Posts by Lisa Black
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Hard News: How I love the ladies ..., in reply to Simon Grigg,
Thanks for that Blue Smoke link, Simon. It's reminded me of one of our family heirlooms. When my dad was a youngish teenager (sometime in 1950s Christchurch) one of his six million older sisters* 'went around' with a young chap who had a recording studio. Because Dad played the guitar, this chap, wanting to impress the sister, got Dad in & made a record. Everyone was impressed, not just the sister. Dad still has a copy, and it's lovely.
*Dad is from a Catholic-sized family. Nana despised all religions but reserved a special loathing for Catholics, so naturally she married one. I'm unclear as to exactly how many aunts I have. Really.
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I read Winston's comment on the Treaty situation as wondering why on earth the Treaty should be an issue after all this time, and I'm inclined to agree.
170 years of ballsing it up, I mean, really... It's not that hard to do the right thing, and our governments haven't on a quite spectacular scale. Not to mention the ongoing racism as exemplified in the licence plate auction comments on Trade Me. (Don't worry, I linked to the Dom Post story not the ugly Trade Me comments).
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Thanks for the heads up, Gordon. @cyclingwgtn is now following @NLNZ.
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I love Papers Past! Paragraph 4 is my favourite news article (go Foxton!).
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Southerly: Tower Insurance Have Some Bad…, in reply to Che Tibby,
I agree with Che - make a formal complaint. The complaints process is usually handled by people with a wider perspective than the front line claims handlers and you're more likely to get a result.
The industry is desperately short of experienced property claims people at present, so this decision was likely made under massive time pressure and possibly by someone either new to the job or unfamiliar with Tower's ethos.
Try to be patient, if you have any patience reserves left. I suspect that the people involved are working really long hours.
Hang in there, follow this through til you get the right result.
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Southerly: One Hundred and Thirty-one…, in reply to Islander,
I don't know where my last post went, but it basically said I include everyone - yes, cyclists too - in my assessment. It's not drivers who have the problem, it's people. Oddly enough, I don't consider myself a wanker or a shit for thinking this, and I didn't come here to be called names or see that done to others. Nor do I think that being dumb on the road prevents us from being lovely people as well. We are not one or the other, we're more multi-textured than that.
But - and this is important - our driving skills baseline is low. Our road statistics show that pretty comprehensively. Compare our road training to other countries. In Germany, for instance, getting your licence is really bloody difficult because the skill level requirement - including how you behave to others - is set so high. Here we don't have much standing between a 15th birthday and a drivers licence.
@Lucy - yes. Good manners etc presupposes knowledge of what constitutes them, e.g. stopping distances etc. Also see my second paragraph above.
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Southerly: One Hundred and Thirty-one…, in reply to Islander,
Well he's right about our bad manners and aggression anyway. Most of the unpleasant riding events I see would have been avoided with either good manners, making the effort to notice what's around one, or just chilling the hell out.
@ both Jameses, thank you for those references.
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Thanks, Alice, Jack!
James, that's really interesting. If you happen across the source for that, please do send it to me.
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Southerly: One Hundred and Thirty-one…, in reply to BenWilson,
Well, it's possible that helmets might lead to more accidents, as people would feel even more invulnerable.
I don't know of any research on that angle, but I have seen some* that says drivers think cyclists are less vulnerable when wearing a helmet and so they drive closer than they do for a non-helmeted rider.
As someone said above, helmet research is contested. What I would like to see is a graphic showing the average results of the studies. I'd like to be able to see whether the increased level of protection in the less likely direct impact scenario is outweighed by the increased likelihood of injury in the more common rotational head and neck twist injuries.
What everyone does agree on though, is that proper cycling infrastructure makes bike riders safer. And New York City has found that it has made everyone safer - their road injuries for all classes have reduced as a direct result of putting in their cycle paths.
*WHY don't I bookmark this stuff?!
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Southerly: One Hundred and Thirty-one…, in reply to giovanni tiso,
It's both, and they're both enormous factors in getting women cycling. Having great cycling infrastructure in Christchurch would go a long way to making women feel safe.
The good thing about removing helmet compulsion is that you can still wear one if you want. It's just that you don't HAVE to.