Pedestrian causing cyclist death gets 3 years prison

[AndyBike]

Terrible that the cyclist was killed in the incident, but I also have empathy for the disabled woman, who appears to be spending no doubt a very difficult life in social isolation, and this event and her sentence will also have a profound affect upon her.
As previously said, there are no winners in this only sadness for everyone concerned

 

[Zlatan]

You've done it again!

After I posted a Funny to your comment on Soundwave's running over people , you added more to your post making my Funny inappropriate, so I removed it.

Beetop obviously doesn't know that cyclists can be on any pavement out of genuine fear of the traffic. LINK
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Flecc, we are allowed to add, remove, delete or change posts without your permission. Its why there is an edit button. And, I changed the post before anyone had made further comments, preventing my making 2 posts in a row,which could upset the more fragile members.

 

[Bonzo Banana]

I can see it from both sides as a pedestrian and cyclist. I've been passed by a ebike at about 20-30mph on a narrow shared path. The ebike was going fast as it was downhill so didn't need the motor assisting. This also meant its brakes would be less effective as going downhill with a slower stop time. If I had been distracted and moved to the side it would have been bad news for me and the cyclist.

In the video for this incident the pavement didn't look obviously a shared pavement and the woman clearly had balance and movement issues which meant she needed more of the path. However her actions were extremely dangerous and I feel the sentence is correct. Even in that video with the presenter talking a bike goes past her at some speed which is dangerous.

I really feel we need to move to a maximum speed for cyclists to pass pedestrians on shared paths. Maybe somewhere around 5-8mph. Perhaps then we can consider more pavements a shared path. We need to slow down as we pass each other. Also cargo bikes shouldn't be allowed on narrow shared paths. It's getting ridiculous when those things are on narrow paths filled with children and as wide as 2 maybe 3 bikes. They should have to stop completely to allow pedestrians to pass. They extend over into the pedestrian lane on narrow marked shared paths.

 

[flecc]

Flecc, we are allowed to add, remove, delete or change posts without your permission. Its why there is an edit button. And, I changed the post before anyone had made further comments, preventing my making 2 posts in a row,which could upset the more fragile members.

I wasn't speaking of permission, just explaining why I'd added a funny which later looked so odd after your amendment.

Removing it was simply a courtesy on my part.
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[flecc]

I really feel we need to move to a maximum speed for cyclists to pass pedestrians on shared paths. Maybe somewhere around 5-8mph. Perhaps then we can consider more pavements a shared path. We need to slow down as we pass each other.

This is the case in Japan where cyclists actually have to use footpaths in large urban areas. Then they are restricted to 13 kph (8 mph) maximum and have to give way to pedestrians where advisable. That would be a good law for us to adopt and enforce.
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[Nealh]

This is the case in Japan where cyclists actually have to use footpaths in large urban areas. Then they are restricted to 13 kph (8 mph) maximum and have to give way to pedestrians where advisable. That would be a good law for us to adopt and enforce.
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Enforcement as we all know doesn't occur over here, there may be the odd token case.
Enforcement abroad tends to be far better as a deterant then here.

 

[flecc]

Enforcement as we all know doesn't occur over here, there may be the odd token case.
Enforcement abroad tends to be far better as a deterant then here.

The trouble being that we've kept cycling illegal on pavements while also having ministerial permission to cycle on them. Little wonder the police dont know what to do for the best.

The Japanese far more sensibly don't ban pavement cycling and even enforce it in congested areas. The only law being that it must be done slowly below 8 mph and safely. That would be very easy for our police to understand and act upon.
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[Chainmale]

The trouble being that we've kept cycling illegal on pavements while also having ministerial permission to cycle on them. Little wonder the police dont know what to do for the best.

The Japanese far more sensibly don't ban pavement cycling and even enforce it in congested areas. The only law being that it must be done slowly below 8 mph and safely. That would be very easy for our police to understand and act upon.
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And with that confused, and some might say incompetent implementation of law, perhaps we should consider both parties involved in this tragic incident as victims

 

[soundwave]

 

[flecc]

And with that confused, and some might say incompetent implementation of law, perhaps we should consider both parties involved in this tragic incident as victims

No way was the woman causing the death a victim. She is not the police so had no right of enforcement, even less her physical enforcement. She is just a nasty minded, bossy person who cared so little for the elderly victim that she walked off into the supermarket to get her shopping.
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[Chainmale]

I have to disagree, pedestrian, cyclist and driver are all victims of the inconsistent laws relating to use of the footway. It has been reported that the pedestrian along with other problems had a visual impairment which may have made it difficult to judge distance and speed., she may have felt unsafe and overeacted. Yes her actions contributed to the tragedy and she appeared to show no empathy but again that may be another aspect of her multiple health issues. We can but hope that this unfortunate event may prompt some clarification (and enforcement) of the rules in order to protect both pedestrians and cyclists.

 

[Charliefox]

The lady cycling was 77 years old. If we are to have as many as possible cycling as in the Netherlands where they cycle into their nineties, we have to expect slower reactions and the occasional poor decision resulting.

So tolerance is called for to accommodate those less capable citizens since we all get old eventually.



