Woman Hits Cyclist While Driving, Brags on Twitter, Apprehended

車で自転車をはねて逃げてからツイッターで威張って呟く

After hitting a cyclist while speeding in her car - and not stopping to help - a British woman was so pleased with herself that she tweeted about it.

Emma Way tweeted:

"Definitely knocked a cyclist off his bike earlier - I have right of way he doesn't even pay road tax. #bloodycyclists."

This went viral.

Unfortunately for Ms. Way, the police in Norwich, England, where the incident took place, also use Twitter.

She has been since been apprehended.


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More Bicycle Accidents in Tokyo Since Earthquake and Tsunami

東日本 大地震後東京で自転車事故が急増

Since the horrific earthquake and tsunami in northern Japan, more people have been commuting to work and school in the Tokyo area.

According to the Metropolitan police, this has resulted in more accidents.

The March 11 disaster paralyzed the capital's transportation systems, leaving many to spend the night on the floor of their office - or in a bar.

As a result, many have as a result renounced trains and turned instead to another 19th century form of transportation: the bicycle.

With few bicycle lanes and insufficient infrastructure, this has lead to collisions.

Which the Tokyo police have reflexively blamed on cyclists.

From March to August of this year, there were 2,129 accidents involving bicycle commuters, up 96% from the same period in the previous year.

As always, CycleKyoto recommends: assume cars are not paying attention and ride safe.


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Japanese Police Cracking Down on Fixies

ピスト自転車の取り締まり

Fixies (in Japan: piste bicycles, pronounced pisuto) are coming under a bit of scrutiny.

The racing type bicycles that have no gears were originally designed for the track. In French, "piste" means track.

Most of the bikes are sold with brakes in Japan, but for the fashion conscious the clean lines of a brakeless bike are hard to resist.

Thus, many young people have bought a piste and removed the brakes, which - big surprise - has lead to accidents.

In 2011 alone, according to Japanese police, there have been roughly 600 violations involving piste bikes.

That is half of the total of all bikes.

If caught, violators face fines of up to 50,000 yen.

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Increasing Number of Bike Accidents in Japan

自転車危険も加速

Accidents involving cyclists and pedestrians have skyrocketed in the last 10 years in Japan.

In 2009, there were 2,934 such accidents. That is 3.7 times the number recorded a decade earlier.

In one chilling case, a junior high school student was ordered to pay 30 million yen ($300,000) to an elderly woman he hit and badly injured.

Thanks to the increasing popularity of cycling, particularly in cities, accidents have increased. In contrast to the surge in number of bikes on the road, though, the infrastructure of Japanese cities has not kept pace. That means riders are often on sidewalks, whether they want to be or not.

To date, just 6.8% of Japanese roads have dedicated lanes for cyclists.

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