eases it's speed to allow the bronze coloured  car to pass . By this time we are near the entry to the Ambulance Station and having suffered this bad behaviour , i signal with my arm a left hand turn . Being crowded by the Ambulance , i roll into the NEXT Entry , that of the Polizei in case the ambulance driver misjudges and causes ONE of his colleagues to have to transport me back to the Schwaz Hospital , that i had left 35 mins earlier !

Being in the RIGHT , that perhaps is DEAD RIGHT , does not work for me ! At 70yo i expect to continue to ride in good health until  i am 80+yo  , if not older !

When i arrived alongside the Ambulance , the 3 occupants were still in the vehicle . I asked for the Director of this establishment . Whilst trying to gain this info , another of their colleagues called " Skippy "!  I went across to the outdoor canteen setting and discovered an Ambulance/Red Cross employee that i have cycled with on numerous occasions . Having explained in detail the circumstances of this incident , he advised that tthe " Controller " was in Kufstein , then related difficulties that he had ALSO suffered in the area .

In past blogs i have related an incident , where i chased a tractor that had driven through a " STOP Sign " , at full tilt ! That would have been the 2nd or 3rd time , that tractor or similar , had rolled through that intersection in my path !  Since i knew that with it heading north , would bring it to the mushroom farm , i had followed and reported the incident to the gatekeeper of the Mushroom Farm . i mentioned that he should put my complaint into the Plant Incident Records , as i felt certain that this driver was likely to KILL A CHILD , some time in the near future .  These days i slow near this junction , so as to avoid a repetition causing me injury . This Cycling Ambulance driver has had occasion to report that tractor driver to the Geminde , for exactly the same type of behaviour . Like so many living , perhaps growing old in this area , he is not as willing to make an issue of the IRRESPONSIBLE/Dangerous Driving behaviours that HE , and other Cyclists encounter ?  Easier to be INJURED or DEAD ? Don't rock the boat as a neighbour might not talk to you in a friendly manner ?

WHO GIVES A " FLY##g F#ck " what other BAD DRIVERS THINK ?

WHEN Emergency Services Vehicle Drivers DO NOT OBSERVE the AUSTRIA Driving Regulations , WHY , would the General Public ?

In 2014 , on Austrian Roads 51 Cyclists were KILLED !  Most of those Families would have lost THEIR BREADWINNER ?  It would be safe to assume that IF THE BREADWINNER is LOST , the Family will LOSE their FUTURE ?  Children may lose their Higher Education , whilst the Mother may have to go out to Work , IF , the State does not have to provide for their Welfare ?  Each UK Trooper lost in IRAQ & Afganistan was reported to COST the UK Treasury GBP 1/2 million , Austrians could assume that a Father would be worth about Eu 700k ? That is where the TAXES are going ?  How much time would the HURRYING Motorist lose , IF , they slowed / waited behind a moving Cyclist ? A pitiful amount of seconds!

The Ambulance Driver , trying to pass me , may have lost 3 to 5 seconds in the distance travelled behind me! I was riding at 30+kph in a 40kph zone , so several hundred metres of PATIENCE ? WHAT was so important that he was ENDANGERING a Vulnerable Human being ON A BIKE ? He needed the toilet , he was rushing to stop his lunch burning in an oven ?

When i arrived beside his vehicle , he had not even descended , and , where was he going ?  NOT to the toilet , since he stood around listening to me talking with his colleague for about 10 minutes or so !  So WHAT WAS THE URGENCY ?  He was not using his Siren or Blue Lights , so there was NO EMERGENCY ! AS to the other 2 occupants of the vehicle , were they so spaced out that they did not notice or remark about the CARELESS/DANGEROUS Driving ?

IF he was a GOOD Employee , he would have been more considerate of OTHER ROAD USERS , BUT , as he looks in the mirror , he will see a slovenly tub of LARD !  YES , i know there are people with weight problems , but do ALL of them have their shirt hanging out , creased and stained ? Their trousers rumpled ? HIS colleague , the Cyclist , was immaculately dressed in the same uniform . A Question of Attitude ?  Doubt that an Ambulance Driver that looks after their appearance , looks after their fitness , would be inconsiderate towards the public ?
             
