Shock: Mail hack doesn't like you and your kind

balthazar

Loath as I am to link to the Mail, here's another in their tradition of tawdry, clichéd, boorish, disparaging "opinion pieces" about cyclists, if anybody feels like a shot of anger this morning to wake them up:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/artic ... gPage=true

(I linked to the print page in a frail attempt to dodge the rag's page clutter.)

Cressers

Silly cow! But that's what you get in the Wail. Shouldn't reading the Mail be made a clinically recognised warning sign of dementia?

passout

I think you could call it anti-cyclist but it's actually not too bad. At least she didn't advocate scaring cyclists off their bikes or putting wire across the road as some columnists have. So bad (more unecessary really) but not bad enough to make me really angry.

Pross

Ah hah, I see so as her mum got knocked down by one "bicyclist" (presumably tricyclists aren't a danger or was this cyclist not bothered about their sexual orientation?) and she was once mugged by someone on a bike every cyclist is bad. I do like the way she complains, among numerous other things, that they 'ride in the gutter'. It's strange that one of the usual common criticisms we face is that we don't ride in the gutter but take up valuable car space a metre or so out of the gutter. Presumably as people get knocked over and injured far more frequently by motor vehicles and mugged more often by people on foot then, following her rationale, all motorists and pedestrians are aslo bad which effectively means anyone who ever leaves their house is bad. I can't believe that people get paid for writing such crap - I have to do it for nothing

hoolio

Classic.
She rode a bike for a few days and found herself being abusive to pedestrians and other road users.
Clearly the fault of the bike.

Maybe if we point out that her journalism is abusive and insulting she'll stop writing.

softlad

Petronella is the daughter of Woodrow Wyatt - the so called 'voice of reason' - or more specifically, the 'voice of right wing intolerance' as most of his rants turned out to be.....

hoolio

"I think you could call it anti-cyclist "

Gypsum_Fantastic

She seems to me to be intimating that I, as a cyclist, am a mugger, a drunk and a "blot on our highways" despite never meeting me or witnessing how I ride :roll:

By that rationale she, as a human being, must be responsible for dropping the atomic bomb, the holocaust, 911 and the humaitarian tragedy in Darfur right?

F**king idiotic cow

Tempestas

Scarily though I kind of agree with a few things she has mentioned....it is too easy to get on a bike and most cyclists would benefit from some instruction, especially in larger cities. But she does contradict herself by moaning about inexperienced cyclists and then admits to being a menace herself. All in all a good lesson in how not to write an article and she didn't even take the time to spell check....

bigmat

Its just such s**t journalism isn't it? You can tell she had a column to write and hadn't bothered to prepare anything so thought "I know, another nonsense rant about the evils of cycling" - and the editors obviously lapped it up. Lazy lazy lazy.

chriskempton

Loved the way a bike turned her into a puppet under the absolute control of its dastardly commands. Reminded me of The Wrong Trousers.

"As I wobbled along London's roads, nearly hitting every pedestrian and car, riding the wrong way up one-way streets, I was petrified and hysterical, screaming every curse I knew, including one particularly nasty one learned from my Hungarian grandmother.

After three days, disgusted with myself and unwilling to commit manslaughter, I rode on to the kerb - deliberately, of course - and fell down. I hailed a taxi and put my bike in it, to the annoyance of the driver. 'Take me home,' I bleated to the driver. I have never cycled since."

Amused rather than angry myself - it's just a pitiful puff piece from some posh bint who sounds like an insect repellent.

deptfordmarmoset

''...many cyclists ignore the Highway Code, thus putting themselves at risk just as much as peestrians.''

What's a peestrian?

rhext

She's right about one thing though: the horror and outrage which would follow if her mother had been hit by a car. At least after the mourning and grief had died down a bit that is.

That's the funny thing about these articles. Nobody seems to think 'lucky that prat was riding a bike, instead of behind the wheel of a 4*4'.

And I'd also contend that urban britain is a lot more suited to the bicycle than it is to the car.....

stfc1

Pross wrote:

which effectively means anyone who ever leaves their house is bad.

I believe that is the official editorial position of the Daily Mail. Not that those who stay in their homes should particularly be trusted either...

Heckler1974

Riding a bike whilst tired or drunk, crikey, lucky no-one ever does that in a car (the tired and drunk part not the riding the bike part, obiviously riding a bike in a car would be inadvisable).

Lazy pointless article.

It's odd though that whilst the press bang on about the evils of dangerous driving, the perils of uninsured driving etc, with cyclists the sins of the few are heaped on all, so we all jump red lights, mug people and run down old ladies.

Having said all that, people who ride without lights are not cyclists, they are two wheeled extreme sports fanatics playing some kind of game of subconscious assisted suicide.

