Monster Prick Nick Freeman on Cycling and Cyclists

prj45

Nick Freeman, who earned a reputation for getting drivers cleared in cases that appeared impossible to win, has said that in addition to abiding by all traffic signals, cyclists should also have to wear helmets and hi-visibility clothing.

"Thanks to developments in technology cars are now much safer," Mr Freeman said. "Cyclists on the other hand are incredibly vulnerable and wearing helmets and sporting hi-vis clothing - which will cut down on deaths and injury - should be made mandatory.

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/transpor ... 07184.html

daviesee

I'll comply when all cars are hi-viz. :twisted:

And.....

How many people suffer head injuries whilst in a car accident? Helmets?

Flippant maybe, but just as valid.

meanredspider

The guy is a knob and I don't agree with what he's saying.

They are making cars hi-viz now with daylight running lights (a great thing to my mind as drivers can't be trusted to switch lights on when they're needed). Tractors and other slow vehicles are obliged to have flashing amber lights.

In the same way, there are cyclists that could make better decisions. Passed one only yesterday (I'm guessing a LeJogger) - black bike, black clothes, black panniers, black helmet - rural fast A-road lined with pine forest. He was obviously aware of the issue because he had a flashing light - but completely useless in the conditions - his legs were the most visible thing.

daviesee

meanredspider wrote:

The guy is a knob and I don't agree with what he's saying.

They are making cars hi-viz now with daylight running lights (a great thing to my mind as drivers can't be trusted to switch lights on when they're needed). Tractors and other slow vehicles are obliged to have flashing amber lights.

In the same way, there are cyclists that could make better decisions. Passed one only yesterday (I'm guessing a LeJogger) - black bike, black clothes, black panniers, black helmet - rural fast A-road lined with pine forest. He was obviously aware of the issue because he had a flashing light - but completely useless in the conditions - his legs were the most visible thing.

Valid points.
I use lights but would still be required to use hi-viz in his opinion.
Redundant to me as hi-viz isn't much brighter than what I wear and reflectives only work if drivers are using dipped headlights.
You do get ninja cyclists and they are an obvious danger and probably his target (Trying to appear fair handed ) but the guy is a knob.

turnerjohn

TBF the rest of what he says I agree with....I see loads of cyclists (live in London !) RLJ and it pisses me off. Lots of cyclists do put themselves in danger and seem totally oblivious to what their doing and their implications. for that I agree with what his saying....making helmets and hi-zi compulsory is taking it a bit far but then like the above comment I see loads of cyclists all in black at dust hours...don't help themselves !

gbsahne001

The stuff re Hi-viz and helmets is BS but after almost knocking a cyclist off as he ran a red light this week, he has a point.

antfly

Has anyone else noticed lots of cyclists riding around with front lights in broad daylight at the moment ? It seems to be a new thing, what's that all about..

daviesee

antfly wrote:

Has anyone else noticed lots of cyclists riding around with front lights in broad daylight at the moment ? It seems to be a new thing, what's that all about..

Cycling through tunnels/underpasses or shaded areas and preferring to leave them on rather than forgetting to put them on.

rolf_f

daviesee wrote:

I'll comply when all cars are hi-viz. :twisted:

Funny how about 90% of cars are now painted in various shades of dingy grey - the colour of drizzle in November. I think a campaign to make fluorescent yellow compulsory for all cars is one we should all stand behind. We just need a spokesperson; is there anyone here willing to give it a go who has a grin as scary as this?



The last time I saw a grin this scary was on Jurassic Park.......

Stevo_666

antfly wrote:

Has anyone else noticed lots of cyclists riding around with front lights in broad daylight at the moment ? It seems to be a new thing, what's that all about..

Not so new: I have my front and rear flashing lights on regardless of how murky or sunny it is when commuting - it's a small price to pay if it ever makes the difference between a driver spotting me and not spotting me.

antfly

daviesee wrote:

antfly wrote:

Has anyone else noticed lots of cyclists riding around with front lights in broad daylight at the moment ? It seems to be a new thing, what's that all about..

Cycling through tunnels/underpasses or shaded areas and preferring to leave them on rather than forgetting to put them on.

