Motoring Journalist in McLaren Hits Cyclist at West Head/Akuna NSW

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Nate
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Motoring Journalist in McLaren Hits Cyclist at West Head/Akuna NSW

Postby Nate » Mon May 14, 2018 4:29 pm

I cant find it elsewhere in the forum - surely its somewhere?

http://www.police.nsw.gov.au/news/news_ ... w9MQ%3D%3D

28yo female motoring journalist in a McLaren hits a cyclist.
Akuna/West Head is probably the busiest road for cyclists in Australia... no facts at all, but anyone that's been there knows you cant go more than 500m without another bunch of cyclists on Saturday or Sunday.

Its a dead end, national park, no through traffic - which is why cyclists go there, normally full of tourists & sight seeing people. Mostly 60km/h with west head 80km/h.
Happened on a Wednesday - so there may have been fewer cyclists around.

I feel this one is going to kick off...
28yo female, motoring journalist... quite the recipe for a story.

Probably a solid chance it wont due to the incompetence of the police & their "investigation".
Last edited by Nate on Tue May 15, 2018 8:31 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Motoring Journalist in McLaren Hits Cyclist at West Head/Akuna NSW

Postby AdelaidePeter » Mon May 14, 2018 4:39 pm

How do you know she's a motoring journalist? Obviously you know more than is in the police report...

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Re: Motoring Journalist in McLaren Hits Cyclist at West Head/Akuna NSW

Postby Jmuzz » Mon May 14, 2018 4:49 pm

It is being said elsewhere (Safe Cycling Australia Facebook)

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Re: Motoring Journalist in McLaren Hits Cyclist at West Head/Akuna NSW

Postby g-boaf » Mon May 14, 2018 5:20 pm

Let me guess, motoring journalist in a fast car, accident occurs... hmmm.

Which publication? I've got one in mind but I'll wait and see.

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Re: Motoring Journalist in McLaren Hits Cyclist at West Head/Akuna NSW

Postby biker jk » Mon May 14, 2018 5:23 pm

Nate wrote:I cant find it elsewhere in the forum - surely its somewhere?

http://www.police.nsw.gov.au/news/news_ ... w9MQ%3D%3D

28yo female motoring journalist in a McLaren hits a cyclist.
Akuna/West Head is probably the busiest road for cyclists in Australia... no facts at all, but anyone that's been there knows you cant go more than 500m without another bunch of cyclists on Saturday or Sunday.

Its a dead end, national park, no through traffic - which is why cyclists go there, normally full of tourists & sight seeing people. Mostly 60km/h with west head 80km/h.

I feel this one is going to kick off...
28yo female, motoring journalist... quite the recipe for a story.
Also - she HAD to have passed at least 50 other cyclists on that road, so she knew they were there - it was a known & clear risk, yet she didnt drive accordingly.
If it goes near court - i'd say she's stuffed.

Probably a solid chance it wont due to the incompetence of the police & their "investigation".
It was last Wednesday, so not many riders about. I did the Akuna Bay loop that day but was done around 10am, so didn't know about the cyclist being hit. It's a popular route for the motoring journalists, as I often have seen expensive sports cars parked at Terrey Hills with photos being taken. I don't know what happened but excessive speed perhaps on a blind bend may have been involved. No excuses though.

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Re: Motoring Journalist in McLaren Hits Cyclist at West Head/Akuna NSW

Postby Nate » Mon May 14, 2018 5:43 pm

biker jk wrote: It was last Wednesday, so not many riders about. I did the Akuna Bay loop that day but was done around 10am, so didn't know about the cyclist being hit. It's a popular route for the motoring journalists, as I often have seen expensive sports cars parked at Terrey Hills with photos being taken. I don't know what happened but excessive speed perhaps on a blind bend may have been involved. No excuses though.
Ahh didnt see the date - it all came though on social media on Sunday morning AU time

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Re: Motoring Journalist in McLaren Hits Cyclist at West Head/Akuna NSW

Postby human909 » Mon May 14, 2018 6:18 pm

I hate the term blind corner.

