Daniel Meers - GoldCoast.com.au - Guilty of Inciting Hatred

[KonaCommuter]

http://m.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=926320&l=35edec7374&id=327149040711076&refsrc=http%3A%2F%2Ft.co%2Fyz4yOPJO&_rdr

Daniel Meers would like an ambulance so he can speed whenever he wants. Posted on his FB page on 21-11-2012 (and still there).

Ambulances do not get carte blanche to "speed whenever they want". It's all strictly controlled and documented and they get extra training. Ambo's get tickets for speeding / red lights just like everyone else if they're not tasked. Same with the Police. If they're caught by a camera speeding / going through a red light, and they don't have a lawful excuse they get a ticket and lose points.

[Ross]

So this guy is not only ignorant about cyclists but emergency vehicles as well. What an assett to society he is.

[winstonw]

From a quick flick through his facebook page, he likes girls and then some, horse racing, and the tv show 'home and away'.
And he started at the Gold Coast Bulletin 3 years before getting his journo degree, which his parents paid a lot of money for, via Bond Uni.

Obviously the spoiled and idiot child of the equally gauche and idiot Broadbeach Landed unGentry.

[il padrone]

Bond Uni?

High-brow, huh??

[Mulger bill]

Bond Uni?

High-brow, huh??

Never seen a high brow with protruding ridges...

[queequeg]

From a quick flick through his facebook page, he likes girls and then some, horse racing, and the tv show 'home and away'.
And he started at the Gold Coast Bulletin 3 years before getting his journo degree, which his parents paid a lot of money for, via Bond Uni.

Obviously the spoiled and idiot child of the equally gauche and idiot Broadbeach Landed unGentry.

Wait, you need a journo degree to write that tripe? Standards must have dropped a bit at Bond since I was there!

[skull]

Bond Uni?

High-brow, huh??

Private uni thus extremely expensive.

Sent from my not iDevice using Tapatalk 2

[winstonw]

Bond Uni?

High-brow, huh??

Actually, more recently I've heard good things about Bond Uni courses, especially business related. No longer does it seem the sole domain of on- and off-shore underachievers whose deep pocketed parents show more ambition. Several smarty pants I know have done undergrad and Masters courses there over the last 10 years because they could do so a lot quicker than elsewhere. I've also heard more recently Bond have attracted top lecturers/researchers with superior tenure and remuneration.

Nevertheless, I'd bet my last dollar Meers was never stand out student. In fact, I might just fire an email off to Bond Uni journo dept to ask how proud they are of their alumni boy.


Done

"................

I wanted to bring your attention to the very disturbing Gold Coast Bulletin opinion piece published here
http://www.goldcoast.com.au/article/201 ... inion.html

This "senior journalist" states he is an alumni of Bond Uni. I cannot believe someone with a tertiary degree could have written something so inflammatory with very real disastrous outcomes to all cyclists. This is the most sociopathic article I have seen in several years. Social media have been in a storm over this.

My point in bringing this to your attention is to hope Bond University are equally appalled, and can use its marketing prowess and influence on the Gold Coast to temper the editors of the Gold Coast Bulletin and News Limited.

I believe such views would make many intelligent parents and students seriously reconsider the Gold Coast as a safe and savory place to study.

The last thing the Gold Coast needs is for local and foreign students to be maimed or killed whilst cycling, especially after the local newspaper incited it. Australia and the Gold Coast in particular cannot afford a repeat of the atrociously managed Melbourne foreign student bashing debacle.

The publisher and its owner News Limited, are damaging the real and noble gains Bond Uni has made over the last 10-15 years as a tertiary institution of excellence. It is disturbing in the extreme to see prominent media giving expression to the views expressed by Daniel Meers.......

Yours Sincerely"

[goneriding]

The problem with this article is that it is getting a large amount of airing throughout the cycling community. It is probably the biggest response that this guy has ever had to anything he's written and as a journo is probably loving every moment of it! Probably better to complain directly to the life support mechanism (i.e. the Chip Wrapper producer) that he works for.

