I second Alex's statement.

While the term "rider down" is not "standard English", it is easily
understood without need for further definition. It is widely used in
online mediums, whether chat rooms, bulletin boards, e-groups such as
this one, e-mails, text messages, blogs, newsletters, etc. where
English (be it vocabulary and/or syntax) is much less formal and - to
its credit - immediate. So I think saying "rider down" in the subject
line was entirely appropriate here. It conveyed the necessary message
in the fewest possible words, without falling afoul of issues of
race/age/sex or fault/blame/causation.

Furthermore, the original info came from an online cycling form. Being
able to copy and paste material like this from original sources means
we can convey information to the e-group as quickly and efficiently as
possible while avoiding transcription errors or misunderstandings that
could arise if we attempted to tell it in our words. Long live Copy &
Paste! :)

See you all tonight in The Mall and round Parliament Square!

Rebecca
Rides Co-ordinator
07905 797585

On 22/02/2012, Alex Crawford <alexecrawford@...> wrote:
> Try telling that to thousands of others who use this term on forums across
> the land!
>
> I don't have a problem with it. In fact, I think it reflects the
> seriousness of such events. Infinitely better than 'accident'.
>
> I will desist from using the term if it offends though.
>
> A
>
> On 22 February 2012 08:30, Matt Beale-Collins <mattbc@...> wrote:
>
>> Language like Rider Down is too reminiscent of bad US war movies. Can we
>> please not do this.
>>
>> Thanks
>>
>> Matt
>> Sent using BlackBerry® from Orange
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Alex Crawford <alexecrawford@...>
>> Date: Wed, 22 Feb 2012 08:01:51
>> To: <southwarkcyclists@yahoogroups.com>
>> Subject: [Southwark Cyclists] Re: Rider Down - Southwark Bridge Road
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Update from a cyclist who lives directly opposite this accident and was
>> home when it happened:
>>
>> "This lady will survive; however her legs are definitely broken. Lorry was
>> too long to be passing anyone on that corner, and she was overtaking
>> another cyclist as she went around. She was also wearing as much
>> fluro/lights as I've ever seen. I don't know who was truly at fault but
>> lorries of that size should not be on this road. From what I heard at the
>> scene she wobbled as she overtook the other cyclist and went down, the
>> lorry went over her after that. Don't know if that's actually what
>> happened.
>>
>> Lorry stopped on her legs and her rear wheel, then reversed off. Driver
>> was pretty shaken up. I didn`t see the accident happen but when I got down
>> there his wheels were in the cyclehighway. I took some photos just in
>> case."
>>
>> Wishing her (Kate) a full recovery.
>>
>> Alex
>>
>>
>> On 17 February 2012 22:36, Alex Crawford
>> <alex@...<mailto:
>> alex@...> > wrote:
>>
>> Reports of cyclist/lorry collision on Southwark Bridge Road tonight.
>>
>> At 7pm, a large section of road was blocked off and the situation looked
>> bad. A whole convoy of police cars, ambulance, fire brigade and a massive
>> lorry in the middle of the road. Still blocked off as of 10pm. Really hope
>> the cyclist will be ok.
>>
>> Does anyone have any news or see this?
>>
>>
>> --
>>
>> Alex Crawford
>>
>> Coordinator | Southwark Cyclists
>> 0777 599 0087
>> alex@... <mailto:alex@...>
>> www.southwarkcyclists.org.uk <http://www.southwarkcyclists.org.uk>
>>
>> Please sign this petition to make London more liveable:
>> www.lcc.org.uk/go-dutch <http://www.lcc.org.uk/go-dutch>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>>
>> Alex Crawford
>>
>> Coordinator | Southwark Cyclists
>> 0777 599 0087
>> alex@... <mailto:alex@...>
>> www.southwarkcyclists.org.uk <http://www.southwarkcyclists.org.uk>
>>
>> Please sign this petition to make London more liveable:
>> www.lcc.org.uk/go-dutch <http://www.lcc.org.uk/go-dutch>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>
>
> --
> Alex Crawford
>
> Coordinator | Southwark Cyclists
> 0777 599 0087
> alex@...
> www.southwarkcyclists.org.uk
> *
> Please sign this petition to make London more liveable:
> www.lcc.org.uk/go-dutch*
>