Interesting court case coming up......

[oldtom]

This piece is from the Bullshine Broadcasting company's news web page today and is the first I have read of it, no longer in receipt of any London local news rag.

It will be interesting to see whether or not the police are able to mount a successful prosecution but I would expect there must be witnesses who have already indicated a willingness to give evidence.

Anything in the local press or radio stations, Flecc?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-37365010

Tom

 

[Wicky]

http://www.hackneygazette.co.uk/news/police_investigate_fatal_old_street_collision_between_cyclist_and_pedestrian_1_4449306

http://hackneycitizen.co.uk/2016/09/14/bicycle-death-old-street-kim-briggs-man-charged/

 

[SteveRuss]

Considering the total lack on background details, I can only assume that it was on a pedestrian crossing. If so i'm sure there's a chance.

Sounds awful though. Some people survive when parachutes fail or being run down by a truck, so something substantial must have happened to the poor thing

 

[oldtom]

Thanks Wicky for that input. It's difficult to get a handle on what may have happened but my first thought is that the cyclist could not have been riding in a leisurely manner otherwise he would probably have managed to avoid the collision.

It is unlikely that any pedestrian in central London would step out on to a road without checking what's around but as I said, it's difficult to get a picture of what took place.

By and large, I find that all these collisions on our roads involving all kinds of vehicles, are rarely accidents as the media still tends to refer to such incidents. Usually someone has been driving/riding/walking carelessly or going much too fast for the prevailing conditions. Throw in headphones, telephone calls, texting, even watching TV or video and it's not too difficult to understand how these things happen.

For those who are unfamiliar with cycling in central London, I can tell you that there are some real, hair-shirt, risk-takers who seem to imagine they are immortal. Hitting speeds of anywhere up to 30mph+ in places, those foolhardy types are a serious danger and not only to themselves. I'm not suggesting for a moment that the man charged over the woman's death is one of those 'ultra-cyclists' but London cycling isn't just about people cocooned in vehicles, harming cyclists.
Tom

 

[flecc]

This accident was publicised on TV at the time it occurred.

It's not the first such prosecution in London. In a previous case a couple of years ago a cyclist was accused of causing a death when he swerved in after passing a parked vehicle and struck and killed an elderly man who was crossing the street. The man hadn't looked before crossing and it wasn't on a controlled crossing so the prosecution failed.

In practice very large numbers of pedestrians cross London roads without looking and relying on hearing only, and that's not just in London either, I've experienced it elsewhere too.

Many years ago in the early 1970s I had a lad of about 12 years suddenly swerve off the pavement heading at an angle away from me towards a bus stop the other side of the road, right into my car's path. It was only my reacting fast enough with braking and swerving to a stop, and the fact that there was nothing coming the other way preventing the swerve that saved him. That was in South London.

Many years later I had a woman suddenly do the same in Reigate when I was motorcycling through, but I was able to slow and stop with no drama since I was riding at a modest pace due to many people being about. I had the pleasure of seeing a handy police officer instantly intercept her, clearly about to give her a good ticking off!

People crossing by depending on hearing are clearly a very big risk for cyclists.
.

 

[the_killjoy]

Fair's fair, it is difficult to look at the road and text at the same time.