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Another incident worth remarking about occured as i was heading east out of Jenbach . Having crossed the Achensee Rail line there is a short hill that crests near the entrance to the Seniors School . 50M before the entrance to the School , i was overtaken by a red car , who metres in front of me , slammed on the brakes and turned onto the school premises !  I was forced into turning into the School premises to avoid colliding, so rode to the door of the then parked car . When the driver alighted , i asked him , IF HE HAD SEEN ME?  "YES , ABER/but i was SNELLER "!  Good Answer for DANGEROUS DRIVING ?

Hanging out of the upper floor windows , were dozens of students who heard me enquiring for " WHO is the person speaking  English "?  Eventually i tracked down the School Principal , who was Fluent , thus this allowed me to relate the circumstances and question , WHY , the driver was allowed to behave in this manner .

I pointed out to him that , PUPILS follow the behaviour of their " Parents / Teachers " , thus it is beholden on THOSE IN AUTHORITY , to set the example !  I even suggested that , IF a Teacher was to be ALLOWED Parking Priveleges , then their driving should have ANNUAL Review , to ensure they set a good example to their students !


Whilst composing THIS Blog , i have had " SKY TV News " running , thus i see BOZO ( Mayor of London on his Bike , being abused by a London Black Cab driver ) ! Not the fact that he was on a bike , being intimidated by a ton+ of METAL , BUT , his 4 letter word USED during the exchange of words ;  was the issue !  When threatened by a Vehicle , do you really think that he has to worry about his language ?

When a Senior Off Duty Polizei Officer riding his bike on a Sunday , can only give the finger to the driver of a topless Mercedes , after being abused , AND , the Chief Melbourne Police Officer , again Off Duty , can be abused by a FOUL MOUTHED Victorian Driver , THEN there is MUCH WRONG with Traffic LAWS in ALL Countries !

UNTIL I am skittled by a vehicle , Injured with Broken Bones & Hospitalised , there is NOTHING that the TIROL POLIZEI Officers are willing to do to bring to book the perpetrator ! Seems the Laws of Austria require a Cyclist to be seen by a Doctor before AN ASSAULT of any kind can be investigated ?

REMEMBRANCE DAY 2014

Amazed to see that this day was marked in Beijing by Tony Abbott , PM of Oz , at a Memorial Venue
there!  For me it was an eye opener to see the Memorial Grounds that are shown in these photos !

Whoever was responsible for creating this Memorial, has done a really great job of reminding people of the DEBT that the Nation OWES our Fallen !




Going in " Harms Way " is an every day occurance for the Armed & Emergency Services , so it was good to see them represented at this Ceremony .

Every Nation has a reason to remember this day and Australia lost most of a Generation of the Young Men in the World War 1 Disaster .

Back then People were more likely to use a Bicycle for getting about the urban areas . It was only in the 1950s that there was a move to the personal  4 wheeled transport mode . Since then personal convenience has degenerated into Personal Selfishness , as demonstrated by the way so many  NOW regard the Cyclist !


HOW DARE the CYCLIST , get in MY way , as i have CHOSEN to leave the house/office at the last minute/LATE for MY Personal appointment/journey .

Wonder if those that marched off for King & Country , could have envisaged their Sacrifice , to ensure that WE live in a Democratic Country , would have led to so much SELFISH Behaviours of the Current Community ?  Are there any drivers out there that having SALUTED the FALLEN , have decided to be LESS SELFISH , as a way to mark THEIR SACRIFICE ?

The following excerpts below , demonstrate the current thinking in the Road Community , where SELFISHNESS is bounded by those enclosed in their Metal Box ( coffin on wheels ) violating the SPACE of those wearing normal clothes and even Lycra !

YES life was different in 1914 , a slower more considerate , Family/Community  Orientated way of LIFE .

2014 is a NIGHTMARE of people thinking THEIR Life is more important than their Neighbour , Family and Friends . HOW DARE anyone inconvenience ME , cause ME to lose SECONDS!  This is a CRIME Punishable by PERSONAL STUPIDITY , in too many cases . A driver getting out of a vehicle attacking another driver , is described as " Road Rage "!  Knocking a Cyclist off the bike with a vehicle , ONLY rates attention , IF , the Cyclist is KILLED !   Then it is a shrug of the shoulders by most , " Coming to them " is a remark of others , Policing Authorities filling out the paperwork , then moving onto the next incident !