A perfect example of how to behave with civilised tolerance for someone clearly in the wrong.
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The comment about the Netherlands really wraps it up. Over there cyclists and pedestrians are usually separated and the former are considerate. We have a long way to go!

 

[stargazer30]

What’s not been reported is that the woman shoved the cyclist as she passed causing her to veer into the road and get hit. In the her testimony she said she may have made contact as she panicked and put her hands out. Judge basically didn’t believe her as she’d been untruthful from the off.

 

[portals]

From watching the BBC video posted here frame by frame it looks like she DID push at least the back of the bike in last cpl frames towards the road.

If she did push her on to the road then Cerebal Palsy/medical conditions are not an excuse, a push is a calculated movement and still a push, she did had the opportunity to move away or to engage...

Strange there is no other footage from a different angle in this day and age.

3 yrs though....wtf?

 

[flecc]

I have to disagree, pedestrian, cyclist and driver are all victims of the inconsistent laws relating to use of the footway. It has been reported that the pedestrian along with other problems had a visual impairment which may have made it difficult to judge distance and speed., she may have felt unsafe and overeacted. Yes her actions contributed to the tragedy and she appeared to show no empathy but again that may be another aspect of her multiple health issues. We can but hope that this unfortunate event may prompt some clarification (and enforcement) of the rules in order to protect both pedestrians and cyclists.

So what do we do, let her off with a very light sentence? All that will do is reinforce her obvious belief that she can act in this way. Worse still it will give oxygen to the hordes of like minded anti-cycling public in this country.

The rules are perfectly clear, the problems are that a minority of cycists ride irresponsibly on the pavements and the majority of pedestrians are anti-cycling and refuse to accept cyclist's rights.

That was evident when in 2000 Paul Boateng as Home Secretary announced the limited permission for cyclists to use the pavements. Immediately there was storm of protest from the anti cyclist general public, backed up by the usual suspects, Daily Mail, Express etc. Clearly those people had no intention of co-operating with the change.

The only way to deal with that is to make them accept it and this sentence spells out the right message. As I've pointed out she won't be serving it in anything like the full sentence anyway, but the message is very important and should not be weakened. If we want to end up like the Netherlands, it starts with strong enforcement. That is what the Dutch government did in 1972 to start their modern pro cycling program, a strong crackdown, their wonderful cycling facilities only slowly following bit by bit over the years. Even today they say they still have only completed three quarters of the program.

What makes it work everywhere there isn't the facilities which are still absent in places. It's the strong rules which make everyone, drivers, pedestrians and cyclists behave considerately at all times. Such behaviours as drivers stopping for cyclists at junctions, cyclists ambling along slowly wherever there are pedestrians and everyone co-operating without any argument.

It starts with strong enforcement, like this pedestrian sentence we are discussing. Like the prison sentence cyclist Charlie Alliston got for killing a pedestrian. Like the prison sentence driver Victoria McClure got for killing a cyclist. We have at long last got the right idea. Let's stick with it and end this needless killing.
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[StuartsProjects]

This was a jury trial in the Crown court, so presumably the defence had the opertunity to present evidence, medical reports etc.

Interesting how, based on a few comments on web sites, social media etc, some people can appear to form a strong view that this is a misscarriage of justice in some way.

Maybe if some of the posters commenting on this case, had been present in court and heard first hand, all the evidence, just like the jury did, they would take a different view.

 

[nigelbb]

What’s not been reported is that the woman shoved the cyclist as she passed causing her to veer into the road and get hit. In the her testimony she said she may have made contact as she panicked and put her hands out. Judge basically didn’t believe her as she’d been untruthful from the off.

Tantalisingly the CCTV footage doesn't cover the point where contact was made but it is certainly my impression from the video that the pedestrian actually shoved the cyclist into the road. It's actually irrelevant to the charge of manslaughter whether she made contact or not as she was responsible for the death.

 

[I893469365902345609348566]

Certified disabled people are like teflon, hard to jail. Has the video been resolution cropped as well as shortened? Security cameras are usually wide angle, that one's purpose appears to be monitoring the entrance. Perhaps the jury had access to a wider view as well as longer recording?

 

[StuartsProjects]

Huntingdon cyclist death: Police warn over ill-informed views

Auriol Grey has been jailed after gesturing and swearing at a woman who fell into the path of a car.

www.bbc.co.uk

Det Sgt Dollard, who interviewed Grey, told BBC Radio Cambridgeshire: "I'll always remember the morning after it occurred obtaining the CCTV and watching it in its entirety.
"In all honesty it's horrific and not appropriate for wider release to the public, but, if it were, then I think a lot of the arguments in relation to appropriate responses would be null and void."

He added that there were "considerations in relation to Auriol Grey's vulnerability" in their investigation.
"A lot of medical records... professional expert evidence was sought and presented to a jury, it's important to note, and with all that, in fact, she was found guilty of an unlawful act and that is why she was convicted," he said.

 

[I893469365902345609348566]

I wonder if the reason why so many drivers get off relatively lightly for killing cyclists, is because most jury members can empathise with fellow drivers? Not many of us can truly relate to being disabled.