Its only blind if you are going too fast for the visibility and your ability to react accordingly.

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Re: Motoring Journalist in McLaren Hits Cyclist at West Head/Akuna NSW

Postby AUbicycles » Tue May 15, 2018 3:54 pm

The rider was a Waratah Rider and it was reported as serious.

At the Thai it became a popular meeting point for car enthusiasts and unfortunately that draws in the racers though they typically stick to McCarrs.

The route to and from Westhead has a suitable speed limit (if it is respected) and it is very easy as a driver to drive safely along this road.
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Re: Motoring Journalist in McLaren Hits Cyclist at West Head/Akuna NSW

Postby queequeg » Tue May 15, 2018 6:43 pm

As per the Waratahs, the rider is still in ICU at Royal North Shore with extensive injuries to his back, legs and face, all requiring surgery.

He was hit from behind by the Mclaren, though it is hard to understand how the rider could not be seen. However, put someone in a high powered sports car on a public road and let them loose, and this is what happens. Let's just hope the investigation is thorough and the driver is appropriately punished.
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Re: Motoring Journalist in McLaren Hits Cyclist at West Head/Akuna NSW

Postby Nate » Tue May 15, 2018 8:35 pm

AUbicycles wrote: The route to and from Westhead has a suitable speed limit (if it is respected) and it is very easy as a driver to drive safely along this road.
Posted speed is the MAXIMUM safe speed in good conditions.

Its interesting reading case law from accidents & there's a few running themes:
- vehicle operators have a duty of care
- must take into account reasonable risks

Doing 80km/h around a blind corner or over a crest in West Head is not exercising a duty of care IMHO.
ESPECIALLY if the driver has driven there before, they would've passed cyclists previously & KNOWN that she should be expecting more cyclists in the area, thus adjust maximum speed.

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Re: Motoring Journalist in McLaren Hits Cyclist at West Head/Akuna NSW

Postby g-boaf » Tue May 15, 2018 9:05 pm

Most car journos on public roads are a menace. They just can't help themselves but to drive inappropriately.

I'm thinking only Autogefühl from Germany may be the exception. They are always super careful on road tests, especially around bike riders.

I hope for the sake of the poor rider that the offender receives a very severe penalty.

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Re: Motoring Journalist in McLaren Hits Cyclist at West Head/Akuna NSW

Postby AUbicycles » Wed May 16, 2018 3:31 am

I think that along most of this route - that speed limit would give drivers enough time to be aware of riders. Of course, drivers still should also have the intent to be safe and drive accordingly in sections where visibility is reduced.

The thing about sports cars is that as nice a they may be - the only place that you can really drive them is on a race track... and that is the best place because it is safer for the driver, safer for others and the only place to let the car do what it was built for. I don't however know the exact circumstances and whether speeding or any driver behaviour or negligence contributed towards the collision.
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Re: Motoring Journalist in McLaren Hits Cyclist at West Head/Akuna NSW

Postby hunch » Wed May 16, 2018 7:44 am

Reported last Saturday in the local rag.
g-boaf wrote:Which publication? I've got one in mind but I'll wait and see.
Wouldn't be surprised it's a blog rather than a mag. Age of the supposed journalist makes me suspect it's somebody's car rather than provided by the local distributor - can't see them providing one to someone that age. Can only think of a few "name" female motoring journos and they're older than that.

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Re: Motoring Journalist in McLaren Hits Cyclist at West Head/Akuna NSW

Postby mikesbytes » Wed May 16, 2018 5:20 pm

Rides B grade so I've been told, so he's certainly not the slowest rider out there, not that the cyclists speed have any bearing on the outcome

Blind corner is a term used to avoid saying not driving the conditions.

Is Blind corner a known attribute of this collision or simply speculation?
If the R-1 rule is broken, what happens to N+1?