AyrshireBacon

Find it difficult to take anything in that paper seriously.

Someone sent me a short list of 128 things that give you cancer, according to the Daily Mail.

Wouldn't mind so much, but some of these are mutually exclusive (FATHERHOOD and CHILDREN) and some of them make a menu (CHILLI, CHICKEN, RICE).

AGE
AIR POLLUTION
AIR TRAVEL
ALCOHOL
ALLERGIES
ARTIFICIAL FLAVOURS
ARTIFICIAL LIGHT
ASBESTOS
ASPIRIN
BABIES
BABY BOTTLES
BABY FOOD
BACON
BARBEQUES
BEEF
BEER
BEING A BLACK PERSON
BEING A WOMAN
BEING A MAN
BEING SOUTHERN
BISCUITS
BRAS
BREAD
BREAST FEEDING
BREAST IMPLANTS
BROKEN HEARTS
BUBBLE BATH
BURGERS
CAFFIENE
CALCIUM
CANDLE-LIT DINNERS
CANNED FOOD
CARBOHYDRATES
CARS
CEREAL
CHEESE
CHICKEN
CHILDLESSNESS
CHILDREN
CHILDREN’S FOOD
CHILLIS
CHINESE MEDICINE
CHIPS
CHLORINE
CHOCLATE
CITY LIVING
CLIMATE CHANGE
COCA COLA
COD LIVER OIL
COFFEE
CONSTAPATION
CONTRACEPTIVE PILLS
COOKING
CORDLESS PHONES
CRAYONS
CURRY
DEODRANT
DIETING
DOGS
EGGS
ELECTRICITY
ENGLISH BREAKFAST
FACEBOOK
FALSE NAILS
FATHERHOOD
FIBRE
FISH
FLIP FLOPS
FLY SPRAY
FRUIT
GARDENS
GRAPEFRUIT
HAIR DYE
HAM
HEIGHT
HONEY
HOT DRINKS
HRT
INTERNET
IVF
KIDNEY TRANSPLANTS
LAMB
LARGE HEADS
LEFT-HANDEDNESS
LIPSTICK
LIVER TRANSPLANTS
MENOPAUSE
MENSTRUATION
METAL
MILK
MOBILE PHONES
MODERN LIVING
MONEY
MORPHINE
MOUTHWASH
NUCLEAR POWER
OBESITY
OESTROGEN
OLDER FATHERs
PASTRY
PEANUT BUTTER
PERFUME
PICKLES
PIZZA
PLASTIC BAGS
PORK
POTATOES
POVERTY
PREGNANCY
RADIOACTIVITY
RICE
SAUSAGES
RETIREMENT
SEX
SHAVING
SKIING
SOUP
SPACE TRAVEL
SUN CREAM
TALCUM POWDER
TEA
TEEN SEX
VITAMINS
WATER
WI-FI
WORCESTERSHIRE SAUCE
WORKING
X-RAYS

Pross

stfc1 wrote:

Pross wrote:

which effectively means anyone who ever leaves their house is bad.

I believe that is the official editorial position of the Daily Mail. Not that those who stay in their homes should particularly be trusted either...

No, they're the "lazy dole cheats" obviously

shouldbeinbed

Bloody unlucky Mum, one of the tiny number of people to have been hit by a bike. At least she's still alive, if she'd met a car, dear Petty could be ranting about murdering drivers (yeah right).

I wonder if she'd care to quote the drink driving statistics or the figures for car v pedestrian and bike v pedestrian injuries.

we've only got her word that Ma looked before crossing, and where was her high viz or lights for being out in such a dark environment?

Petronella Wyatt wrote:

They ride in the gutter and weave in and out between cars. In fact, they act as if they were deaf and dumb. Worse, some ride when tired or drunk - and many haven't learned to control their bicycles.

though to be fair some of us have mastered rudmentary tools and can almost walk on our hind legs.

PW wrote:

As I wobbled along London's roads, nearly hitting every pedestrian and car, riding the wrong way up one-way streets, I was petrified and hysterical, screaming every curse I knew, including one particularly nasty one learned from my Hungarian grandmother.

After three days, disgusted with myself and unwilling to commit manslaughter, I rode on to the kerb - deliberately, of course - and fell down. I hailed a taxi and put my bike in it, to the annoyance of the driver. 'Take me home,' I bleated to the driver. I have never cycled since.

yeah, I'd be annoyed if she got in my car too :roll:

I failed to totally master French in 3 days flat and once owned a Citroen that regularly broke down. can I take it therefore that it's not me that is deficient and one poor example is plenty enough to base an opinion on and can therefore safely state: all French are scum & have no place in civilsed society and their cars should be eradicated from the roads.