Laughable that SKY TV and CNN , were describing the sinking of the Korean Ferry , with the loss of 300+ lives as an ACCIDENT !  INCIDENT , yes !  Accident , NO ! The sentence of the Captain to 36yrs in Jail and the Chief Engineer to 30yrs , certainly was no ACCIDENT !

Turning on the ignition of a Vehicle is NO ACCIDENT !  This is a decision to drive what amounts to a KILLING MACHINE , when not 100% supervised !  Yet each driver fails to spend 100% of their energy conforming to what they were taught , when they were seeking their Driver Permit/licence !

WHO is responsible for the slippage of Standards ?  Does it really matter ? The PROBLEM Exists and needs rectifying !

Emergency Services Personnel are trained to DRIVE at a certain Standard . When they are allowed on the roads to operate their vehicles in a manner , BELOW that standard , the Public notice and then EMULATE!

BETTER that those Emergency Services Personnel that were trained , revert to the Standard they were required to meet , then they can set out to INSTILL into the Public the Standard they showed , when seeking that piece of paper , they were so desparate to obtain when TESTED !

Entertainment follows , thanks to this link :

http://ukcyclelaws.blogspot.co.uk/p/the-laws-according-to-highway-code.html

Also easier to pass a single file column of cyclists as they aren't all swerving to avoiding hitting eachother, their attention is drawn to chatting, looking at eachother and constantly avoiding the accident they are about to cause with eachother.

Our local cycling club are hell bent on riding two abreast, on roads where two way traffic is just about manageable, they also insist on stopping and gathering at the apex of corners and blind crests, having a drink whilst the bike wobbles away from their one supporting leg uncontrollably.

This is great and I fully respect the guidelines/laws - unfortunately in my experience, the vast majority of those with a desire to cycle on our roads leave all common sense at home and treat their ride out in a similar vein to to local mothers union meetings on a Tuesday morning - paying zero attention to the road, no regard for other road users and carry with them an attitude that they can do no wrong whilst on a bicycle.

They are a danger to society, please ensure the cyclists are aware of the rules prior to having a go at the motorist. I pride myself at being a fairly competent driver, young enough to act and think quickly, but old enough to have a bit of common sense. Unfortunately when seeing cyclists (and I do apologise for tarring them all with the same brush) I know I will have to take some deep breaths and calm myself down due to the complete incompetence displayed before me. What they fail to realise is that being on the road is not like playing on a games console, there is no reset button and the vast majority of motorists simply do not care about the hobbyist cyclist who is delaying their daily commute - that is where it gets dangerous!!!



Pete: you have just replied with the stereotypical nonsense that people tend to come out with.

"Unfortunately when seeing cyclists (and I do apologise for tarring them all with the same brush)"

How is that any different from me saying "I dont mean to tar every car driver with the same brush but they all use their mobiles while driving, if not drunk, some on occasion grab kids off the street before raping and killing them".

You are talking utter crap and you know it.


If the road is such that two way traffic is just about manageable, you need to overtake using the opposite carriageway, just as if you were overtaking a car.

If your side of the road is not wide enough for a bike a metre from the road edge, plus the width of the rider, plus at least another metre of polite space then you will need to go into the oncoming carriageway when you can see the way is clear.

CONFLICT of INTERESTS ?

The following article clearly shows how BIG Business treats Cyclists !

WITH CONTEMPT !

Copied from the Blog Post , in it's entirety , as the poster expresses it better than i could hope to do :

  "  http://cyclelondoncity.blogspot.com/


Canary Wharf Finance Director must declare conflicts of interest before he chairs November's Transport for London committee that decides whether to fund Cycle Super Highways or not
Posted: 11 Oct 2014 04:11 AM PDT                Photo

Peter Anderson, FD, Canary Wharf Group PLC
Chair of TfL finance committee that will decide
on the Cycle Super Highway investment
This post is going to be a bit explosive. Please have a serious think about what I'm going to say.

This chap pictured above is Peter Anderson. He is the Finance Director of Canary Wharf Group PLC.

He is also on the Board of Transport for London. He is also Chair of TfL's Finance & Policy Committee. Bear with me on this. It's quite astonishing.

