Womans knocks down cyclist, brags about it on Twitter......

Technology is ever growing and good; Social media entertains… but one has to be judicious. Millions daily use the microblogging and online social networking service – Twitter…….. they post messages called ‘tweets’ which cannot exceed 140 characters.   Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and by July, the social networking site was launched. Twitter Inc. is based in San Francisco, with additional servers and offices in New York City, Boston, and San Antonio.

As one could observe people become compulsive and post things which are not of any value and many a times are not worth sharing with others…. Many a times it is social bragging and exhibiting their arrogance …. Like the one in news here…… Road accidents do occur ~ the initial reaction is to blame the other person or the situation…….having knocked a cyclist off his bike and through a hedge, most drivers would be mortified. But not accountancy trainee Emma Way. The 21-year-old’s first thought was to boast about the incident on Twitter. Writing under the name @emmaway20, she tweeted: ‘Definitely knocked a cyclist off his bike earlier – I have right of way he doesn’t even pay road tax! #bloodycyclists’.   What an insane behaviour !! ~ and that led to her downfall too…..

The tweet ignited a storm of protest among other users of the social media site, most of whom were highly critical of  Emma Way. It also alerted Norwich police to the incident. They sent Emma Way a tweet suggesting she contact them about the incident, which is being formally investigated by its officers.  According to Daily Mail and BBC, her tweet was linked to an accident  involving Toby Hockley, a cyclist who was knocked off his bike into a hedge on Sunday while taking part in the 100-mile Boudicca Sportive ride in Norfolk.  Hockley says he was riding on a narrow country lane, about 5km from the end of the event, when a car "came tearing round the blind corner" and narrowly missed the cyclist in front of him. The 29-year-old freelance chef says the car veered onto his side of the road and he was struck by its wing mirror, sending him "flying" into a hedge.

Mr Hockley, 29, a chef from Norwich, claimed he had ‘a miraculous escape’ after being clipped by her car on Sunday. He was taking part in the 100-mile Boudicca Sportive road riding event when the incident happened five miles from the finish line at Snetterton, near Norwich. She hit me really hard. I am lucky to be alive. But I managed to get out of the hedge and stand up. ‘The car was nowhere to be seen. She hit me, and she was gone. All I know is that it was a blonde girl driving.  ‘I have a sore elbow, a bruised knee, nettle stings from riding through the hedge, but nothing serious.’  He said he had not intended to report the accident, fearing that his girlfriend would be worried about him cycling in the future.

Of Miss Way, he said: ‘I think she came across as a very silly girl and made herself look like a bit of a fool. I’m not angry, I would just like it known that her stupid comment that I don’t pay road tax is not an excuse to treat cyclists like second-class citizens.’

Contacted by the Mail last night, Miss Way refused to comment. However a friend said she had been suspended from work at accountants Larking Gowen. The Mail says some of the earlier messages posted on Way's Twitter page have been sent to police. They include a picture which appears to be taken from her driving seat, showing a slow-moving car in front. The caption reads: 'This is the reason for my lateness. Always stuck behind some clueless crazy fool! #smartcar.' Another tweet passed to police officers features a picture of a speedometer at 95mph – 25mph over the national limit. The Guardian says many people who criticised Way's tweet about hitting a cyclist pointed out its "ignorance" of UK tax laws.  "As every cyclist knows, road tax doesn't exist – drivers pay vehicle excise duty for their car, and road maintenance is funded from centralised taxes," the paper said.

The woman later said she regretted her "stupid, immature, spur-of-the-moment" tweet and said she could only blame herself for the reaction it caused.

Now something from IPL 6 as well. Australian dashing opener David Warner was fined A$5,570 (£3,600) for his Twitter outburst against two cricket writers at the weekend after being found guilty of breaching Cricket Australia's code of behaviour. Cricket Australia issued a statement saying its code of conduct commissioner, Gordon Lewis, imposed the maximum financial penalty for a first offence under Rule 6 of the code relating to "unbecoming behaviour". "In hindsight, clearly I let my frustrations get the better of me and posted some inappropriate tweets last weekend," Warner said in a statement after pleading guilty to the charge. "While I disagreed with the story and my image being used alongside the story, I could have chosen my words better and I apologise for any offence that my language may have caused.

Warner used Twitter to launch an often expletive-filled attack on the News Limited journalists Robert Craddock and Malcolm Conn after taking exception to an article critical of the IPL. Warner played for the Delhi Daredevils and after the spot-fixing allegations surfaced, Sydney Telegraph writer  Conn tweeted: "You lose 4-0 in India, don't make a run, and you want to be tickled on the tummy? Win the Ashes and get back to me." 

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

28^th May 2013.

With inputs from Daily Mail & BBC.