No tunnels or underpasses around here it's quiet countryside and it's not commuters, just Sunday cyclists. There weren't any last year.

cookeeemonster

The prick is just trying to push the blame onto any cyclist that gets in the way of any of his rich, dangerous driving clients.

I'll wear high viz when all cars are high viz.

I'll support mandetory helmet law when it applies to all car drivers and car passengers too.

And I hate the RLJ'ing pricks he talks about - who are also the ones that generally break all the other rules - pavement riding, not stopping for peds on ped crossing, no lights when dark etc, but how many people have been killed by dangerous cycling the last 10 years? I believe its around 3.

Compared to around 20-25000 people dead by cars (and forget the work 'accident', it's almost always due to people not following the highway code i.e. not looking and/or speeding...the sort of people he makes a living defending)

As usual that article has got all the cyclist haters out...depressiving levels of ignorance and bigotry on show

hegyestomi

antfly wrote:

daviesee wrote:

antfly wrote:

Has anyone else noticed lots of cyclists riding around with front lights in broad daylight at the moment ? It seems to be a new thing, what's that all about..

Cycling through tunnels/underpasses or shaded areas and preferring to leave them on rather than forgetting to put them on.

No tunnels or underpasses around here it's quiet countryside and it's not commuters, just Sunday cyclists. There weren't any last year.

I'm always having mine on, a bit of extra visibility cannot hurt. You can also see how useful is when cycling on straight
road in very bright sunshine: you can be spotted from a long distance.

rick_chasey

antfly wrote:

Has anyone else noticed lots of cyclists riding around with front lights in broad daylight at the moment ? It seems to be a new thing, what's that all about..

So they can never claim they didn't see you when you get hit.

rhext

So a man who makes his money from helping people avoid prosecution for motor offences has decided that all cyclists should obey the letter of the law at all times.

Right or wrong, he's pretty stupid. If we and, by extension, all of the people who drive motor vehicles actually took his advice wouldn't he be talking himself out of a living?

rhext

...mind you, maybe he's being more subtle than that. Any idiot can get a driver off if they happen to hit someone who's not wearing high vis/helmet etc. If we were all behaving in an exemplary manner, you'd need a special kind of shark to help motorists avoid liability for killing cyclists.....and that's where he comes in.

Paul E

What a knb and the best thread title in a while

bobinski

yeah,
but he loves his dogs...

Dig the new breed
Mark Freeman Monday 15 July 2013

Manchester criminal solicitor Nick Freeman, aka Mr Loophole, has a new breed of client: the Staffordshire bull terrier. Freeman, renowned for helping celebrities escape motoring convictions, aims to rehabilitate the image of the dog following an incident involving a Staffie suspected of biting off another dog’s head.

Freeman has owned Staffies for almost 20 years. His latest is a 12-month-old called George. ‘I am fed up and concerned about the adverse publicity they seem to get, as they are affectionate, loving dogs,’ he tells Obiter. His new website savethestaffy.co.uk aims to promote ‘all that is good’ about the breed.

Freeman’s clients have included Jimmy Carr, David Beckham and Jeremy Clarkson. But he has also defended dogs, including a cocker spaniel accused of biting someone in a Post Office.

‘I have never lost a dog yet,’ he says.

veronese68

Rick Chasey wrote:

antfly wrote:

Has anyone else noticed lots of cyclists riding around with front lights in broad daylight at the moment ? It seems to be a new thing, what's that all about..

So they can never claim they didn't see you when you get hit.

This. I got doored in broad daylight and I've had someone drive into the side of me as I was crossing a mini roundabout, also in broad daylight. An Exposure light on flash mode should help draw the attention as per all those articles about the eye not picking things up unless it notices movement. So a light on flash to improve my chances seems like a good idea.

Stevo_666

Rick Chasey wrote:

antfly wrote:

Has anyone else noticed lots of cyclists riding around with front lights in broad daylight at the moment ? It seems to be a new thing, what's that all about..

So they can never claim they didn't see you when you get hit.

I prefer to think of it as prevention (or at least better chances of), rather than retribution.

daviesee

Stevo 666 wrote:

Rick Chasey wrote:

antfly wrote:

Has anyone else noticed lots of cyclists riding around with front lights in broad daylight at the moment ? It seems to be a new thing, what's that all about..