On Friday, the Guardian carried a story in which Canary Wharf Group admitted "it was behind the anonymous briefing" which was published first on this blog and in which, in my view, Canary Wharf Group sought to present a whole range of falsehoods and misrepresentations as fact in order to discredit Transport for London's Cycle Super Highway plans.

Another article in the Guardian states: "Another business lobbyist funded by Canary Wharf has toured the party conferences claiming, wrongly, that the superhighways will delay traffic in London by 6%."

Now, I would suggest there is a conflict of interests going on. It is at the very least inappropriate and I would like someone who reads this blog to have a serious think about whether it could potentially be more serious than that.

There is a piece of legislation called the Greater London Authority Act 1999 which sets out the governance of Transport for London. And the Act is pretty clear about conflicts of interest:



Peter Anderson has sat in TfL board meetings in which Cycle Super Highways have been discussed. Have a look at the video below - a TfL board meeting in February. Minute 4.30 onwards, the board is talking about the first stage investment in Cycle Super Highways. From minute 5.30, here is Peter Anderson talking about those Cycle Super Highways and finding ways to obfuscate: "is the impact [of cycle super highways] greater than the benefits?" he asks and suggests they might "need a redesign".  Here, at board level, is Canary Wharf's finance director going into minute details about segregated bike lanes. It is, in my opinion, rather unusual for a board meeting to discuss such intricate details as the position of kerb lines in the way that Peter Anderson is doing in this video. That raises eyebrows already.

What raises eyebrows even more is that we now know Peter Anderson's employer, on whose board he also sits, has been briefing against TfL's own cycle super highway policy (although we don't know when precisely Canary Wharf started to do that). We also know that, to date, Peter Anderson has never declared any interest in cycling and its relationship to Canary Wharf. You can see Peter Anderson's declarations of interest online.

So, that's issue number one.

But issue number two is more astonishing.

Peter Anderson is also the Chair of the TfL Finance and Policy Committee. This is the committee at which funding for TfL projects gets decided on. And if you look at the agenda for that Committee, you can see that on November 25th, Peter Anderson will be chairing the meeting that decides whether or not to fund the Cycle Super Highways. Look at Page 4 on the Forward Schedule from the last meeting, and it's staring right at you: Cycle Super Highways Programme will be discussed in the November meeting of the TfL Finance and Policy Committee, chaired by Peter Anderson.

In other words, the Finance Director of Canary Wharf Group PLC, an organisation which has been actively briefing against the Cycle Super Highways, is going to chair the Committee next month that decides whether or not to finance those very same Cycle Super Highways. AND, that Finance Director has not yet declared his company's activities or any interest in the Cycle Super Highways.

If Peter Anderson is to chair this meeting my belief is that he needs to immediately:

a) Declare the extent to which lobbying by Canary Wharf Group PLC, and their appointed lobbyists, at political party conferences over the last 45 days have targeted TfL plans for 'Crossrail for bikes'

b) Declare the extent of lobbying by Canary Wharf Group PLC, and their appointed lobbyists, to its tenants over the last 60 days that have targeted TfL plans for 'Crossrail for bikes'. (It is interesting that Deloitte, a big 4 accounting firm has declared support for 'Crossrail for bikes'. KPMG, which is a tenant of Canary Wharf Group, however, has not).

c) Declare what contact and communication Canary Wharf Group PLC, and their appointed lobbyists, have put on London First to make statements about TfL's plans for 'Crossrail for bikes'.

d) Declare what contact and communication Canary Wharf Group PLC, and their appointed lobbyists, have put on the Federation of Small Businesses to make statements about TfL's plans for 'Crossrail for bikes'.

e) Declare what contact and communication there has been between Canary Wharf Group PLC, and their appointed lobbyists, with HM Treasury in the last 60 days that have made reference to or pertain to TfL's plans for 'Crossrail for bikes'.

f) To what extent George Iacobescu, the CEO of Canary Wharf Group PLC is using personal funding and contacts within the Conservative Party and specifically with George Osborne to impact the TfL's 'Crossrail for bikes'.

If this is not a clear, inappropriate and incorrect failure to declare conflicts conflict of interest, I don't know what is.