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Re: Motoring Journalist in McLaren Hits Cyclist at West Head/Akuna NSW

Postby queequeg » Wed May 16, 2018 9:41 pm

hunch wrote:Reported last Saturday in the local rag.
g-boaf wrote:Which publication? I've got one in mind but I'll wait and see.
Wouldn't be surprised it's a blog rather than a mag. Age of the supposed journalist makes me suspect it's somebody's car rather than provided by the local distributor - can't see them providing one to someone that age. Can only think of a few "name" female motoring journos and they're older than that.
Well, I can tell you that CarAdvice had this post up on their Facebook page on May 9th, the day it happened:-

https://www.facebook.com/CarAdvice/post ... 1479046505

They had three McLarens out and about, with photos taken at Pie in the Sky. Coincidence?
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Re: Motoring Journalist in McLaren Hits Cyclist at West Head/Akuna NSW

Postby g-boaf » Wed May 16, 2018 9:58 pm

queequeg wrote:
hunch wrote:Reported last Saturday in the local rag.
g-boaf wrote:Which publication? I've got one in mind but I'll wait and see.
Wouldn't be surprised it's a blog rather than a mag. Age of the supposed journalist makes me suspect it's somebody's car rather than provided by the local distributor - can't see them providing one to someone that age. Can only think of a few "name" female motoring journos and they're older than that.
Well, I can tell you that CarAdvice had this post up on their Facebook page on May 9th, the day it happened:-

https://www.facebook.com/CarAdvice/post ... 1479046505

They had three McLarens out and about, with photos taken at Pie in the Sky. Coincidence?
They were who I was suspecting, but the only person on their staff fitting the bill is quite a bit older I think.

I think it was a local McLaren drive day for the media. I'm going to guess on it being a blog rather than one of the bigger publications. Could be wrong though. There is an awful amount of silence on the whole thing.

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Re: Motoring Journalist in McLaren Hits Cyclist at West Head/Akuna NSW

Postby hunch » Thu May 17, 2018 6:55 am

queequeg wrote:
hunch wrote:Reported last Saturday in the local rag.
g-boaf wrote:Which publication? I've got one in mind but I'll wait and see.
Wouldn't be surprised it's a blog rather than a mag. Age of the supposed journalist makes me suspect it's somebody's car rather than provided by the local distributor - can't see them providing one to someone that age. Can only think of a few "name" female motoring journos and they're older than that.
Well, I can tell you that CarAdvice had this post up on their Facebook page on May 9th, the day it happened:-

https://www.facebook.com/CarAdvice/post ... 1479046505

They had three McLarens out and about, with photos taken at Pie in the Sky. Coincidence?
Yeah, not really the glossy mag area if it is them. One female on staff strikes me as older. I see they do a show on 2GB....and if not mistaken, vaguely recall they have the fish wrapper Terror articles too...all the devils in a nice row. :lol:

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Re: Motoring Journalist in McLaren Hits Cyclist at West Head/Akuna NSW

Postby mikesbytes » Thu May 17, 2018 8:40 am

Have they posted anything on the collision? Perhaps expressing their regrets and concern over the wellbeing of the cyclist?
If the R-1 rule is broken, what happens to N+1?

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Re: Motoring Journalist in McLaren Hits Cyclist at West Head/Akuna NSW

Postby g-boaf » Thu May 17, 2018 9:36 am

mikesbytes wrote:Have they posted anything on the collision? Perhaps expressing their regrets and concern over the wellbeing of the cyclist?
As far as I can see, no review of the car on the website either so far... hmm.

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Re: Motoring Journalist in McLaren Hits Cyclist at West Head/Akuna NSW

Postby Desmo » Thu May 17, 2018 2:39 pm

Car Advice have said via Twitter they weren't involved. They were testing but it wasn't their 'group'

here's @mikedoeslife tweets to me in response to my accusations they were involved.