It just another branch of racism for people that enjoy spilling their vile nasty empty little souls into the real world and know that other minority groups that they spout such bigoted shite about have the muscle and public opinion behind them to fight back.

I'd love to have the money to bring a lawsuit as nothing in that article refers to me and I'd like to test if it's defamation of character and incitement to hatred.

Where are the national cycling organisations and their legal funds when this tat is published???

PW wrote:

Thus an inebriated 15-year-old youth who has never been in the saddle, can jump on a bike and wreak havoc on our streets.

This is in sharp contrast to the position of the motorist who, since 1935, has had to be over 17 and pass a stringent driving test.

Just spotted this bit linking to another site - FFS does she think that every driver is over 17 & has a licence, tax and insurance. no one has died at the hands of a sub 17 yo joyrider in a car. More stats please Petronella.

MadammeMarie

Serves her right for shagging a married bloke!

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article391143.ece

Stupid c**t!!

chriskempton

So she's happy to have an article printed unde her name where she refers to a married man (with4 kids) she's had an affair with as:

"irrepressible London Mayor Boris Johnson, perched on the saddle like a baked potato with cheddar on top"

That's some brass neck she's got.

Pross

Brilliant. Explains why she is so anti-bike, Boris probably said he got more pleasure out of riding the bike than from riding her

MadammeMarie

Pross wrote:

Brilliant. Explains why she is so anti-bike, Boris probably said he got more pleasure out of riding the bike than from riding her

mroli

I had a series of correspondence with the Mail through the PSC after having a complaint processed about the Robert Hardman article a few months ago. I was assured by the editor at the Mail that dealt with my complaint that the Mail did not have an "anti" cyclist agenda and that he indeed was one of the lycra-clad ninjas that Mr Hardman attacked in his article. These pieces are very hard to attack - even if they are inaccurate because they are "opinion" pieces and the PSC/Mail view them as such.

Of course, in this case it may well be that Ms Wyatt's relation was knocked down by a bike and that the bike failed to stop, but without sitting down and doing an analysis of the facts and figures and going through the official complaint process, you get absolutely nowhere on complaining about something like this. I have just started urging all my friends and family never to buy the Mail and would suggest that has to be the most effective way to deal with it.

simonaspinall

Front Page Shocker: Swan-roasting Immigrant Cyclists responsible for Diana 'murder' as they were speeding irresponsibly to get to Housing Benefit Office ahead of nice young first time buyer called Felicity Puddleduck.

bails87

simonaspinall wrote:

Front Page Shocker: Swan-roasting Immigrant Cyclists responsible for Diana 'murder' as they were speeding irresponsibly to get to Housing Benefit Office ahead of nice young first time buyer called Felicity Puddleduck.

No, speeding's ok. Seeing as motorists (me included) pay to use the roads. Speed cameras are a stealth tax on motorists, or is that criminals....damn, I can never remember.

simonaspinall

bails87 wrote:

simonaspinall wrote:

Front Page Shocker: Swan-roasting Immigrant Cyclists responsible for Diana 'murder' as they were speeding irresponsibly to get to Housing Benefit Office ahead of nice young first time buyer called Felicity Puddleduck.

No, speeding's ok. Seeing as motorists (me included) pay to use the roads. Speed cameras are a stealth tax on motorists, or is that criminals....damn, I can never remember.

Criminal is probably better, that way in Daily Mail-Land (my new theme park idea) you'd get a free council flat funded by the the victim's family having to sell their organs whilst they have to live in negative equity and stealth taxes are thrust upon them to pay for for tourist NHS operations/Polish kids in schools/Council Bureaucrats/Health and Safety Officers.

Oh if only Diana were here!

antfly

Nobody has bothered to condemn the cyclist who rode without lights, knocked an old woman down and didn`t stop so I would just like to say he is indeed a blott on the landscape.

simonaspinall

antfly wrote:

Nobody has bothered to condemn the cyclist who rode without lights, knocked an old woman down and didn`t stop so I would just like to say he is indeed a blott on the landscape.

You're assuming this happened and that the journalist is being accurate?

antfly

I doubt she would lie about it happening to her mother. It`s not so hard to believe anyway, not all cyclists are saints.

simonaspinall

antfly wrote:

I doubt she would lie about it happening to her mother. It`s not so hard to believe anyway, not all cyclists are saints.

Hmmm, I think she would massively exaggerate. No not all cyclists are saints, I mean look at what happens after just three days - the user has no will of their own!

antfly

She was clearly riding an evil bike.

Still, I don`t see what`s to exaggerate, it either happened or it didn`t.