So they can never claim they didn't see you when you get hit.

I prefer to think of it as prevention (or at least better chances of), rather than retribution.

Lights weigh less than a D-lock.

mpdouglas

I watched a documentary recently that explained how the brain/eye work together. The only part of your field of vision that you actually see with any kind of decent resolution is a patch the size of your thumbnail. Everything else is a lo-res blur - your brain fills in the detail with what it thinks is there. The only thing the brain processes well for stuff falling outside that "thumbnail" of hi-res is moving objects. They proved it by making you stare at a picture on the screen - there were four static objects and lots of moving dots in the background - if you stared at one of the four static objects, within about 5 seconds the other 3 "disappeared" - they were still there but your brain stops "seeing" them because they aren't moving. One of those 3 "static" items could be me approaching a car at a junction (I realise I will be moving but, to the driver, I will appear largely static). That's why I run a flashing Exposure light every day. And lo and behold, (looking for some timber to touch) no-one pulls out in front of me. Plus if I do get knocked off, I want to be able to say "Yes" to all the inevitable questions that will come up - Were you wearing something bright? Were you running a light? Were you wearing a helmet? etc etc. I'm not going to make it easy for sleazy scum like Nick Freeman to get his oxygen thieving celebrity clients off on technicalities.

tetm

This also classifies as monster prickdom. Probably won't go drinking in his pub in North Cerny.

Kieran_Burns

tetm wrote:

This also classifies as monster prickdom. Probably won't go drinking in his pub in North Cerny.

Now you need to go and look at his unreserved apology to get the full picture.

rjsterry

Indeed. Spectacularly stupid thing to say, but some of the pitchfork brigade's responses were as bad if not worse.

PBo

Kieran_Burns wrote:

tetm wrote:

This also classifies as monster prickdom. Probably won't go drinking in his pub in North Cerny.

Now you need to go and look at his unreserved apology to get the full picture.

How do I do that?

Anyway, what worth does an apology really have? One can apologise for knocking into someone, or getting their name wrong, or forgetting something - but you can't just consciously spend several minutes typing something that shows you are an a$$hat and then just apologise - can you???

rjsterry

PBo wrote:

Kieran_Burns wrote:

tetm wrote:

This also classifies as monster prickdom. Probably won't go drinking in his pub in North Cerny.

Now you need to go and look at his unreserved apology to get the full picture.

How do I do that?

Anyway, what worth does an apology really have? One can apologise for knocking into someone, or getting their name wrong, or forgetting something - but you can't just consciously spend several minutes typing something that shows you are an a$$hat and then just apologise - can you???

I don't see that apologies have some sort of upper limit. There are degrees of apology.

Here's a link to the full story on road.cc:

http://road.cc/content/news/88111-pub-landlord-apologises-anti-cyclist-comments

The comments made on my private Facebook page were taken out of the closed circle for which they were intended by a third party and posted without my knowledge. I have the utmost respect for athletes of all disciplines and all road users.

“The anti cycling banter is between some cycling/triathlon friends with dodgy knees and me, an ultra runner. I met some of these guys doing the Marathon des Sables last year. I take athletic endeavour seriously. I stand ashamed and now corrected over the issue of road funding. I am sure that this ignorance annoys cyclists all the time.

“Everyone has a right to use our roads and with that right comes a responsibility to use them safely whatever your preferred method of transport.

“I know that there are those that will not forgive what has been written but I am very sorry for any upset that this has caused amongst the cycling community. It was never my intention. This was initially meant to be rival banter between runners and cyclists not cars and cyclists.

“I take full responsibility for what was written, just wish I had written it a little differently. A lesson in the power of social media learned. The hard way.

PBo

That does actually mitigate a bit to be honest...I was struggling to think in advance of a decent story, but you know, fair enough in this case.

PBo

Hold on! I just read the linky

"I am not anti-cyclist at all,” he said. “My best man is a cyclist and last night I even gave a cyclist a lift home because he was going to try and ride home without working lights.”

Noooooooooooooooooo!

supersonic

His post was never meant to get out of the domain of his friends. Hell, if some of mine taking the wee wee out of commuters were to find their way out I'd be hung ;-)

nicklouse

supersonic wrote:

I'd be hung ;-)

you keep saying you are!