[fionahills]

Thanks for supporting Bond WinstonW - I did my MBA there few years ago- biggest attraction was that I could get it done in 12 months - with 4 kids, full-time job and at that stage just down the road (we were in Tallebudgera Valley) it was a no brainer. Must say I enjoyed it, great course, great staff and really student oriented.

This guy seems pretty representative of minority GC tosspots who give the place a bad name -

will be interested in depts response.

fiona

[queequeg]

Bond Uni?

High-brow, huh??

Private uni thus extremely expensive.

Sent from my not iDevice using Tapatalk 2

Cost is all relative. My experience of Bond was that there were a few students for whom money was no object, but that doesn't automatically make them awful people. At the other end of spectrum are very bright students on full scholarships that must maintain high grades to keep it.

I'd suggest that D. Meers is neither, but sits right in the middle as a chronic underachiever with some major hang ups.

I think I'll post something up on the Alumni Page and see what others think.

[biker jk]

Motorists in Sydney and in Australia have 'manned-up' a lot, in fact the police have asked for calm on the roads twice in the last month due to a spike in road deaths.

This was obviously not heeded. Yesterday morning a 5 year old was run down, killed, trying to cross a road, in a school zone less than 300 metres from his kindy. It was also right at an intersection so you would think car doing 40km/h in school zone approaching an intersection might even reduce speed further??? No can do. Places to be, lives to take.

As the boys godfather pointed out, he did not want to walk to school he asked for a lift, but his mother walked with her two other kids. Another nail in the coffin of my son ever walking or riding to school, or anywhere else for that matter. Things just have to change.

Level of outrage over this incident? None. This is situation normal. The Queensland Police should also respond to this article.

JM

It seems as though that child may have ran out onto the road into the path of the car. Looks like a tragic accident not a case of negligent driving.

An eyewitness said that the 4WD made a fast turn to beat oncoming traffic and struck the whole family. So the family was likely crossing the side street when the crazy driver made a fast right hand turn and collected them. I will be interested to see if charges are laid.

[winstonw]

An eyewitness said that the 4WD made a fast turn to beat oncoming traffic and struck the whole family. So the family was likely crossing the side street when the crazy driver made a fast right hand turn and collected them. I will be interested to see if charges are laid.

I can imagine that.

When driving to Currumbin Creek on the Gold Coast for a 5am ride start last Sunday morning, I got behind a commodore on the Gold Coast Hwy near Miami Beach. They appeared to be youngsters driving home after a long night of nightclubbing - they were deliberately delaying take off from traffic lights, then doing 30kph in the inside lane to hold people up, swerving violently left and right, sticking their hands out the window to encourage cars to pass then accelerating well over the speed limit to stop people getting past, then slowing and repeating. Then finally, they pulled into the left lane, then suddenly before I'd passed did a violent high speed right hand turn into a side street with no indication, and disappeared up the street. Unfortunately, my phone was in the boot at the time, otherwise I would have been tempted to video them....but then I figured being on my own, the police may have fined me for operating a mobile phone while driving....

Now, where's the opinion piece from Daniel Meers about moronic behavior such as this, that is far more common and a public danger than cyclist? My guess is he is more sympathetic towards this behavior - kids just having fun, like he did, and still does.

[The 2nd Womble]

http://blogs.abc.net.au/files/daniel-meers-blog.mp3

[winstonw]

http://blogs.abc.net.au/files/daniel-meers-blog.mp3

"raised the issue for discussion"? wt??? he said "the time has come to declare war on cyclists."

[il padrone]

"if Police started cracking down on drivers then the rogue motorists would start conforming".

Maybe a wiser statement to make about strategies that seriously improve road safety

[Xplora]

"if Police started cracking down on drivers then the rogue motorists would start conforming".

Maybe a wiser statement to make about strategies that seriously improve road safety

And everyone knows that even police crackdowns don't change things, otherwise traffic offences would never be committed

It is only the change in baseline behaviour which helps, and this guy isn't going to make that happen.

[wellington_street]

An eyewitness said that the 4WD made a fast turn to beat oncoming traffic and struck the whole family. So the family was likely crossing the side street when the crazy driver made a fast right hand turn and collected them. I will be interested to see if charges are laid.