"Ahoy, I'll tweet this openly rather than just as a reply: although one of our journalists attended a drive that day, that terrible incident did not involve any CarAdvice staff or contributors. It was actually an entirely separate drive to the one we were on. - @mikedoeslife"

"There was two separate 'waves' to the event, the incident occurred on the first and we were on the second. Also, our only female journo (unfortunately) is Mandy, and she wasn't there. - @mikedoeslife"

"to add to that, I'm a keen -- if not super regular -- cyclist myself, for both commuting and health. If we had been involved, I would be devastated and certainly would not do well at keeping it a secret"
Last edited by Desmo on Mon Jul 23, 2018 9:54 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Motoring Journalist in McLaren Hits Cyclist at West Head/Akuna NSW

Postby queequeg » Thu May 17, 2018 4:49 pm

Desmo wrote:Car Advise have said via Twitter they weren't involved. They were testing but it wasn't their 'group'

here's @mikedoeslife tweets to me in response to my accusations they were involved.

"Ahoy, I'll tweet this openly rather than just as a reply: although one of our journalists attended a drive that day, that terrible incident did not involve any CarAdvice staff or contributors. It was actually an entirely separate drive to the one we were on. - @mikedoeslife"

"There was two separate 'waves' to the event, the incident occurred on the first and we were on the second. Also, our only female journo (unfortunately) is Mandy, and she wasn't there. - @mikedoeslife"

"to add to that, I'm a keen -- if not super regular -- cyclist myself, for both commuting and health. If we had been involved, I would be devastated and certainly would not do well at keeping it a secret"
Excellent, which means it was just a coincidence...but as others noted, it seems to have been a media day, so that explains the multiple groups, and we're still none the wiser as to what actually happened.
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Re: Motoring Journalist in McLaren Hits Cyclist at West Head/Akuna NSW

Postby AUbicycles » Thu May 17, 2018 5:41 pm

It may remain that way (not much information available) as it is over to the police to go through the processes. There is a strong interest for fellow riders that this progresses and there are appropriate consequences.

It is likely the event organiser knows more and because of the brand association they want to keep it out of the public sphere.
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Re: Motoring Journalist in McLaren Hits Cyclist at West Head/Akuna NSW

Postby Nate » Thu May 17, 2018 8:38 pm

Has anyone tweeted or posted to the McLaren HQ page in home base?

FYI - posted on the Syd McLaren FB page
https://www.facebook.com/mclarensydney/

doubt it'll be approved to go public.

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Re: Motoring Journalist in McLaren Hits Cyclist at West Head/Akuna NSW

Postby g-boaf » Thu May 17, 2018 9:52 pm

Nate wrote:Has anyone tweeted or posted to the McLaren HQ page in home base?

FYI - posted on the Syd McLaren FB page
https://www.facebook.com/mclarensydney/

doubt it'll be approved to go public.
It did go live on there. Perhaps McLaren now needs to do what some other manufacturers do and have all the journos follow one of the official cars around, all cars have radios in them and journos must keep up with the official car, not allowed to go too fast, nor too slowly. This prevents any journos from doing anything too naughty. If anyone slows down too much the leader gives them a telling off over the radio.

Something like a McLaren these days is a rocket. Even a 540C is blindingly fast. A 720S, or heaven forbid, the McLaren Senna is in another world of speed again. It's just not good unleashing them on public roads.

While Caradvice has stated it wasn't involved, it has of recent times promoted street-racing videos on its site.

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Re: Motoring Journalist in McLaren Hits Cyclist at West Head/Akuna NSW

Postby jules21 » Tue May 22, 2018 8:36 am

I used to have a job that involved testing cars. I wasn't strictly a motoring journo but did go out with them. Most are skillful drivers and many very skillful. They aren't usually muppet leadfoots. But obviously they aren't the slowest drivers on the road. One thing I'll say is that it's very easy to dent a car you aren't familiar with.

I hope the cyclist recovers and obviously that the driver is held to account for any wrongdoing.

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