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Saw this earlier...what an idiot she is hope they take away her licence
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What an idiot . Hope they throw the book at her
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This girl was interviewed on local tv and she was more interested in telling everyone that she had been suspended from work and it would affect her choice of career, she didn't seem apologetic at all except that she had been shown up to be an idiot.
I am wondering if she will be prosecuted. it will be interesting to see what happens especially as the cyclist wasn't really injured and was able to carry on cycling, unlike my o.h.
He was knocked off his bike the other week by a driver who didn't stop as he came out of a side road, he admitted to police he 'didn't see' my o.h. despite him wearing a high vis jacket and having more than the minimum lighting on his bike. He said he was sorry and offered to buy a new bike. The police told me they couldn't do anything as there were no witnesses or cctv! Since the initial bump my o.h. has been told he has damage to his thumb, a ligament snapped and pulled a piece of bone away from the lower knuckle so it's strapped up now, he will be off work till early July at least and we had to cancel our holiday which we should have been taking now.
When I notified the police of the more serious nature of the injuries (they hadn't been spotted on the xrays until those were checked a few days later) they did come and take a statement from him. Now he has had a letter from the Traffic dept asking for a form to be filled in, repeating all he said in his statement. i called yesterday to ask why this had to be done and they more or less said if he didn't fill it in nothing would be done as a statement isn't considered the right info i.e. the answers have to be to certain questions, if you get my drift.
He also said he didn't know if there would be a prosecution or not, they will wait to receive the form back. Now the statement my o.h. made was very detailed and he had a map to show the w.p.c. the exact locations of vehicle and bike and they even want that repeated on the form altho she sketched it on his statement.
What a farce it all is, I bet things go no further and we will have to chase compensation for ourselves. O.h. is thinking of going to a no win no fee company but I am not sure about it, will leave it to him to decide tho.
The old saying, the law is an ass seems to be true!
Lizx
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Perhaps if all cyclist were insured there wouldn't be this 'grey'area. I readily accept that many cyclicst have a raw deal from motorist as I have witnessed this for myself but anything which is capable of travelling up to 30 miles an hour without insurance is wrong. So I also agree with the last statement. -jl
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I think it might be good to have cyclist insurance but how many people would do it, especially the youngsters, and how would they enforce it or check up on it?
O.h. found a lot of questions and answers on one site which gave him more ideas to follow, including going through his household insurance if there is legal protection etc
http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/cycling-to-work-knocked-off-bike-need-advise
Lizx
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Many European countries operate a system of of obligatory liability when it comes to accidents between vehicles and bicycles / pedestrians i.e. the motorist's insurance is bound to shell out whatever the rights and wrongs. The effect of it in France for instance is that cyclists are given plenty of room.
How such a system would work in the UK where the lycra terrorists deem it their human right to hurtle through residential streets st 30pmh plus and motorists stuck in jams hate them is anybody's guess.
Cyclists are often their own worst enemy by assuming that cars etc have seen them. They should be far more cautious. It would help if they all had helmets, working rear light and just got off and pushed at busy urban junctions.
More and more cyclists are wearing "Hero" cameras and the evidence is admissable in court.
The obvious thing to do is to reduce speed limits in urban area ( other than on major routes ) to 20mph including bicycles. Apart from being a good thing for pets, children, pedestrians and cyclists it would also reduce the cost of car crashes most of which happen in the 30 & 40 mph zones, not the motorway.
The Highway Code says that when passing a bicycle a car should allow a door's width of space, not the 10cm usually grudgingly conceded.
I guess most people know that there is no such thing as "Road Fund Licence". Under UK law taxes may not be hypothecated to any special purpose but just go into the general fund. Thus roads are paid for out of general taxation. Most cyclists pay taxes too.
The general insanity of Twitter never fails to amaze me.
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I drive my OH to work 4 mornings a week at 4.30am. On average we pass about 10 cyclists
of those 10
1 will have excellent lighting and can be seen well in advance
2 will have lighting so poor as to be useless
the other 7 nothing at all.
Now if any of you drive at night (this is more relevant when there is not much traffic on the road) most pedestrians and cyclists on any road are just not visibile until you are almost on top of them.
And to all cyclists out there, Having a really bright light on the front of your bike and a poor light on the rear is not any use to you at all. You are more likely to be hit from behind than any car swerving across mutliple lanes to hit you.
And no buses, hgvs, vans or cars bend in the middle, do not ride up the inside. Even in a car, I give HGVs a wide berth.
My father had to ride a bike for his job (long before company cars etc.) and he had to also carry all his tools on the bike (cumbersome stuff). A lady walked out in front of him, he hit the brakes, the bike went rear over front with him on it. He broke one of his kneecaps in 2 places and had a bolt in it for the rest of his life. So I know that cycling is hazardous. And he would not let me have one, no matter how much I pleaded.
I give all cyclists a wide berth, wider that normal as I know that the slightest puff of wind and they can be in your path in seconds.
And when did the highway code change to allow cyclists to ride 2 abreast??? See this more and more often.
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