The photo in the SMH article shows that the vehicle is stopped in the side-street approaching the intersection, so I can't correlate that with the theory above.



It's more likely that the vehicle was coming up the side street and the family crossed in front of it. In that case the pedestrian is required to give way.

Bit difficult to determine this one without some more info...

[wilddemon]

The problem with this article is that it is getting a large amount of airing throughout the cycling community. It is probably the biggest response that this guy has ever had to anything he's written and as a journo is probably loving every moment of it! Probably better to complain directly to the life support mechanism (i.e. the Chip Wrapper producer) that he works for.

Good idea, better still, might be worthwhile an email to Queensland tourism and GC tourism. I've cancelled my holiday there this year.

edit: done and done

[familyguy]

An eyewitness said that the 4WD made a fast turn to beat oncoming traffic and struck the whole family. So the family was likely crossing the side street when the crazy driver made a fast right hand turn and collected them. I will be interested to see if charges are laid.

The photo in the SMH article shows that the vehicle is stopped in the side-street approaching the intersection, so I can't correlate that with the theory above.



It's more likely that the vehicle was coming up the side street and the family crossed in front of it. In that case the pedestrian is required to give way.

Bit difficult to determine this one without some more info...

<personal opinion>
Driver looking right before reaching intersection, wanting to turn left, gunning it to beat traffic (and save a precious second or two), thereby failing to see the family crossing the road who may have been coming from the 'blind spot' (what a cop out that is, sorry) on the left, family believed they had a clear walk, driver looks up, or doesn't look up at all, damage done.
</personal opinion>

Very sad. And possibly avoidable.

Jim

[Sydguy]

Either the driver was not looking where she was going or she meant to hit them. I like to think it is not the latter.

Calling this an accident is a total cop out. Driver inattention should never be excused lightly.

The Police have in the last month been begging people to slow down, stop texting and pay attention to the road. Guess this driver was special or lives under a rock.

As of yesterday, 6 December, she was too distraught to talk to Police, I would put $1,000,000 on her having talked to a lawyer and I really hope she needs one.

If this driver gets 8 years I seriously think it will make people switch on a little bit more when they jump into a motorised vehicle.

JM

[Xplora]

Yeah mate ^^^ I have to agree. It's quite amazing in this litigious age that we are so carte blanch about letting some really noobdoodz control a 2 ton lump of steel around traffic with a gutter as the only protection for peds. Accidents are when you trip over when you're tired. If you don't take care to avoid this kind of incident, that's negligence.

Can you imagine such inattention with a loaded gun being waved around at people? Of course not.

[zero]

It's more likely that the vehicle was coming up the side street and the family crossed in front of it. In that case the pedestrian is required to give way.

Bit difficult to determine this one without some more info...

Driver never observed the child at all - thus car was still accelerating when it hit the child - brake application likely was made well after the impact (1.5 seconds+ for unexpected event) and the thus the car has been turned around and returned to the scene to assist. To be honest - 4wd driver, couldn't possibly imagine they'd run back - that would be like them not doing a lap of the block in case a park opens up right out front next lap. Also I believe its a Q5 - 1800kg personal transport. Not going to be a lot of societal soul searching about the wisdom of 200kw 1800kg high riding, high clearance city cars with a propensity to shove smaller people under them either.

[zero]

If this driver gets 8 years I seriously think it will make people switch on a little bit more when they jump into a motorised vehicle.

JM

They'd have to charge her with dangerous driving for that (unlikely imo). I'm guessing charged with neg driving occasioning death, 9 months fully suspended sentence with 3 years licence loss.

[citywomble]

Wellington street said

It's more likely that the vehicle was coming up the side street and the family crossed in front of it. In that case the pedestrian is required to give way.

He is so wrong, along with far too many motorists and cyclists.
At an intersection, the pedestrian crossing the side street has right of way and the vehicle has to give way. Also
Any vehicle turning out of the side street has to give way to pedestrians crossing the road being joined. No exceptions, all states and territories.